Open the sky and talk to your soul

Exclusive interview with IC Voice Quality and Creative Director Li Zhiang

Photo courtesy/Li Zhiang

▲Li Zhiang, quality and creative director of IC Voice‧Zhuke Broadcasting, regards the radio station as a bridge to spread ideas, knowledge, and share the love of Christ.

IC Voice Zhuke Radio Station located in Hsinchu, northern Taiwan, has won the Golden Bell Award for Best Professional Channel three times since its official establishment in 2003. The radio station's high-quality programs are based on rationality and sensibility. They have a spiritual dialogue with listeners in the Taozhumiao area, and go into the community to hold artistic and public welfare activities, enriching people's lives.

The planning impetus behind this comes largely from the radio station’s quality and creative director, Li Zhiang. However, entering the broadcasting industry was not originally part of his career plan.

Open the Hakka sky

After Li Zhiang graduated from the Chemistry Department of Tsinghua University, he considered studying abroad for further study. Unexpectedly, his interest changed and he began to write science and fantasy novels with outstanding results. After winning the first prize of the "Third Wave Fantasy Literature Award" and the "Ni Kuang Science Fiction Award", he began to write full-time, publishing the "Mirror Kingdom" series (under the pen name Merlin. W), "Creation Peninsula" and so on.

Writing is Li Zhiang's favorite, but finding a job with a fixed salary is a must. At that time, he happened to go to IC Voice for an interview. Based on his background in science and engineering/literary arts, the program host Wang Wei invited him to join this technology/humanities radio station. Li Zhiang also remembered that the Christian friends he met through his previous service, the musician Huang Jiewen and the writer Chen Yunlin, were also radio program hosts.

It's just that this decision is not easy. Is it really possible for someone like him who has never set foot in the broadcasting industry and is not even a loyal listener? After praying for half a year, Li Zhiang finally changed his life track and accepted the planning and production position of IC Voice in 2006. He was hired by the then station director Jiang Xueying and entered the radio station.

The first program to be taken over, "Open the Hakka Sky", is a five-minute unit jointly produced by the station and the Hakka Evangelical Association, which introduces Hakka customs, language and history, opera, catering and other cultural features.

The content of just five minutes is a great challenge for Li Zhiang.

First, we need to learn to convert written narratives into audio manuscripts; secondly, we need to introduce Hakka traditional concepts from a Christian perspective without directly mentioning the gospel message. What's more, he doesn't know anything about Hakka culture.

Learn by doing, keep trying and keep improving. Because he believes that this program provides a channel for the Hakka community, which accounts for a large proportion of the audience, to have a dialogue with their faith. The host of the program is Hakka singer Huang Cuifang, who was introduced by Pastor Zeng Zhengzhong of Hakka (see the exclusive interview in issue 19 of this magazine). He hopes that by opening up the sky of Hakka culture, he can open up the sky of the gospel.

It just so happened that the Broadcasting Golden Bell Awards established a unit program award that year, and the time limit was exactly five minutes. "Open the Hakka Sky" was selected and shortlisted, allowing Li Zhiang to win his first Golden Bell Award for the first program he produced in his first year in the broadcasting industry.

digital happiness

Winning the award gave Li Zhiang considerable encouragement and was God’s affirmation: keep doing it. In addition to producing, he began to host independently. "Digital Happiness" is a half-hour program that he completed from planning, proposal, inviting guests to interviews, and hosting. The interviewee proposed a number at the beginning of the program and explained what this number meant to him or her. Different numbers were used to bring out all-inclusive issues and explain how these issues affect the listener's happiness.

Taiwan, an island located in the Western Pacific, is a must-see for typhoons almost every year. In the minds of ordinary people, strong storms always bring disasters. However, is this really the case?

The number 27% was mentioned in the "Digital Happiness" program once. Li Qingsheng, director of the Taiwan Typhoon and Flood Research Center, dispelled the myth and pointed out that typhoons bring abundant rainfall, which can account for 27% of the annual rainfall. If there is no typhoon passing through the country in any year, there will almost certainly be a drought that year.

Pastor Su Wen'an, the editor-in-chief of this magazine, was interviewed by this program in 2013 and talked about "When Jin Yong Encountered Faith." The number 7 he proposed refers to the "seven movements" that writers must practice. Just like martial arts masters need to have both internal and external skills, writers need to constantly improve their inner character and spiritual life in addition to constantly improving their writing skills.

