Has The Bangkok Post Become Dreary ?

[eric1000]

It needs a good redesign . more dead wood than a petrified forest ....

[Thetyim]

I have stopped reading it.

Too many inaccurate articles.

[mrentoul]

Redesign coming, along with new publishing system.

Can't imagine the content will change, though, unless the new design forces such things upon the editorial people.

Sometimes this can happen. My last newspaper made being stuffy an artform, until we went on line (turfed the typewriters for computers, got rid of the cold type people, and imposed a new design). Reporters were shocked to discover their precious stories - every word of which, you understand, was a perfect gem - were being cut in half!

I remember those days with great affection. At the time I was a reporter, and suffered along with everyone else. But now that I work on the other side of the fence (production), knocking reporters' words into shape, I love seeing stories get cut. In fact, I love being the guy wielding the knife.

I have a bad reputation at work for cutting up reporters' stuff. Looks like I'll just have to do penance in my next life, because it ain't stopping soon!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Redesign coming, along with new publishing system.

Can't imagine the content will change, though, unless the new design forces such things upon the editorial people.

Sometimes this can happen. My last newspaper made being stuffy an artform, until we went on line (turfed the typewriters for computers, got rid of the cold type people, and imposed a new design). Reporters were shocked to discover their precious stories - every word of which, you understand, was a perfect gem - were being cut in half!

I remember those days with great affection. At the time I was a reporter, and suffered along with everyone else. But now that I work on the other side of the fence (production), knocking reporters' words into shape, I love seeing stories get cut. In fact, I love being the guy wielding the knife.

I have a bad reputation at work for cutting up reporters' stuff. Looks like I'll just have to do penance in my next life, because it ain't stopping soon!

Tell 'em to be more contentious in the matters politic Michael. The other rag is toeing the line too much. Who said shareholders have no input

[mrentoul]

They say self-censorship is better than censorship imposed from above, but I am not sure I agree.

Anticipating a phone call, some writers are good at crafting their copy to avoid certain no-go words (''cover-up'' in the context of the bird flu crisis comes to mind) while still managing to get across the message that there was, indeed, a cover-up: see the thread George started on this issue.

One Reuters story quotes Thaksin saying that yes, he knew, but decided not to tell us for our own protection. Well, how sweet of him to care - but I'd still rather be in the know. In fact, damnit, it's my right.

The rot can start at the top, with the editorial writers, but then it spreads to columnists, to news chiefs and finally to the reporters. Soon everybody is busy anticipating what everyone else is doing. We can reach the point where legitimate stories just don't make it.

No one tells anyone else, they just don't appear. A day later, the stories that one outlet buried are part of the ebb and swirl of things, because someone else decided to publish. In the meantime, the outlet which censored itself has missed out, and let down its consumers (readers, viewers or whatever).

For the record, there's a bunch of English-language news outlets in this town, not just the Post and the Nation. Reuters, AP, and various other sources including webboards pose a legitimate competitive threat.

Given a choice I'd rather read it in my own paper first, thanks very much.

[davidm]

The Post has been an "establishment" publication from day one. I remember the first time they spiked one of my stories:

In the early 1990s there was an explosion/fire at Klong Toey port and the chemicals that engulfed the neighbourhood killed and poisoned a lot of slum dwellers. A couple of days later, I was in the port and spotted some workmen had left a bucket of tar to boil over an open flame. Just a couple of metres away were dozens of drums of a chemical even more volatile than petrol. None of the workers were in sight. These drums were in the open, under a blazing sun. The warning label, which I read before running like ######, read "Do not store under direct sunlight or near naked flame."

PAT officials went absolutely ballistic when I tried to probe a bit further into the lack of safety, but the Post just spiked the story as it was too negative.

One other thing that has always puzzled me about the rag is the number of staff they need to churn out a rag which has a print run of just 50,000 copies. Publications in the west with ten times the output have fewer staff.

[Johnny Moron]

What puzzles me most about the Bangkok Post are its lack of western-style investigative journalism and seeming inability to follow through comprehensively on stories of genuine interest.

With regard to the second point, whatever happened to that son of a famous politician who was charged with the shooting of a policeman at a Bangkok night club.

Additionally, a New Zealander (Ian Travis John) was shot dead on the orders of a rival Bangkok-based boiler-room operator called (I think) Mr Muller. I read that Mr Muller had been arrested in America and subsequently extradited to Thailand, but I have heard nothing since.

Much of the international content culled from Reuters and Ap is fine, interesting and appropriate. But the local coverage seems often to be wanting in depth and editorial "spice".

