Phuket Gazette

[canadianmonkey]

lol i didnt say that you should listen to opinions, just basic news imo.. read the rolling 24/7 news on the bottom

If you believe both the selection of the news and the wording etc. is not opinionated, you'd better think twice.

seriously this bullshit that people have against american news being biased is a total nutjob.

Canadianmonkey you completely lost me with this rant. You contradict yourself in a couple of different ways but lets certainly be clear, the news networks are owned by large powerful companies (i.e. Time Warner) that definitely have interest in politics therefore will have their agenda.

Maybe that's what the Phuket Gazette lacks..........

I'll just never forget the time George the II was up for re-election. All the network news shows had the "Terror Alert". This was a bar that was on the screen that would climb and decrease as the "threat of terror" either climbed or decreased. The Republican party was the only party that could keep America safe (although they were in office during 9/11, when not out golfing) and this "terror alert" would climb, climb, climb when there was any type of Democratic news, and would decrease when George the II was on the screen.

So Canadianmonket, I could not get what you were trying to say in your rant, but lets be perfectly clear. Media in the U.S. is as big a propaganda machine as there is in the world and the Rupert Murdochs will be sure that their political interests are put forth on the networks they own.

i dont see what that has to do with the rolling news? i mean im not watching the dow jones sign or the terror bullshit, the rolling text just tells you the headlines. They dont really have the space needed there to actually be biased even politicaly. just dont listen to those dumb presentators and you're fine. Also what does it matter if theres propaganda? 90% of the population is on the border of legally retarded, hoping that they form their own opinion is a waste of time , the tards are always gonna make bad decisions no matter what. at least that way they stay inside on the couch and dont bother the rest of the world.

[LivinginKata]

90% of the population is on the border of legally retarded

And which side of 'retarded' do you consider yourself ? And are you related to/or know an old friend of this forum - little goat ?

[stevenl]

No matter what a tv station says, the news delivered is always the same and imo only people with iq's under 70 are affected by the choice of words,

The first part of this quote (and a quote like this: "the rolling text just tells you the headlines. They dont really have the space needed there to actually be biased even politicaly." proves you belong to the people with an IQ under 70.

[samuibeachcomber]

probably right,the papers been leaned on not to report negative stories,by the local thai political leaders/police/or real estate interests that are their main source of income.Sad but this is no democracy,although in day to day life it might feel like one.

[wensiensheng]

lol i didnt say that you should listen to opinions, just basic news imo.. read the rolling 24/7 news on the bottom

If you believe both the selection of the news and the wording etc. is not opinionated, you'd better think twice.

seriously this bullshit that people have against american news being biased is a total nutjob.

Canadianmonkey you completely lost me with this rant. You contradict yourself in a couple of different ways but lets certainly be clear, the news networks are owned by large powerful companies (i.e. Time Warner) that definitely have interest in politics therefore will have their agenda.

Maybe that's what the Phuket Gazette lacks..........

I'll just never forget the time George the II was up for re-election. All the network news shows had the "Terror Alert". This was a bar that was on the screen that would climb and decrease as the "threat of terror" either climbed or decreased. The Republican party was the only party that could keep America safe (although they were in office during 9/11, when not out golfing) and this "terror alert" would climb, climb, climb when there was any type of Democratic news, and would decrease when George the II was on the screen.

So Canadianmonket, I could not get what you were trying to say in your rant, but lets be perfectly clear. Media in the U.S. is as big a propaganda machine as there is in the world and the Rupert Murdochs will be sure that their political interests are put forth on the networks they own.

i dont see what that has to do with the rolling news? i mean im not watching the dow jones sign or the terror bullshit, the rolling text just tells you the headlines. They dont really have the space needed there to actually be biased even politicaly. just dont listen to those dumb presentators and you're fine. Also what does it matter if theres propaganda? 90% of the population is on the border of legally retarded, hoping that they form their own opinion is a waste of time , the tards are always gonna make bad decisions no matter what. at least that way they stay inside on the couch and dont bother the rest of the world.