▲Media work is a combination of the overall team and a collection of various tangible and intangible resources. The picture shows Li Zhiang (second from right) and the "My Home, My Love" series of advertising teams.

My home‧my love

At present, Li Zhiang has put down his hosting duties and shoulders the responsibility of quality and creative director, planning and executing many programs. The hosts of the program come from academia, literature and art, music... and have great freedom in what they talk about. Although the radio station has a considerable proportion of Christian hosts, there are also non-Christian professionals. The hosts themselves may have ideas or lifestyles that are unacceptable to ordinary believers. Li Zhiang believes that the radio station does not interfere with their personal speech on other occasions. However, he and his production colleagues need to be highly sensitive. Once the content of the program does contain arguments that conflict with Christian beliefs, they must make edits or communicate politely with the host, but they must stand their ground.

Li Zhiang controls the quality of the radio station, not only for program content, but also for advertisements that must be rigorously reviewed.

IC Voice is a for-profit radio station, and advertising is one of its main incomes. In order to stick to his principles and not violate his beliefs, Li Zhiang needs to say no to certain advertisements. An obvious example is the refusal to accept the promotion of a Buddhist Dharma assembly, and a refusal to sponsor a certain health food because its claimed therapeutic effects were exaggerated and untrue. Li Zhiang said frankly that if such an advertisement was broadcast, he would not feel safe. It is also necessary to communicate with candidates during the election, not to broadcast offensive or abusive advertisements, but to use positive and positive content.

In this case, will the sales department complain: We have to give up the customers we finally got? After several years of working together, colleagues have become able to respect this concept and even avoid clients they should not accept when discussing advertising projects.

When nominated for the 2015 Golden Bell Awards, under the leadership of current station director Tian Liyun, IC Voice's "My Home, My Love" series of ads was shortlisted for the Non-Commodity Advertising Award. This shows that the company's insistence on advertising quality is equally recognized.

I Care. I Can. I Change.

The name IC Voice not only comes from the Hsinchu Science Park where it is located, IC (integrated circuit) is a product familiar to many high-tech companies, but also hopes to bring greater and more lasting influence to the community and listeners. The core concept of the radio station is I Care. I Can. I Change. (I care; I can; I change). In addition to artistic and cultural activities, it is also committed to promoting support for the disadvantaged.

The "Auntie's Love Stall" event will benefit disadvantaged groups with the proceeds from the charity sale of second-hand clothing and supplies. The "Christmas Shoebox" activity puts warm clothes and Christmas gifts in shoeboxes and gives them to children in rural areas. Over the years, the number of 70 shoeboxes in the first year has increased year by year, and a total of 11,600 gifts were received in 2014. . The audience responded enthusiastically and gave back to the community with love, which exceeded their imagination.

Li Zhiang sees the radio station as a bridge. Radio programs can bring knowledge and ideas in different fields such as policy, science and technology, and culture to listeners; public welfare activities can become a matchmaking channel between donors and recipients. What is more important is to show the love of Christ, because IC also has the meaning of In Christ.

IC Voice does not position itself as a "Christian radio station", uses less common vocabulary in the church world, and does not directly quote Bible verses. Why “Hide” the Gospel Message? Li Zhiang's answer was that he didn't hide it, he just chose to present it in different ways.

The early morning program "Good Morning, My Friend" includes faith testimonies and spiritual sketches; "Songs in Songs" plays poetry and introduces the faith stories behind it; and "Evening Prayer: Quiet Hour" hosted by veteran broadcaster Chu Yun Settle the busy day with prayer.

Other programs are also overflowing with wonderful manifestations of faith in all aspects of life. Li Zhiang believes that "people always speak later". Of course, IC Voice has a message to convey, but the way it carries it is not as direct as a general Christian radio station or a church pulpit, but like a lively conversation between friends, revealing different values and morals, so that the audience can feel that it is. Faith can be so approachable and close to the heart.

This method of communication has also received affirmation and positive response from the church community, and they are willing to cooperate with radio stations to touch the hearts of the people through the window of public welfare and comprehensive programs.

▲IC Voice engages in spiritual dialogue with listeners through art and charity activities. The picture shows poet Zheng Chouyu participating in the reading of "Poetry in Hometown".

