Chinese journalist publishes article full of errors, netizens say it's okay because she's pretty, China News

PUBLISHED ONDecember 13, 2019 6:30 AMByKimberly Anne Lim

This sports journalist may have stumbled at her job but netizens dazed by her beauty are giving her a pass.

BD News journalist Xing Chengbo caused quite a stir online when she flubbed the names of 15 of the 23 national footballers taking part in the EAFF E-1 Football Championship in an article published on Dec 9.

Xing's errors include identifying goalkeeper Liu Dianzuo as Liu Dianzhu and using the wrong Chinese characters for the names of Feng Jin, Mei Fang, Jiang Zhipeng and Ji Xiang, among others.

Her mistakes came as a surprise to many as she had previously covered high-profile sports events such as the 2018 Fifa World Cup and 2014 Asian Games without any incident.

Shortly after the article was published, Chinese netizens flooded Xing's Weibo with comments questioning her professionalism and slamming BD News.

"Did you really graduate from Ocean University of China? Do you watch football? You really haven't seen these national footballers' names before? If you aren't passionate about football, you don't have to do this job."
*PHOTO: Screengrab/Weibo*

"Does your publication not proofread?"
*PHOTO: Screengrab/Weibo*

"With your level of skills, you became a journalist? How did you get into this company? Using connections? If I can type out the full list of players correctly, does this mean I can be the chief editor of your newspaper? I'm laughing so hard."
*PHOTO: Screengrab/Weibo*

But the criticism of Xing was soon side-tracked when pictures of her in a tight, pink dress began circulating online.

The pictures had netizens marvelling at Xing's looks and posting comments in her defence.

"I'm in love."
*PHOTO: Screengrab/Weibo*

"Having such a beautiful woman misspell your name is the honour of a lifetime for our national footballers."
*PHOTO: Screengrab/Weibo*

"Forgive her, we must forgive her (for her mistakes)."
*PHOTO: Screengrab/Weibo*

While Xing may have been absolved in the eyes of some netizens, BD News announced on Dec 9 that she would be demoted to a "trainee journalist".

The publication also apologised for the errors and promised to work harder to produce content for its readers.

kimberlylim@asiaone.com

For more original AsiaOne articles, visit here.

china Social media Sports football In Case You Missed It