Chapter 172 : How did he manage to do it_
Chapter 172: How did he manage to do it?
Chen Fan's request was not unreasonable at all.
In fact, even if he didn't say it, Sun Congcong was planning to report it that way.
Then Chen Fan casually asked if the Yunhai Daily had an online version.
"Yes," Sun Congcong took a bite of the dish and explained, "We're considered a city-level newspaper, so we have media sections on both Xinlang and Souhu."
"But our accounts don't have much traffic, and the news we report usually doesn't attract much attention."
Chen Fan smiled, "Maybe this piece of news will go viral. And then Reporter Sun will become famous too."
"Yeah, right."
Sun Congcong shook her head with a smile, and then continued explaining, "Let me be honest, don't get mad, okay?"
"Actually, incidents like this fight and brawl are not even considered news most of the time, and media reporters are too lazy to report them."
"What's the reason? It's because they're not hot topics, readers aren't interested, so naturally the media and newspapers don't want to waste time reporting them."
"This time, it's only because my old classmate Ding Dian asked me for a favor, otherwise I wouldn't have made a special trip for something like this."
Chen Fan chuckled, "What you said makes sense, but I think a good piece of news doesn't have to be a hot topic."
"Sometimes a piece of news needs a selling point to become popular."
Sun Congcong showed a wry smile.
She was a little annoyed. Chen Fan was lecturing her.
Didn't she understand better than him about being a reporter?
To be honest, she couldn't see what selling point this incident had.
However, Sun Congcong kept her word and didn't break her promise.
After going back, she submitted the article, which appeared the next day on the third page of the Yunhai Daily in a tiny corner that was almost invisible if you didn't look carefully.
In fact, after submitting the news, Sun Congcong didn't pay much attention to it, since it was just a favor for an old classmate.
She didn't think this news could have any substantive impact on her.
However, the change happened so quickly.
In just one morning, when Sun Congcong entered the newspaper office in the afternoon, she saw a colleague excitedly running over to her.
"Congcong, you've hit the jackpot! The news you wrote yesterday has gone viral."
Sun Congcong was completely confused. Viral? What went viral?
"Hey, not the newspaper, online. Your report went viral online."
Before the colleague could finish, Sun Congcong saw the editor-in-chief coming out of the hallway.
"Congcong, come to my office for a moment."
The colleagues around immediately showed envious expressions.
"Congratulations, Congcong. You're going to make it big."
"Don't forget about us, okay?"
Sun Congcong entered the editor-in-chief's office in a daze.
Half an hour later, she came out still dazed.
Sitting at her desk, listening to the colleagues whispering around her, it took Sun Congcong a long time to snap out of her confused state.
The editor-in-chief had just told her that the report she submitted yesterday had gone viral.
And it had exploded simultaneously on three major portal websites, with over ten thousand clicks and even hundreds of comments.
Sun Congcong quickly opened her computer and the Xinlang.com website.
She searched for the Yunhai Daily account in the news section.
At a glance, she saw yesterday's news report.
Among the news on this page, the other reports basically had only dozens or even single-digit clicks.
Only Sun Congcong's report had directly soared to over twelve thousand clicks.
She clicked the page and saw hundreds of comments below.
Sun Congcong was dumbfounded.
It turned out that what the editor-in-chief said was true.
This piece of news really went viral.
But until now, Sun Congcong still couldn't figure out how this news went viral?
Out of curiosity, she opened the comments section, and the more she read, the more dumbfounded she became.
The comments were all over the place. Some were just posting nonsense to increase the comment count, some were aggressively gawking.
Of course, there were more people cursing profusely.
Someone said they knew Li Hu, that guy was a scumbag. Those with eyes could see posted some incidents of Li Hu bullying others in the past.
Someone said they were a college student and had personally witnessed Li Hu bullying girls at the school gate.
There were also people posting the details they knew about the incident in the comments.
"I can stake my character and guarantee that the report in this news article is true, everything the girl said is true, and that Li Hu was completely talking nonsense."
"I can also vouch for it, I'm from the same school as the girl, I believe my junior sister."
"Junior sister, keep it up, we support you."
"Damn, which hospital is that Li Hu in? Don't let me find out, I'll kill him."
"How dare he bully a girl from our school, he's asking for it."
Sun Congcong started to get a sense of what was happening.
These comments seemed to all be from Liu Lingling's classmates, did Liu Lingling rally them?
But there were many more comments that left Sun Congcong confused.
For example, someone commented that they were a bartender and had personally witnessed Li Hu dragging a girl into the women's restroom at a bar. He even threatened her not to call the police.
Someone else adamantly claimed to have seen Li Hu brutally beat up an elderly street vendor woman, leaving her badly injured.
Reading the comments where these netizens were listing Li Hu's alleged crimes one by one so assertively, they portrayed Li Hu as an unforgivable scumbag.
Sun Congcong was perplexed.
"How could there be so many eyewitnesses? And how did this group of people all rush to comment under this report at the first opportunity?"
In that instant, Sun Congcong seemed to have guessed something.
Someone was guiding the narrative.
Although the concept of internet brigades didn't exist in this era yet, Sun Congcong was not stupid. She guessed that someone was guiding the narrative and deliberately hyping up this news.
And from the comments, it was evident that this group was fanning public opinion.
After this stunt, in the eyes of all uninformed netizens, Li Hu had become an unforgivable scumbag.
Who did this?
Almost without thinking, one person came to Sun Congcong's mind.
Chen Fan.
She recalled Chen Fan casually asking her yesterday if this news would be posted online.
And the words Chen Fan had said, that for a piece of news to go viral, it's not just about being a hot topic, it also needs a selling point.
Sure enough.
What was originally an ordinary news report had become a viral sensation after this hype.
Not only was it seen by more netizens, but earlier, the editor-in-chief had also lavishly praised Sun Congcong.
He even personally instructed that this news be assigned to Sun Congcong for follow-up reporting and continued coverage.
For a moment, Sun Congcong felt excited, her heart pounding rapidly.
Originally, it was just a favor for an old friend.
Who would have thought it would turn out like this, with her inadvertently basking in someone else's glory.
Especially that Chen Fan...
Wracking her brain to recall Chen Fan's appearance from yesterday.
Yesterday, the impression Chen Fan gave her was very low-key, and he didn't look that handsome either.
But now, Sun Congcong saw Chen Fan in a new light.
This person was really something else.
In just half a day, he was able to sway public opinion.
It felt like he could make clouds form or disperse with just a wave of his hand.
Only...
Sun Congcong still didn't understand.
How exactly did Chen Fan manage to do it?