At the turn of the spring and summer in 2000,Liu Changle,the chairman of Phoenix TV,invited Anthony Yuen,the famous current affairs commentator,to join theNewslineprogram on Phoenix InfoNews Channel as a guest anchor.

Commentary in a colloquial way

Before working on TV,Yuen had been a columnist of current affairs and working in journalism for more than two decades.He said that ever since he started writing column essays,the standard he has maintained for himself is to compose fluent and catchy text.“Overly ‘mouthful’ language is by no means a good way to report the news.I favor colloquial language,no matter if it is for a TV program,my column,or news writing.”However,while talking on TV,Yuen could not help stuttering and stumbling,and even couldn’t articulate some syllables in a clear manner,which sometimes made the viewers a little anxious.

Once,Yuen explained,“I spoke Cantonese as a kid,then I went to Taiwan and learned my Mandarin from a Sichuanese,which seemed a little help.My tongue seems to get knotted easily,like if R is followed by S,it simply will not turn.So,I try to speak slowly—sometimes to avoid getting stuck on two consecutive syllables.”Even so,Liu Changle did everything possible to win Yuen over because of his penetrating insight on current affairs and his profound familiarity with domestic and international politics.

Growing up in Taiwan,many of his childhood friends are now serving as influential figures in local political circles.Later,he worked in the American media community for many years and made friends with many highlevel political figures there.When he returned to Hong Kong,he became the chief editorial writer of many magazines such as Asia Week and Newsweek in the area of current affairs,which has enabled him to know more about Hong Kong.In addition,he was interested in the mainland as well.Many officials like watching his programs and were willing to share information with him during interviews.Therefore,Yuen was exposed to many exclusive news sources,which rendered him sharp observation and compelling insight into many events.

2000年春夏之交，凤凰卫视台长刘长乐邀请著名时事评论家阮次山客串凤凰卫视《时事开讲》节目。

用很活泼的方式来讲

从事新闻工作27年，撰写了20 多年的时政专栏，而后在电视上开讲时事。阮次山说，他早期写专栏的时候，对自己就有一个严格的要求，就是文字必须朗朗上口，“绕口绝对不是好的新闻报道，口语化是我一贯的风格，这一点电视、专栏和新闻写作没有任何冲突”。然而，电视上的阮次山，说话总是有那么一点结结巴巴、磕磕绊绊，一些音节怎么也说不清楚，听得人心里着急。

阮次山说：“从小说广东话，到了台湾又跟着一个四川人学普通话，更是讲不好。关键是我的舌头会打结，R 和S 如果连在一起，舌头便转不过来。所以，有时候我讲话会比较慢，避免念不出两个连续的音。”

虽然这样，刘长乐却看中了他在时政问题上的洞察力和熟知欧美、中国大陆及港台情况的独特经历，千方百计把他“挖”过来。

阮次山在台湾长大，年少时的不少朋友现在是台湾政界的顶梁人物，他又在美国传媒界摸爬滚打多年，政界有不少朋友，现在已进入政府高层。回到香港之后，阮次山一直是《亚洲周刊》《新闻周刊》这些权威时事杂志的主笔，香港状况也基本摸清，加上他对内地一直非常感兴趣，很多内地官员喜欢看他的节目，见了面忍不住会主动报料，因此，阮次山有很多渠道可以拿到别人不知道的消息，看事情的层次会更深一些。

经不住刘长乐三顾茅庐，阮次山终于成了世界上唯一的结结巴巴的电视主持人，却由此幻化出一种别人找不到、学不会的独特风格：从容不迫，妙语迭出。……