Pop star Wang Fei narrowly escaped a Princess Diana-style tragedy on Saturday when her car, chased by paparazzi, was forced to speed on the wrong side of the road.

The pregnant pop singer's car almost hit another car head-on after the driver took the wrong way in a haste to lose the photographers tailing behind.

Before getting into the car after having dinner at a restaurant, Wang, whose due date is quickly approaching, had to "run hell for leather" to dodge reporters.

Anyone who saw the photo of Wang with a big belly trying to get into the car would have worried about her, for a miscarriage could have occurred. They also would have been angry at the gouzai - the Chinese term for paparazzi, which literally translates as "son of a bitch."

A reporter from Hong Kong, who was among the paparazzi that day, said later that he was sorry for the chase but he "had to for the sake of work."

These fellows are so unscrupulous.

It is not wrong to be loyal to one's job but all professions have their ethics. Concern for human life is the minimum requirement.

Chasing a woman on the verge of delivery and forcing her to run fast is a cruel thing to do. What would these reporters and photographers think if their pregnant wives were placed in the same situation?

Many ordinary citizens have expressed their wrath on the Internet against the gouzai and the media outlets they represent.

The entertainment media always defends such behaviour by saying it satisfies audiences' curiosity about celebrities' lives. It is undeniable that many people want to know at the earliest possible time what kind of a baby (a boy or a girl) Wang will give birth to. But how many of them would be interested in what dishes Wang ordered at the restaurant the other day (as the paparazzi reported)?

And how many of them would tolerate the tormenting of their beloved singer?

Personally I have no particular like or dislike for Wang, for I do not care much about pop songs. But I admire the grace she showed in her car before the cameras of the paparazzi. She even smiled a little. She is much more noble than the gouzai, I think.

Most of the above-mentioned paparazzi members are from Hong Kong and Taiwan media outlets. I do not know if my fellow journalists in those capitalist societies believe that media has a responsibility to society. But I do believe that what media reports influences audiences, especially youngsters, greatly.

In recent years, some mass media organizations on the Chinese mainland, including Internet portals, have somewhat resigned themselves to degeneration by giving more coverage to social gossips, sex-related cases and epicurean lifestyles.

The excessive coverage of material and carnal pleasures have led to a fairly large part of the younger generation seeking selfish pleasures in blatant violation of social norms or without the slightest sense of shame.

Chat rooms run by some Internet portals have played a particularly bad role in this regard. The moral standards are sliding among our younger generation, at least a considerably part of them, whether they are university students or rural migrant workers.

Members of the media should reflect on their role in the development of such a social trend.

All media outlets rely on raising the rate of reading or watching or mouse-clicking to increase revenue.

But the strategy of increasing the number of audiences by meeting vulgar tastes and disregarding social ethics represents the loss of the most basic duty a journalist should honour to society. The paparazzi, and their bosses, should give a serious thought to this duty.

Email: liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/17/2006 page4)