The 7-year itch of Sixth Tone II: my internal email to Sixth Tone's editor 😬 | Following the yuan

Written by a 'too young, too simple' me who oversimplifies the state media system and perhaps overstates his power? You can be the judge.

Writer’s note 📝:

Below is a translation of my original letter to the editor-in-chief in August, 2021.

Here’s my main advice: While censorship is factored into consideration when reporters apply for the jobs, unjust actions by the management & HR are not expected. Even if nothing can be down in censorship, the company can still set up a better structure with less BS and distraction. You can read about the context in part I.

Before I joined and I questioned the pre-tax 9k monthly salary proposed by [HR], she wrote on WeChat: "This is what the market is like in media, you can't make money here, but if you want to learn and realize the ideals of journalism, Sixth Tone still has a pretty good platform.” I took that she represented the views of Sixth Tone’s management.

However, when the wages are below market level, the reward system is opaque, and at the same time, the publication is highly subjected to central censorship. The ideals bound by the management to employees is unsustainable.

According to Deloitte China's article "State-Owned Enterprise Transformation Thinking Framework", one of the key challenges facing the long-term development of SOEs is: "identify, retain and develop executives and core talents through appropriate performance systems and incentive mechanisms."

Key themes for an SOE’s transformation. Image source: Deloitte China

In my opinion, this is the kind of challenge we are facing now. That conflicts with your goal of growing the team and business, and made it difficult to recruit and retain people.

What Sixth Tone needs the most at this stage is perfect all of this under your leadership. Otherwise, the team will just be a SUV with flat tires — we will not go far no matter what we do.

If you really want to achieve a virtuous circle with internal driving force, form the vision you mentioned to look at Western media at the same level. Then it is necessary to move closer to the market in terms of mindset, and minimize unnecessary inconveniences to employees, so that reporters can devote themselves to their work.

I would like to believe that what happened to me was just a small episode, a very small one compared to some colleagues. But if these episodes occur too frequently and affect the energy and motivation of employees, that means the system has issues and we need to address them? Or else, the larger the team, the more obvious such problems will be.

I will try to motivate myself as much as possible because I want to do my work well. But to be honest, this is rather difficult in the current environment. Judging from the company’s feedback on my basic demands (1. to pay social security according to pre-tax salary; 2. to reflect real salary in the contract), I don’t think the Group cares about the basic interests of low-level employees. I don't know how long I can rely on the so-called "ideal".

Back to the employees ourselves, if the company needs to establish mechanisms, including orientation and feedback mechanisms for new employees and interns, I’d be more than happy to assist.

想借此邮件通知您我决定留下。也想同时分享我们谈话后的想法：

在我入职前，对许老师一开始提出的税前9k月薪提出质疑时，她在微信上写道：“媒体现在就这样一个行情，想赚钱来媒体是赚不了的，但是想学习实现新闻理想，在国内澎湃第六声的平台还是很不错的。” 我暂且认为她代表了 Sixth Tone 管理层的观点。

在工资低于市场水平、薪资待遇不透明，同时又遭受大环境下审查的影响，管理层给员工绑定的”新闻理想“是不可持续的。

依据德勤中国《国企转型升级的思考方向》一文，国企的长远发展面临的其中一项挑战是：”如何通过合适的绩效体系和激励机制，识别、保留并发展高管和核心人才。” 我认为我们现在正是遇到了这样的挑战，让现状和您壮大团队和业务的目标有了冲突，造成了招人难、留人难的问题。

而 Sixth Tone 现阶段非常需要的是在您能影响的范围下对这一切的完善，不然团队只会像一辆车胎憋了的越野车，怎么样也跑不远。

如果真正想达到有内在驱动力的良性循环，形成您提到的平视西方媒体的愿景。那我觉得意识上必需向市场化靠拢，并且在人事方面最小化对员工不必要的困扰，让记者们可以全身心地扑在工作上。 

而 Sixth Tone 现阶段非常需要的是在您能影响的范围下对这一切的完善，不然团队只会像一辆车胎憋了的越野车，怎么样也跑不远。

如果真正想达到有内在驱动力的良性循环，形成您提到的平视西方媒体的愿景。那我觉得意识上必需向市场化靠拢，并且在人事方面最小化对员工不必要的困扰，让记者们可以全身心地扑在工作上。 

我愿意相信发生在我身上的只是‘插曲’，甚至和某些同事比是很小的插曲，如果这些插曲出现得过于频繁，影响了员工的精力和动力，那是不是应该解决体系中的问题？否则团队越大，这样的问题就越明显。

我会尽量自我激励，因为我想做好记者工作。但说实话，这在现有环境下比较难。从公司对我的基本诉求（1. 按税前交社保；2. 合同上按实际情况写工资）的反馈来说，我不认为集团在乎底层员工的基本利益。我不知道我可以靠所谓的“理想”撑多久。

但回到员工本身，如果公司有建立机制的需要，包括给新员工和实习生的 Orientation 和反馈机制，我愿意竭力协助。🔚