"Only You" (《非你莫属》) is a job-hunting reality show produced by Tianjin TV Station. The show has stirred wide controversy in 2012 due to the harsh attitudes of the host Zhang Shaogang and onstage employers.
The program aired on Sunday nights, and was rebroadcasted every Monday since Oct. 2010. The premise of the show is to recruit four job hunters vying for the posts offered by the high executives participating on the show.
The reality show simulates face-to-face interviews where the job applicants have to present their wisdom and knowledge in a finite number of responses. However, the criticisms from the anchorman and the guest executives seemed to be excessively brutal and unnecessary recently.
Zhang was widely bashed for humiliating job seekers. "You are 23 years old but behave like a 13 years old, " he once commented in a show.
"You speak sh** without using your minds, " he continued in front of the nationwide audience.
The controversy escalated when an increasing number of overseas Chinese candidates joined the show hoping that their multicultural experience would set them apart. Zhang's criticisms, however, made the opposite seem true.
In Jan. 2012, Zhang quarreled with Liu Lili, an Australian returnee, who was young but did not hesitate to fight Zhang's challenges.
"Why would you come back to China had you worked well in Australia?" Zhang asked curtly.
"China is transforming dramatically, you would be dumb if you did not come back, " Liu snapped back.
Liu was subsequently criticized as over aggressive and was eventually rejected by all of the bosses. However, the altercation with Liu only exacerbated the tension on stage; the conflict didn't reached its climax until 32-year-old Guo Jie, who had allegedly spent 10 years in France but stuttered when asked to speak about a number of French sociologists and filmmakers, fainted on stage.
He lost control after being accused of counterfeiting diplomas. The host's reaction to the falling man was questioning the genuineness of the act, implying that the man staged the fall which enraged many members of the audience.
Many overseas returnees protested the program and some resorted to asking Kai-Fu Lee for support. A weibo (Chinese equivalent to twitter) activist, Lee said he had not paid attention to the program until he received the complaints. But once he watched the video he found that it was truly insulting as the contestants were treated with no respect. Therefore, he campaigned for a voluntary boycott of the show. Shortly after, he was exposed to fierce criticisms from the cast members who challenged him to a face-to-face debate.
However, the program staff soon changed their tone when the online blaming circle escalated and after Guo publicly explained his embarrassing faint was a result of the mounting pressure that had been put on him in the heat of the moment. In addition, the French embassy proved that the master's degree Guo claimed to have on the show is genuine.
The board of the program gave their apologies during a round-table discussion joined by some of the overseas returnees. They explained that the controversy was simply a misunderstanding since many of them had no overseas experience. Zhang, the university teacher turned host also expressed his willingness to apologize, but he explained the case remained complex and he needed time to meditate and digest.
Media analysts perceive the actions of the show's staff in a rather different way. According to Su Rongjiang, a professor at Beijing International Studies University, their behaviors were merely a sequence of tactics to produce reactions.
"In most cases, employers still show respect to job seekers, " Su said in an interview.
- imply [im'plai]vt. 意味；暗示；隐含
- staff [stɑ:f, st?f]n. 职员；参谋；棒；支撑; adj. 职员的；...
- dramatically [dr?'m?tik?li]adv. 戏剧地；引人注目地
- premise [pri'maiz, 'premis]vt. 引出，预先提出；作为…的前提; n. 前...
- criticism ['kriti,siz?m]n. 批评；考证；苛求
- candidate ['k?ndideit, -d?t]n. 候选人，候补者；应试者
- recruit [ri'kru:t]n. 招聘；新兵；新成员; vt. 补充；聘用；...
- boycott ['b?ik?t]vt. 联合抵制；拒绝参加; n. 联合抵制
- embarrass [im'b?r?s]vt. 使局促不安；使困窘；阻碍
- conflict [k?n'flikt, 'k?nflikt]n. 冲突，矛盾；斗争；争执; vi. 冲突，抵...
《非你莫属》
《非你莫属》是由天津卫视推出的一档求职真人秀节目，主持人张绍刚以及现场各位老板的犀利使得节目在2012年引发了广泛的争论。
自从2010年10月，这档节目每周六晚上播出，每周一重播。参加节目的各大公司提供不同的职位，每期有四位求职者前来应聘。
节目采取现场面对面的招聘方式，这就要求求职者必须在有限的几个回合中展现自己的才智。然而，最近节目主持人和嘉宾高管们对应聘者的攻击性批评显得有点过于残忍。
主持人张绍刚因羞辱求职者而被广泛抨击。“你已经23岁了，但表现却得像个13岁的小孩子，”他在一期节目中这样评价一名求职者。
“你说话不经过大脑，”他继续说道，在全国观众的面前。
越来越多的海外求职者来参加节目，他们希望通过自己所拥有的多元文化经验脱颖而出，但争论却愈演愈烈，是张绍刚的言论导致了这一切。
在2012年1月的一期节目中，张绍刚和澳大利亚海归刘俐俐在台上争论了起来。刘俐俐很年轻，但却勇于接受挑战，对抗张绍刚。
“你为什么会回到中国？你在澳大利亚工作的不好吗？”张绍刚问道。
“中国变化好大，不回来我会傻掉的，”刘俐俐反驳道。
最终，刘俐俐被指责有攻击性，被所有招聘老板灭了灯。这场争论只是加剧了台上的紧张气氛，冲突在郭杰上场后达到了极点。郭杰，32岁，他说在法国待了十年时间，但当被问及法国著名社会学家和导演的名字时，却张口结舌，并在台上晕倒。
32岁的郭杰晕倒在台。
被指责伪造文凭后，他失控了。他倒下时，主持人还质问他是装的吗，说他在演戏，这让许多观众都愤怒了。
于是，很多海归开始抗议这个节目，有的向李开复寻求支持。作为一个微博（中国版推特）活动者，李开复说，在收到这些投诉之前他并没关注这档节目。看了相关视频后，他发现这简直就是侮辱求职者。因此，他发微博倡议抵制此节目。不久，他被节目组人员强烈攻击，并要求面对面的辩论。
然而，节目组人员很快就改口了，因为网上抵制人数越来越多，郭杰也说明了自己晕倒是因为当时受到的压力太大。另外，法国大使馆也证明郭杰的硕士学位证书是真的。
节目董事会人员在由一些海归参加的协商会议上致歉。他们说，之前出现的争议都是误会，因为他们中的许多人都没有海外经验。以前做过大学教师的张绍刚也表示愿意道歉，但也解释说事情仍然很复杂，他需要时间思考和接受。
媒体分析师以一个完全不同的视觉看待节目工作人员的行为。北京第二外国语学院的教授苏荣江说，他们的行为仅仅是一些引起反响的策略。
“多数情况下，招聘者还是很尊重求职者的，”苏在一次采访中如是说。
“在《非你莫属》的舞台上，主持人和求职者站在不同的立场制造可见冲突，这让节目更加有趣，”他解释道。
