可以称得上是中国目前最大的电影明星的章子怡，在今年早些时候被中国网友就一些账目出入指责为慈善欺诈。对此沉默了两个多月后，她和她的团队决定给我一个独家专访的机会。这相当于 ESPN (美国娱乐体育电视新闻网)在美国高尔夫球明星老虎伍兹偷腥门事发后第一时间获得的五分钟专访。
不同的是，我的专访持续了将近四个小时。
作为唯一一个在事件之后进入风暴眼的记者，受到一些合谋的怀疑是自然而然的事情。为了尽量打消公众对我的疑虑，我做到了在我的采访文章中仅仅记录下问题以及章子怡的回答，并未掺杂任何个人意见和带有倾向性的评论，甚至没有我在采访中对她的进一步了解。
当我的采访在三月十六日公之于众之后，我被指责为章子怡的事件漂白。那些不喜欢章子怡的人认为我被她收买了。为了证明这一点，对我的人肉搜索开始了。
我震惊于那些对我人肉搜索的人们的粗心。
例如，他们根本没有去搜索我在更早之前在中国日报官方网站上为章子怡作为一个公民的个人隐私权的辩护。
不过他们却找到了一个我2007年的个人博客。因为全部是英文写作，他们并没有得到任何有用信息。然而他们却直接得出了我和章子怡在07年已经是朋友的结论（按此逻辑，我和孔子也应该是好朋友因为在我的文章中也提起过他）。
Zhang, arguably China's biggest movie star, was this year accused of charity fraud by netizens who found inconsistencies in her records. For two months, she kept silent on the issue, and when she - or rather her team - decided to give me an exclusive interview, it was the Chinese equivalent of Tiger Woods granting the five-minute post-crash interview to ESPN.
The difference was, there was no time limit and my interview lasted four hours.
As I was the only reporter given access to the eye of the storm, it was natural for people to suspect collusion. To dispel any suspicions, I forfeited my right to comment on her story and the right to disclose any findings from my investigation into the case. My report, while newsworthy, was merely a record of Zhang's answers to my questions. I made sure there was not a single word that could be construed as passing judgment or siding with her.
When the story was published on March 16, I was accused of a whitewash. Her detractors claimed I was secretly employed as her spokesperson. To prove their point, they began their renrou search.
What shocked me was how sloppy they were.
For example, they didn't even bother to search the China Daily website for my earlier commentaries on Zhang, most of which defended her right to a private life.
They did uncover a 2007 entry in my personal blog, however. From that piece, which they did not understand because it is written in English, they jumped to the conclusion I was a personal friend of Zhang's back then. (Using that logic, Confucius should also be my buddy because I wrote about him, too.)
People started sending me vicious e-mails and jamming the China Daily phone lines, lodging complaints and demanding I be fired. Yet the callers would never leave their names. They always called themselves the "righteous and indignant masses".
They posted so many lies about me on the Internet that there is no way I can clear my name with everyone.
For a while I thought about resorting to legal means to defend my name but a veteran newsman talked me out of it. "Who are you going to sue?" he asked. I didn't have any names but they clearly could destroy my reputation and my career.
Though they do not have faces, I noticed several traits with these renrou searchers.
They come in with a predetermined judgment. From the beginning, they are sure who is evil - they are the good guys, so what they oppose is naturally the bad guys. Also, they only pick the evidence that supports their view. If they cannot find any evidence, they are more than happy to make some up.
The most common method they adopt, though, is quoting people out of context. Double-checking and verification? Due process be damned.
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