I think I have lost the thread....of this thread. I make a point not to buy local newspapers that have more pages of advertising than local news. In fact, not only does PG have more pages of advertising than local news, it also has more pages of news from other places in Thailand, including Bangkok and international news, than it does local news. Quite why anyone would rely on a weekly local paper for national and international news, I have no idea. A local paper should do what it is supposed to do, report local news of interest to local residents.

I have no objection to PG doing what it does, it just means that I will never buy it. Period.

[simon43]

I agree with what hkt8300 suggested. Phuketwan does deal with news articles that are perhaps too 'sensitive' for others to report.

And no, I don't have shares in Phuketwan

Simon

[pagallim]

I agree with what hkt8300 suggested. Phuketwan does deal with news articles that are perhaps too 'sensitive' for others to report.

And no, I don't have shares in Phuketwan

Simon

[pagallim]

It's heartening that my initial post has provoked comment, and there's obviously a lot of shared views out there. I guess that the reality of being Thai expats is that we must learn to control our curiosity and need for information! I just have a deep dislike of being spoon fed 'propaganda', be it political or for the solving of crime. For me, the ethics of publishing a local paper, particularly one directed at expats, is to provide information and through the target population gaining local knowledge, advice on the society, culture, and inherent problems of where we live. There's obviously a market for such publications out there, and maybe one day somebody will be brave enough to create one. I can even suggest a name for it, it could be called 'Truth Today'. Phuketwan looks like it could be such a vehicle, as long as they don't get carried away by the need to sell advertising columns, and falsely enhance the perception of paradise that realty developers desire.

[MyphuketLife]

well its kind of your fault if you are reading it.

If you wanna know what's up, read some forums, watch fox news every couple days and listen to what old thai people with no job are talking about outside of obesity and food.

Phuket gazette is a waste of tree slaughtering, my highschool newspaper was more worthy then this piece of crap created ONLY to overprice shitty realestate

Fox news Oh Dear!! you are american then

Hey not all us Americans like that crap news....

[MyphuketLife]

The Nation newspaper owns the PG.

Policy is made by them.

The Nation owns the paper that we are complaining about on the "Nations" internet forum?

[MyphuketLife]

the only way to have PG change their reporting policy is to refuse to visit their site, and refuse to pick up their printed papers... A boycott of them would have their reader numbers down, low reader numbers mean that advertisers will not spend the money to buy ads.... At the end of the day a paper needs its reader more than the readers need the paper.... Maybe a drastic decrease in readers will make them start reporting again.....

As of late I see these types of reports:

Phuket Phone Book Set Record

http://www.phuketgazette.net/dailynews/pri...amp;fromindex=1

Gazette Online Smashes Visitor Records

http://www.phuketgazette.net/articles/article7010.html

Both high-quality need to know reports on "how great" the gazette is

[keestha]

PG's online yellow pages are great, and so is their classifieds section.

For the rest, nothing much positive to mention.

[vanalli]

I don't think the Gazette is actually owned by Nation. The two have an agreement, but Nation doesn't own PG. I also don't think it's true that PG is told what it can and cannot print. The decision to focus more on softer stories is purely editorial and can be attributed, at least to an extent, to a change in managing editor.

I don't know if you are all aware of this, but the PG experienced a huge turnover in staff not so long ago. A lot changed at PG, so I think you have to cut them some slack while they are finding their feet, so to speak. There is no reason why readers can't send letters to the editor and make suggestions. If you don't like something in the paper, tell them -- they will listen.

I have my own thoughts about the direction the PG has gone. I tend to be more picky about style, such as the lack of unfamiliarity in the datelines, use of grammar, spellings and so on, but I understand that those guys have been pulling some long hours in recent months and they are doing the best they can. Not all decisions are good, but they do work hard to produce the end copy. Staffing has always been an issue at the Gazette, but it looks as if they now have a team who should be able to work towards better things.