Taiwan’s tomorrow‧Tomorrow’s Taiwan

When conceiving the program plan, Li Zhiang needs to observe social and cultural trends at any time to stimulate creativity. First plan, propose, find information, set the overall topic, and then look for corporate sponsors with a common purpose.

"Taiwan's Tomorrow‧Tomorrow's Taiwan" has been broadcast since January 2015. It cooperates with the world's advanced integrated circuit company and invites Peng Zongping, the former president of Yuanzhi University and current chair professor of Tsinghua University, to host the program every week. For half an hour, we will envision and anticipate future development based on Taiwan’s current economic, social, technological, and policy status. The topics he has covered include education and talent cultivation, declining birth rate, energy policy, etc. However, no matter what the topic, the starting point is "exploring the truth and pursuing sustainability."

IC Voice was shortlisted for eight categories in the 2015 Golden Bell Awards. It has won 20 Golden Bells over the years, among which the three most eye-catching ones are the Professional Channel Awards. This award is an affirmation of the station's overall professional performance and social contribution, and is equivalent to the "Best Film" award in a film festival. In 2008, "Hsinchu Spring Music Festival" won the Wenxin Award for Best Creative Award. This was the first time it was awarded to a radio and television program.

Li Zhiang’s achievements at work are dazzling. In addition to his own creativity and expressive ability, another important driving force is also his expectation for all people in the workplace, which is God’s entrustment at the beginning of creation: to govern this land.

He believes that "governance" is not a high-level administration, but a down-to-earth concern for all kinds of people and things among the people. There may be negative crises, but there may also be positive knowledge. As a media person, Li Zhiang is eager to express his care for the land he walks on through the program. While explaining the phenomenon, he also explores the truth.

▲The audience responded enthusiastically to the "Christmas Shoebox" campaign, giving back to the society with love, and the radio station also became a matchmaking channel between donors and recipients.

IC "Zhiyin"

Li Zhiang, who once specialized in writing and then devoted himself to broadcasting, sees the two fields as quite similar - both require self-enjoyment in order to endure a certain amount of loneliness.

He lamented: "Writing is holding a pen and imagining readers who do not exist in front of you; broadcasting is holding a microphone and imagining listeners that do not exist in front of you."

Given sufficient resources, he had wanted to continue writing, but felt that other responsibilities would interfere with his writing. But looking back on this period of experience in the broadcasting industry, Li Zhiang realized: "What I thought I could write at the beginning was not necessarily written." However, these so-called "interferences" opened his horizons and accumulated thickness in his life.

In fact, media work is not lonely. From the host and guests who can hear, to the planners, editors, editors, and engineers who cannot hear, to the audience who need to listen and respond, this is the integration of the team and the gathering of various tangible and intangible resources.

This method of operation and concept are similar to KRC.

We have cooperated with KRC many times, inviting Gao Lili, Pastor Su Wen'an, Professor Wen Yingqian, and teachers Guo Yuanpei and Liu Yongling for exclusive interviews, and helped introduce the Taiwan camp. IC Voice is really KRC's "close friend". Li Zhiang praised this organization for looking at culture from a broad perspective. From the "Kingdom of God" magazine, one can read the vision of "governing the whole earth." He cherishes the cooperative relationship and looks forward to more opportunities for open-minded and cultural dialogue.

His years in the broadcasting industry have brought him into contact with well-known figures in industry, government, academia, and the literary and artistic circles, and he has created glorious records for the station again and again. However, the most unforgettable scene for him was when he prayed with several young Christians after recording an interview - he knelt on the carpet in the recording studio and received the blessings of these young brothers. At that moment, Li Zhiang was deeply moved, as if the heavens had opened and God was in the secret room of the recording studio. Yes, the position of IC Voice Quality and Creative Director, this "job" that was originally outside of career planning, is actually a blessing given by God and a commission from Him.

Journalist profile
Lin Minwen, writer. From observing people, things, and things, record the beauty and present hope.

Interviewee profile: Li Zhiang, quality and creative director of IC Voice·Zhuke Broadcasting. He calls himself a "broadcaster who laughs and tears". He has played old students and traitorous ministers in radio dramas, bringing laughter to the audience. He has also made his eyes red in the air in programs caring for the elderly and rural children... He won three Golden Bell Awards with the team, twice related to Hakka, and even became a Hakka son-in-law. He loves science fiction and longs to convey the values that please God through words and broadcasts.