On the night of February 9, part of China Central Television (CCTV) Tower caught fire when a squad was shooting fireworks to celebrate the Lantern Festival. The fire has reportedly killed one fireman, injured seven other people, and destroyed billions of yuan in broadcast facilities.
Speculators have widely noticed the Chinese netizens’ online comments of the CCTV fire. But in fact, just as the authorities started to filter the relevant information in Chinese cyberspace, alternative communication means have been employed to air the grassroots views.
On February 10, I received a SMS message from one of my close friends, consisting of a traditional Chinese couplet available online at the moment:
上联：除夕夜捧红小沈阳
下联：元宵节火烧大裤衩
横批：央视不差钱
Second line: The Lantern Festival fireworks set the boot-shaped building on fire
Horizontal line: CCTV never short of money
The message ends with such a conclusion:
做人不能太CCTV啦！否则，躲得过初一，也躲不过十五！
On February 12, I received an email from Mr. Yue (岳先生), aggregating a myriad of grassroots comments and snapshots on the fire. One of its captions reads:
央视真有钱啊，人家元宵节放焰火，丫元宵节烧大楼。
Another netizen is quoted as commenting on CCTV’s misdoing:
主流媒体一直在教育我们诚实做人、遵纪守法，可你们却违规。我们的心情很凝重。
Out of my expectation, one commentator feels optimistic about the consequence of the fire:
一拆一建GDP又上去了，拉动了内需，又解决了大量农民工的临时饭碗问题。当事人立功受奖！
One person is dissatisfied with CCTV’s professional performance:
CCTV 报道美国911大火是第一时间且连续滚动报道，而对自家的大火却只在十几小时后哼了一下。这是什么精神？这是无私忘我的精神！
To draw a lesson from the fire, someone recommends politically:
“喉舌”上火，请用“民主牌”润喉片！
But I am afraid the Chinese people’s irony will be misintertpreted as gloat, merciless or inhuman. As a matter of fact, the aforementioned satire illustrated the grassroots concerns over the incident, their sympathy with the dead and injured, their anger with CCTV, and their love of the country.