On the whole though, I like the paper; I enjoy the ramblings of "crutch" and applaud the decision to dispense with the services of that worn out loser, Bernard Trink.

[davidm]

The problem is that most Thais are incapable of questioning authority. Data is supplied to journalists by people who are senior to them - either someone in the government or in business. That handout is usually repeated word for word in the journalist's report. Another obstacle is laziness. Why bother investigating when someone has been kind enough to do your job for you and write the report? Your average Thai journalist sees his or her stint at a newspaper as preparation for more lucrative work in public relations.

There is rarely follow up to crime stories because it interferes with the process of bribing witnesses, judges and plaintiffs etc. Those involved don't want publicity. The local English language press doesn't want to publish articles which are so embarrassing to Thais and which could cause retribution from those exposed. A classic example is the Aussie accountant who was bumped off a couple of years ago while investigating missing funds.

The Post and Nation revel in providing an alternative, which is exposing dodgy goings on by foreigners. On some occasions, the foreigners exposed aren't even doing anything wrong, but a photographer is on hand. An example of this is when the Post accompanied police on a drug raid in Khao San in which hundreds of backpackers were searched. The Post published a photo on its front page of some poor girl in her underwear with police rummaging through her belongings. No mention of any crime being committed, though.

Personally, I don't think either paper is worth the 20 baht they charge.

[mrentoul]

I remember the first time they spiked one of my stories

If you're a westerner (as opposed to a Thai) then I am surprised they let you write at all. The Post has no westerners on its reporting staff.

If you were a contributor, freelance writer or feature writer then it gets more complicated!

[Georgie-Porgie]

What puzzles me most about the Bangkok Post are its lack of western-style investigative journalism and seeming inability to follow through comprehensively on stories of genuine interest.

With regard to the second point, whatever happened to that son of a famous politician who was charged with the shooting of a policeman at a Bangkok night club.

Additionally, a New Zealander (Ian Travis John) was shot dead on the orders of a rival Bangkok-based boiler-room operator called (I think) Mr Muller. I read that Mr Muller had been arrested in America and subsequently extradited to Thailand, but I have heard nothing since. 

Much of the international content culled from Reuters and Ap is fine, interesting and appropriate. But the local coverage seems often to be wanting in depth and editorial "spice".

On  the whole though, I like the paper; I enjoy the ramblings of "crutch" and applaud the decision to dispense with the services of that worn out loser, Bernard Trink.

How does one go about reporting a fake posting? I am a big Johnny Moron fan, and this is not Johnny Moron!

[eric1000]

If you were a contributor, freelance writer or feature writer then it gets more complicated!

trouble with the post is its too predicatable , the sports coverage is pretty good , the snooker especially.

the financial section seems to have too many graphs on too many pages and articles get repeated over and over again.

this section needs drastic changes.

[plachon]

For all the Post's little flaws and idiosyncracies, it still gets my vote over the main rival, mainly for the fact that they seem to have a bigger budget for printing regional and intnl. news stories that would never otherwise see the light of a Thai day. However, it has never been as good since a guy called Pratt left its editorial staff a half dozen or so years ago. He was also allowed a column in the Sunday magazine of that era and displayed an incredible knack for sharp, novel wit sadly lacking in the rag today.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

What puzzles me most about the Bangkok Post are its lack of western-style investigative journalism and seeming inability to follow through comprehensively on stories of genuine interest.

With regard to the second point, whatever happened to that son of a famous politician who was charged with the shooting of a policeman at a Bangkok night club.

Additionally, a New Zealander (Ian Travis John) was shot dead on the orders of a rival Bangkok-based boiler-room operator called (I think) Mr Muller. I read that Mr Muller had been arrested in America and subsequently extradited to Thailand, but I have heard nothing since.  

Much of the international content culled from Reuters and Ap is fine, interesting and appropriate. But the local coverage seems often to be wanting in depth and editorial "spice".

On  the whole though, I like the paper; I enjoy the ramblings of "crutch" and applaud the decision to dispense with the services of that worn out loser, Bernard Trink.

How does one go about reporting a fake posting? I am a big Johnny Moron fan, and this is not Johnny Moron!

Talk to George at [email protected]

[davidm]

If you're a westerner (as opposed to a Thai) then I am surprised they let you write at all. The Post has no westerners on its reporting staff.

Bear in mind this was over 10 years ago. In those days, I did a bit of freelancing for the rag. Since then, I've moved on to bigger and better things and the Post has moved to Klong Toey.