[LiveSteam]

Just mention Fox News and the far left and socialist in exile come out of the wood work. The subject is about PG which has changed over the years in some ways and I remember in the beginning when it used to almost always talk about the crime and most of the business in Phuket didn’t like it because we though it drove the tourist away.

[huggybear]

90% of the population is on the border of legally retarded

and the source of this information is...........................a retarded mind?

[thaiwanderer]

I don't think the Gazette is actually owned by Nation. The two have an agreement, but Nation doesn't own PG. I also don't think it's true that PG is told what it can and cannot print. The decision to focus more on softer stories is purely editorial and can be attributed, at least to an extent, to a change in managing editor.

and editorial decision making can never be influenced by interested parties

the enitre rag should have a heading of 'advertisment feature' on the top of every page

if they are afraid to pursue a balanced approach to reporting they should not pretend they are journalists / that it is a newspaper

[vanalli]

Look at the difference in product between the former and the current ME. Two different editors, two different directions for the paper. The amount of influence those interested parties have on the paper depends a lot on the editor.

I don't think the Gazette is actually owned by Nation. The two have an agreement, but Nation doesn't own PG. I also don't think it's true that PG is told what it can and cannot print. The decision to focus more on softer stories is purely editorial and can be attributed, at least to an extent, to a change in managing editor.

and editorial decision making can never be influenced by interested parties

the enitre rag should have a heading of 'advertisment feature' on the top of every page

if they are afraid to pursue a balanced approach to reporting they should not pretend they are journalists / that it is a newspaper

[HorseDoctor]

90% of the population is on the border of legally retarded

and the source of this information is...........................a retarded mind?

It has been said that when one has an high IQ, one must suffer the idiocy of more than those of average IQ's who have fewer numbers of lower intelligence populace under them.

It's actually quite simple arithmetic.

The more intelligent one is , the less intelligent more are.

But back on topic, I see the past 3 weeks there's at least one letter to Editor , nauseatingly praising.."Oh, the layout is so much more colourful, etc.."

Barf.

And the cartoons are now totally stereotypically sexist , all the Thai women are "Bargirl" types, it's turning into the Pattaya Mail where I saw an ad for a " Girlie " bar .." Where the Pussy hasn't got an attitude."

[HorseDoctor]

Just mention Fox News and the far left and socialist in exile come out of the wood work. The subject is about PG which has changed over the years in some ways and I remember in the beginning when it used to almost always talk about the crime and most of the business in Phuket didn't like it because we though it drove the tourist away.

Yeah, and with the complete and utter socialization of the banking, insurance and auto industries, looks like we all can head home , soon! Hurrah !

And heavens no , WE can't have tourists knowing the truth about crime in Phuket. Why Hannah Backlund might have gone elsewhere if she known it might not be a good idea to have that walk on Mai Khao beach , by herself... at high noon.

( Young Swedish WOMAN butchered, literally, in a " rape" attempt, March 15 2008 )

Edited February 4, 2009 by HorseDoctor

[ItsPhuketTownNotCity]

I don't think the Gazette is actually owned by Nation. The two have an agreement, but Nation doesn't own PG. I also don't think it's true that PG is told what it can and cannot print. The decision to focus more on softer stories is purely editorial and can be attributed, at least to an extent, to a change in managing editor.

I don't know if you are all aware of this, but the PG experienced a huge turnover in staff not so long ago. A lot changed at PG, so I think you have to cut them some slack while they are finding their feet, so to speak. There is no reason why readers can't send letters to the editor and make suggestions. If you don't like something in the paper, tell them -- they will listen.

I have my own thoughts about the direction the PG has gone. I tend to be more picky about style, such as the lack of unfamiliarity in the datelines, use of grammar, spellings and so on, but I understand that those guys have been pulling some long hours in recent months and they are doing the best they can. Not all decisions are good, but they do work hard to produce the end copy. Staffing has always been an issue at the Gazette, but it looks as if they now have a team who should be able to work towards better things.

