China's slowing economy may be worsening due to the Chinese journalists' murky "red envelope" tradition that promotes information gap, a foreign media noted.
According to the Irish Times, China's corporate debt records are not improving at all and have even been seen to get on the worse side with the technological advancement of the red envelope journalism.
The outlet explained that with some Chinese journalists now available for hire via an Uber-like app that connects business owners and the media professionals, red envelope journalism may contribute more on the information gap of the country.
Information Gap
The Chinese government offers loans to businesses in order to promote the businessman-mentality contrary to the employee-mindset in its people.
Since not all citizens can afford becoming an entrepreneur, loans are offered to the next potential Jack Ma of the country.
China's information on the businesses who file for loans are determinant on whether or not they get a bite of the country's financial resources.
But therein lies the problem, says the Irish Times. Apparently, the government considers information from the journalists in the country to see if the business is stable enough to not waste the people's tax money.
This means that the decision-making capability of the Chinese government is stained with red envelope journalism where members of the media are given a certain amount of money to cultivate positive feelings in their articles.
What is more disturbing about this is that a mobile app developer decided to take advantage of this "tradition" by creating an app that would make such transactions easier.
Uber-Like Red Envelope App
"Zhao Jizhe" or "Find a Journalist" in Chinese is a mobile application designed to act as "an intellectual community platform where media professionals help entrepreneurs."
According to the Wall Street Journal, this is the app that helps businessmen contact journalists and pay them for promotional articles guised as regular news to promote their company.
WSJ said that like the cab-hailing app, Zhao Jizhe allows users to choose a journalist that would suit their needs.
"Similar to how users of the ride-hailing app can choose to go with a normal sedan or more luxurious cars, Zhao Jizhe offers services tailored to companies of all sizes and needs. For as little as 1,000 yuan, or roughly $150, Zhao Jizhe can get the company an ordinary writer, and publicity on one publication is guaranteed," said the outlet citing the app's description.
Because of this, many businesses are able to freshen up their company's reputation which certainly has many different advantages particularly in terms of financial funding.