Thai Press

A recent article in The Nation lauding the involvement of two Thai welders in the Chilean mine rescue operation proved to be inaccurate - the men were not welders. It was an error that causes the reader to question the accuracy of all other stories in the paper, and causes editors to chew the carpet and threaten all manner of injury to the offending reporter/writer. I was a reporter for two years and an editor for 26. I know of these things.

This is what I used to tell new and/or new-to-the-paper reporters:

“Never, ever in the history of mankind has there been a publication that has been entirely, 100 percent free of error. Please give that some thought. Meanwhile, this is your big chance to help us amend that woeful truth.”

Alas, it was not to be at any paper I worked at, despite the efforts of all of us who tried our level best to produce a flawless product. It can’t be done as long as people are involved in the work.

But it is especially difficult in Thailand for a number of reasons:

English is a foreign language here.

The country is struggling to emerge as a democracy, always a messy business.

The press is working under the strictures of a government suspicious of it.

A free, or more accurately, a semi-free press is new in this country, so it is unrealistic to expect it to spring upon the marketplace as a fully mature entity.

So I would ask those of us on the forum who are always ready with harsh judgment to pause before letting fly. Do not withhold criticism nor refrain from pointing out error. Just think about it for a minute or two. Newspapering is really, really difficult to get right, it takes a lot of people to do it, and nearly everyone who is working at it is doing the best he or she can. No newspaper, ever, anywhere, will be error free.