Well, you or your life partner must be one of the 3 remaining Gazette staff that existed some months ago (most quit or were fired).

The cause of the continuous turnover in staff is that the owner, Mr. Magoo, sucks the life out of the employees until they quit (or are fired on unreasonably and on unlawful grounds) and never gives his employees the tools to do their job properly. He is only interested in keeping costs down as low as possible while sucking money from advertisers.

The new Managing Editor has no newspaper experience, no experience living in Phuket, no knowledge of Thai or Thai culture, and is basically clueless but he is a great butt-licker.

They do no more local crime news solely because they have no on-the-ground reporters any longer.

They have more outside-Phuket news than local news because their only means to get news is to borrow/steal from other publications. Oh, yeah, they do have freelancers that contribute, but most of them don't even live in Thailand and the articles are generic pablum.

There is a huge demand and hole for local news. To be honest, I get mine from ThaiVisa and Phuket-info forums which, at present, are the best news sources. Phuketwan needs more daily content and it could easily surpass PG, but as long as advertisers keep paying lots of cash for advertisements, nothing at PG will change.

Too bad. Mr. Magoo invested lots of cash in PGTV, which nobody watches, and a new office opening soon that will become an echo chamber because of lack of employees to fill it. That money could have been put into ground reporters, cars for ground reporters, camera equipment, police scanners, and other stuff that would have made it top-notch and second to none.

'Nuff said.

[vanalli]

To be honest, there is such a thing as diplomacy and not slinging mud for the sake of it. Sometimes it's better to bite your tongue.

EDIT: I mean, people know who I am. Talking dirty will only come back to bite me.

Edited February 4, 2009 by vanalli

[DrDave]

With all the discussion and criticism of the Phuket Gazette I've seen over the past few years, I find it curious that nobody ever mentions the other local English language "newspaper" - the Phuket Post.

I don't buy or read either one, but looking at both websites, the Phuket Post looks like more of the same (and perhaps even weaker on the news front).

Just curious as to why the Gazette is always singled out, while nobody ever mentions the Post.

[ItsPhuketTownNotCity]

With all the discussion and criticism of the Phuket Gazette I've seen over the past few years, I find it curious that nobody ever mentions the other local English language "newspaper" - the Phuket Post.

I don't buy or read either one, but looking at both websites, the Phuket Post looks like more of the same (and perhaps even weaker on the news front).

Just curious as to why the Gazette is always singled out, while nobody ever mentions the Post.

Well, I've never met any disgruntled/p*ssed off ex-Post employees as opposed to the Gazette; witness Chris Husted's going away party - by and large there was one common denominator of the attendees.

[ItsPhuketTownNotCity]

To be honest, there is such a thing as diplomacy and not slinging mud for the sake of it. Sometimes it's better to bite your tongue.

EDIT: I mean, people know who I am. Talking dirty will only come back to bite me.

""There is no reason why readers can't send letters to the editor and make suggestions. If you don't like something in the paper, tell them -- they will listen."

There's a small chance they will listen, a smaller chance that they will think about it, and an almost nil chance that they will act on it. Only when ad revenues drop will any action be taken.

"...I understand that those guys have been pulling some long hours in recent months".

Phuket Gazette employees have been putting in long hours since the dawn of time. Nothing new there.

You are trying to defend the indefensible and put lipstick on a pig. I have no clue who you are but I resent the false situation that you are attempting to portray about the Gazette. Bite my tongue? Have we reached the point that truth is verbotten?

[phuketjames]

I don't think the Gazette is actually owned by Nation. The two have an agreement, but Nation doesn't own PG. I also don't think it's true that PG is told what it can and cannot print. The decision to focus more on softer stories is purely editorial and can be attributed, at least to an extent, to a change in managing editor.

I don't know if you are all aware of this, but the PG experienced a huge turnover in staff not so long ago. A lot changed at PG, so I think you have to cut them some slack while they are finding their feet, so to speak. There is no reason why readers can't send letters to the editor and make suggestions. If you don't like something in the paper, tell them -- they will listen.

