The Nation Start New Freesheet Newspaper

[junkofdavid2]

It's so easy to criticise, isn't it, especially from a position of extreme ignorance. My friends at The Nation work for crap money, which means it's impossible to attract experienced staff. They turn over 4-5 times the amount of copy they would do on a normal newspaper yet have to work to ridiculously tight deadlines, all the while wrestling with sometimes near unintelligible English (I've seen samples, and it's enough to make a grown man cry). They also have to deal with writers of whom many are poorly trained and sadly deficient in their knowledge. What this means is that they are reduced to cutting corners however they can just to try and get the paper out. From what I've seen, theirs is a tough and thankless job -- thankless because they do the best they can under very trying conditions and then have to put up with ignorant criticism from people like you who have all the time in the world to edit their own copy. Sorry, pal, but my sympathies lie with my friends at The Nation, not with the likes of smart-alecks like you. In my opinion they do a great job in a difficult situation. So try to be a little bit more understanding. Like me, you should spend an evening in their newsroom and watch them work -- work miracles, actually -- and you'll not be so quick to judge.

Witawat

Yes it's easy to criticize.

Gee, I wonder if your friends would like to know, just in case they don't, that they have, in English, what we call "choice".

Choice to work there or not under the conditions and salary.

And if they can't find other work, it's not the obligation of a private company like the Nation to provide other work for them...

[Plus]

Gradually journalism has been reduced from public service to a mere job for money. Kudos to people who stay on and fight.

[dominique355]

As a subscriber, I have now been reading The Nation in the new format since t has first been published abd I must say I don't like it.

- We now get 2 newspapers, one in the old format with half the information and a second in the tabloid version with some more information.

- Where is what? Why do I have to read 2 newspapers instead of one? What's the advantage?

- The smaller, tabloid part seems to be somewhat tabloid in contents as well, a clear loss of quality.

I will not renew the subscription, I guess I have to switch to Bangkok Bost.

[Sao Jiang Mai]

O dear, not impressed. I have had to buy a Post subscription for my parents as they can't stand new Nation format. I know of at least ten people who are ending their subs and moving to Post. I have always been such a fan of the political commentary and balls of The Nation, but last thing I want to do is trawl through three four pages of business news before getting to anything juicy. The express also seems rather thin...O dear. I will give them a chance, but so far no good.

[sriracha john]

Thaksin and his "close friend".... on a dual-grey kick...

She's garnered the front cover photo and lead story of the premiere issue of the just unveiled Daily XPress news service:

WHY I LOVE THE SHINAWATRAS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

R&B queen “Lydia” reveals why she cried on seeing the emotional home-coming scene at the Suvarnabhumi airport last week.

UPDATE...Thaivisa makes the news in this update on Daily XPress...

Local Man Makes Startling Discovery of Daily Xpress

BANGKOK - Archivist Ron Morris has made a shocking discovery of an original copy of the free Daily XPress. Photos of the rare find, posted on his popular website www.2Bangkok.com today, provide the first undeniable proof that the paper still exists.

“It is indeed an incredible discovery,” said media monitor Dominic Faulder. “Not one member of my staff had encountered that shambolic rag for months.”

In December, on Thaivisa.com, a thread was created to debate whether the tabloid had ever existed at all, with hundreds of users agreeing that they had never actually held a copy in their hands, seen it on the Skytrain, or in any of the city’s 32 Starbucks.

Several attempts by the thread’s moderator to solicit a copy from Nation subscribers – who allegedly received the Daily XPress inserted into their paper – were unsuccessful. “Does anyone subscribe to The Nation? Please send us a copy if you do,” the moderator requested in the forum. Several more attempts over the next few weeks under the headline “Anyone? Anyone?” went unanswered before the moderator finally gave up, concluding “I guess not.”

Reacting to Morris’ discovery, poster OldWheezer325 wrote on the thread today: “I still believe it is all just a big hoax. Who is to say this 2Bangkok guy isn’t in on it, too?” Another poster, DirtyHarry, wrote: “I am not sure what is the bigger surprise – that it still exists or that it ever existed at all.”

Morris, however, said the edition is a real copy and not a forgery. Dated May 14, 2008, it is believed to be one of only a few left in existence. “The rest have been thrown away, used to clean up after dogs, or burned for heat by vagrants,” he speculated.

Morris said he discovered the May 14 edition by accident. “Somebody had used it to wrap a present I received. I was just about to rip the paper and I thought, "No, this can’t be. Is this the Daily XPress? Holy shit!" I was so excited. It’s gonna be like the Honus Wagner [baseball card] of newspapers.”

- Not The Nation

===================================================================

"OldWheezer325"....

Edited February 7, 2009 by sriracha john

[mrtoad]

^^

Have to admit that Not The Nation is a much better read, than The Nation.

I wonder how much longer this thread will remain open.

[HorseDoctor]

The changes, which will start on March 5, are meant to better serve our readers, who we regard as smart

If they thought their readers were that smart they'd make sure to correct the many schoolboy errors in grammar and punctuation that litter nearly every article.

If I can proof read my posts on internet forums and use a spellchecker, surely it is not too much to ask a major English language newspaper to do the same?