I have my own thoughts about the direction the PG has gone. I tend to be more picky about style, such as the lack of unfamiliarity in the datelines, use of grammar, spellings and so on, but I understand that those guys have been pulling some long hours in recent months and they are doing the best they can. Not all decisions are good, but they do work hard to produce the end copy. Staffing has always been an issue at the Gazette, but it looks as if they now have a team who should be able to work towards better things.

Well, you or your life partner must be one of the 3 remaining Gazette staff that existed some months ago (most quit or were fired).

The cause of the continuous turnover in staff is that the owner, Mr. Magoo, sucks the life out of the employees until they quit (or are fired on unreasonably and on unlawful grounds) and never gives his employees the tools to do their job properly. He is only interested in keeping costs down as low as possible while sucking money from advertisers.

The new Managing Editor has no newspaper experience, no experience living in Phuket, no knowledge of Thai or Thai culture, and is basically clueless but he is a great butt-licker.

They do no more local crime news solely because they have no on-the-ground reporters any longer.

They have more outside-Phuket news than local news because their only means to get news is to borrow/steal from other publications. Oh, yeah, they do have freelancers that contribute, but most of them don't even live in Thailand and the articles are generic pablum.

There is a huge demand and hole for local news. To be honest, I get mine from ThaiVisa and Phuket-info forums which, at present, are the best news sources. Phuketwan needs more daily content and it could easily surpass PG, but as long as advertisers keep paying lots of cash for advertisements, nothing at PG will change.

Too bad. Mr. Magoo invested lots of cash in PGTV, which nobody watches, and a new office opening soon that will become an echo chamber because of lack of employees to fill it. That money could have been put into ground reporters, cars for ground reporters, camera equipment, police scanners, and other stuff that would have made it top-notch and second to none.

'Nuff said.

The new managing editor has lived in Phuket for years and speaks and reads Thai, you obviously have some sort of a grudge against him.

The Gazette reports all the crime that it finds out about. All the other Thai language newspapers have police scanners and so are able to get a lot of information this way. The Phuket Gazette cannot have them on the premises because the offices are regularly raided and they are illegal.

If you know of a crime then telephone the Gazette and tell us about it and we will write about it.

I mainly do sports writing but if something is interesting I will write about it.

If any of you have any ideas for stories please contact me. My name is James Goyder and i will make sure I check my messages on this forum regularly.

The Gazette is limited by teh fact that it has a small staff and is on a small budget but we do the best we can with teh resources we have. I agree that there is currently too much 'general' news and not enough which is specific to Phuket but this is something we are trying to redress.

The Gazette makes its money from advertising, not from sales, so it is inevitable that there are going to be a lot of adverts.

It seems to me that some of the criticism here is valid, but a lot of it seems to come from people who are personally disgruntled with the gazette for whatever reason.

The people that are there now are doing the best they can with the resources they have.

[ItsPhuketTownNotCity]

The Phuket Gazette cannot have them on the premises because the offices are regularly raided and they are illegal.

If you know of a crime then telephone the Gazette and tell us about it and we will write about it.

The people that are there now are doing the best they can with the resources they have.

Quite funny. I thought police scanners would be used in cars ready to go to the crime scene; oh, but wait, you have no reporters, and if you did have reporters, they would not have Gazette-supplied cars.

Hmmm, the OP was about the Gazette not reporting crime stories any longer. So, you are taking your own initiative? And you take phone-in stories? Maybe you should get together with the ME and owner and check this out first.

Listen, this is nothing personal. I am sure you are all working yourselves to the bone and I'm not taking anything away from that.

Good luck. I'll ping you in 6 months and see if you are still there.

[phuketjames]

The Phuket Gazette cannot have them on the premises because the offices are regularly raided and they are illegal.

If you know of a crime then telephone the Gazette and tell us about it and we will write about it.

The people that are there now are doing the best they can with the resources they have.

Quite funny. I thought police scanners would be used in cars ready to go to the crime scene; oh, but wait, you have no reporters, and if you did have reporters, they would not have Gazette-supplied cars.

Hmmm, the OP was about the Gazette not reporting crime stories any longer. So, you are taking your own initiative? And you take phone-in stories? Maybe you should get together with the ME and owner and check this out first.

Listen, this is nothing personal. I am sure you are all working yourselves to the bone and I'm not taking anything away from that.

Good luck. I'll ping you in 6 months and see if you are still there.

Cheers.

I don't get too involved with the politics of the paper, mainly i just write.

I don't know where the story has come from about the gazette only reporting a certain number of crime stories but this is the first I have heard of it.

I know that the Phuket Post has a more magazine style editorial policy because I have spoken to the editor about this.

Of the two newspapers the Phuket Gazette is far more willing to publish 'hard' news, such as crime reporting.

There are certain stories that are easy to go out and find. I interviewed someone at the public health office about HIV in phuket yesterday and this will be published soon. I have also interviewed Thailand manager Peter Reid and Australian boxer Michael Katsidis and both these articles will appear soon.

We are doing everything we can to find stories like this. I was the only journalist who interviewed Peter Reid while he was in Phuket.

In terms of crime, short of putting a reporter on every street corner at night, what can we do? If i see something happen I will write about it but otherwise we are dependent upon what the police choose to tell us and what members of the public phone in.

And like i said before, if anyone has an interesting story, let me know and i will write about it. I think all local newspapers are dependent to some extent on receiving information from the general public and the Gazette is no different.

Like I said, I only write I am not involved editorially but feel free to send me any feedback and i will pass it on to the relevant people.

I'd like to think I will be at the Gazette for 6 years, let alone 6 months, because I really like my job, but I guess only time will tell!

[Syl]

The Phuket Gazette cannot have them on the premises because the offices are regularly raided and they are illegal.

If you know of a crime then telephone the Gazette and tell us about it and we will write about it.

The people that are there now are doing the best they can with the resources they have.

Quite funny. I thought police scanners would be used in cars ready to go to the crime scene; oh, but wait, you have no reporters, and if you did have reporters, they would not have Gazette-supplied cars.

Hmmm, the OP was about the Gazette not reporting crime stories any longer. So, you are taking your own initiative? And you take phone-in stories? Maybe you should get together with the ME and owner and check this out first.

Listen, this is nothing personal. I am sure you are all working yourselves to the bone and I'm not taking anything away from that.

Good luck. I'll ping you in 6 months and see if you are still there.

Talking about Phuket Gazettes little cars!!! Could you please ask your drivers to slow down a bit when driving around Phuket. And stop your drivers jumping to the front of the queues at traffic lights?

Not very good advertising your papers name on vehicles, if the drivers drive like complete idiots with no respect for other road users!!!

Maybe one day your be doing your own story about one of your cars involved in an accident!!! Makes me want to buy a paper straight away.

Syl.

[NBT TV Phuket]

" I was the only journalist who interviewed Peter Reid while he was in Phuket."

Not true. See our Andaman News interviews of Peter:

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=921

or

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=932

or

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=841

or

plus of course there were several Thai reporters interviewing him too during his recent visits.

As for crime, we also rely on our Thai reporters and Thai police for most information, but we also welcome any suggestions from viewers. However we do not show some of the gory/bloody images seen in some Thai newspapers and even on some Thai TV channels.

[phuketjames]

" I was the only journalist who interviewed Peter Reid while he was in Phuket."

Not true. See our Andaman News interviews of Peter:

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=921

or

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=932

or

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=841

or

plus of course there were several Thai reporters interviewing him too during his recent visits.

As for crime, we also rely on our Thai reporters and Thai police for most information, but we also welcome any suggestions from viewers. However we do not show some of the gory/bloody images seen in some Thai newspapers and even on some Thai TV channels.

I stand corrected. I was the only person asking questions in english during the press conferences...