It's so easy to criticise, isn't it, especially from a position of extreme ignorance. My friends at The Nation work for crap money, which means it's impossible to attract experienced staff. They turn over 4-5 times the amount of copy they would do on a normal newspaper yet have to work to ridiculously tight deadlines, all the while wrestling with sometimes near unintelligible English (I've seen samples, and it's enough to make a grown man cry). They also have to deal with writers of whom many are poorly trained and sadly deficient in their knowledge. What this means is that they are reduced to cutting corners however they can just to try and get the paper out. From what I've seen, theirs is a tough and thankless job -- thankless because they do the best they can under very trying conditions and then have to put up with ignorant criticism from people like you who have all the time in the world to edit their own copy. Sorry, pal, but my sympathies lie with my friends at The Nation, not with the likes of smart-alecks like you. In my opinion they do a great job in a difficult situation. So try to be a little bit more understanding. Like me, you should spend an evening in their newsroom and watch them work -- work miracles, actually -- and you'll not be so quick to judge.

Witawat

The Nation Weblog is also a paragon of free speech.

When every single reference to 1-2 Go criminality in the Phuket crash and Thai DCA corruption was deleted from this forum, The Nation Forum carried all content in it's entirety . So I support the paper and purchase it everyday.

No subject is forbidden.

The Bangkok Post forum would be if it weren't such a travesty of free speech. A lone moderator is about as anally retentive as they get. I never buy a print coy of the paper for that reason alone.

[HorseDoctor]

The changes, which will start on March 5, are meant to better serve our readers, who we regard as smart

If they thought their readers were that smart they'd make sure to correct the many schoolboy errors in grammar and punctuation that litter nearly every article.

If I can proof read my posts on internet forums and use a spellchecker, surely it is not too much to ask a major English language newspaper to do the same?

It's so easy to criticise, isn't it, especially from a position of extreme ignorance. My friends at The Nation work for crap money, which means it's impossible to attract experienced staff. They turn over 4-5 times the amount of copy they would do on a normal newspaper yet have to work to ridiculously tight deadlines, all the while wrestling with sometimes near unintelligible English (I've seen samples, and it's enough to make a grown man cry). They also have to deal with writers of whom many are poorly trained and sadly deficient in their knowledge. What this means is that they are reduced to cutting corners however they can just to try and get the paper out. From what I've seen, theirs is a tough and thankless job -- thankless because they do the best they can under very trying conditions and then have to put up with ignorant criticism from people like you who have all the time in the world to edit their own copy. Sorry, pal, but my sympathies lie with my friends at The Nation, not with the likes of smart-alecks like you. In my opinion they do a great job in a difficult situation. So try to be a little bit more understanding. Like me, you should spend an evening in their newsroom and watch them work -- work miracles, actually -- and you'll not be so quick to judge.

Witawat

The Nation Weblog is also a paragon of free speech.

When every single reference to 1-2 Go criminality in the Phuket crash and Thai DCA corruption was deleted from this forum, The Nation Forum carried all content in it's entirety . So I support the paper and purchase it everyday.

No subject is forbidden.

The Bangkok Post forum would be a jole if it weren't such a travesty of free speech. A lone moderator is about as anally retentive as they get. I never buy a print coy of the paper for that reason alone.

[hammered]

The changes, which will start on March 5, are meant to better serve our readers, who we regard as smart

If they thought their readers were that smart they'd make sure to correct the many schoolboy errors in grammar and punctuation that litter nearly every article.

If I can proof read my posts on internet forums and use a spellchecker, surely it is not too much to ask a major English language newspaper to do the same?

It's so easy to criticise, isn't it, especially from a position of extreme ignorance. My friends at The Nation work for crap money, which means it's impossible to attract experienced staff. They turn over 4-5 times the amount of copy they would do on a normal newspaper yet have to work to ridiculously tight deadlines, all the while wrestling with sometimes near unintelligible English (I've seen samples, and it's enough to make a grown man cry). They also have to deal with writers of whom many are poorly trained and sadly deficient in their knowledge. What this means is that they are reduced to cutting corners however they can just to try and get the paper out. From what I've seen, theirs is a tough and thankless job -- thankless because they do the best they can under very trying conditions and then have to put up with ignorant criticism from people like you who have all the time in the world to edit their own copy. Sorry, pal, but my sympathies lie with my friends at The Nation, not with the likes of smart-alecks like you. In my opinion they do a great job in a difficult situation. So try to be a little bit more understanding. Like me, you should spend an evening in their newsroom and watch them work -- work miracles, actually -- and you'll not be so quick to judge.

Witawat

The Nation Weblog is also a paragon of free speech.

When every single reference to 1-2 Go criminality in the Phuket crash and Thai DCA corruption was deleted from this forum, The Nation Forum carried all content in it's entirety . So I support the paper and purchase it everyday.

No subject is forbidden.

The Bangkok Post forum would be a jole if it weren't such a travesty of free speech. A lone moderator is about as anally retentive as they get. I never buy a print coy of the paper for that reason alone.

Their 92 stance was commendable too. Post was as always a lot more compliant to pressure.

However, the truth is every form of news media should be supported so that as many different inputs as possible are available to us. The news media also has to face up to changing markets and challenges through technology. Lets just hope as many as possible survive in whatever format works for them.