Bangkok Post

[matureamerican]

Did anyone else notice........in the Monday, 23 February editions of The Nation and the Bangkok Post..two identical Letters to the Editor from the same author about mobile phone use while driving. The Nation letter had a paragraph suggesting perhaps the proposed law was withdrawn because it may have a negative effect on the Prime Minister's family's mobile phone revenues. THIS PARAGRAPH WAS COMPLETELY MISSING IN THE BANGKOK POST LETTER. Hmmm, and this only a few days after the Post editor was promoted to his new management position. Hmmm, surely no connection. And why wouldn't we believe that there is no government pressure to censor or self-censor comments which may be construed as critical of the government. Perhaps the author of the Letter decided upon self-censorship.

Interesting also is that there was no indication that the letter had been edited. Perhaps the rules have changed or the Bangkok Post follows different rules than I was taught in high school and university research classes: one must indicate by .... that a passage or letter has "omitted" content. I guess they play by their own rules? Or someone's rules.

May we live in interesting times. And , indeed, we do.

[mrentoul]

Perhaps the rules have changed or the Bangkok Post follows different rules than I was taught in high school and university research classes: one must indicate by .... that a passage or letter has "omitted" content. I guess they play by their own rules? Or someone's rules.

Have a little think about this for a moment. The Post is not putting out research, it is producing a newspaper.

Production staff are not going to put in a little note every time they change the spelling of a word, insert a comma or hack out an over-worded, boring, meaningless or pretentious sentence. The newspaper would become even more boring etc than it already is.

You guys see a conspiracy lurking under every rock.

Warning to readers: this story has omitted content!

So <deleted> what.

[pnustedt]

So <deleted> what.

You are being accused of prejudicial editting - that's <deleted> what!

[PvtDick]

It is normal in most markets for different publications to position themselves as liberal or conservative, pro-government or pro-opposition.

So the Bangkok Post has obviously decided to position itself as a pro-government paper. So what? Did people expect that every publication in town was going to take an anti-government stance?

I'd suggest that people simply buy the paper that most reflects their own personal viewpoints.

[mrentoul]

You are being accused of prejudicial editting - that's <deleted> what

And I am telling you that production staff can choose to excise stuff for perfectly legitimate reasons.

I am sure letter writers would like to see their every word published, but it's not going to happen, because most letters are semi-literate at best - like many of the posts I read here.

[pnustedt]

And I am telling you that production staff can choose to excise stuff for perfectly legitimate reasons.

For sure - the letter has to fit into the space available, and the letter is then cut to fit, and the production staff CHOOSE what to cut.

[mrentoul]

and the production staff CHOOSE what to cut. 

You don't say. Would you rather we asked a streetcleaner to come in here and edit your precious letter?

That's why the newspaper employs journalists, who presumably know what they are doing.

[pnustedt]

That's why the newspaper employs journalists, who presumably know what they are doing.

A famous (or perhaps I should say infamous) newspaper barron once told me "never presume". Perhaps the best advice (or instruction) that I've ever received! Maybe you are not too important to listen to a street cleaner.

[mrentoul]

Maybe you are not too important to listen to a street cleaner.

I say again...would you like your letter to be edited by a street cleaner, or someone trained in the industry?

As I said above, you guys see a conspiracy under every rock. That paragraph came out because the production guy working on the page thought it was unnecessary.

In cutting the letter the production guy did not consult a streetcleaner, pnustedt (strange as that may seem to you), but exercised his professional judgement...just as a surgeon calls upon his training and experience when he cuts up someone in the operating theatre.

But if you want to take a streetcleaner in there next time you go for an op, then by all means go ahead.

[pnustedt]

But if you want to take a streetcleaner in there next time you go for an op, then by all means go ahead.

Yep, the street cleaner would have done a better job.

[plachon]

It's a great pity the Post doesn't take time to interview a few more street cleaners, (never mind bringing them in to the cutting room floor), instead of hanging on the every word of unsavoury politicians who sweep the streets clean through bought votes. If the so-called "journalists" got out on the streets a bit more it would help too, instead of pontificating from on high.

[mrentoul]

It's a great pity the Post doesn't take time to interview a few more street cleaners, (never mind bringing them in to the cutting room floor), instead of hanging on the every word of unsavoury politicians

I agree. The spoken word is unique, and looks terrific in print. I recall working with a journalist once who had a knack for capturing people's speech rhythms, their anxieties and so on as they were expressed in speech. He was a police reporter and as such often went out to speak to victims of this or that thug's brutality. He could bring to his writing what we call ''colour''.

At the Post, reporters seldom do real people (the average guy on the street), and when we do their reported speech often doesn't look right.

I have seen some notable and even moving exceptions, but they are few and far between. Most of the time, X politician is too busy ''ordering'' Y department to ''forward'' a report to cabinet for its weighty ''consideration''. Leaden, pompous prose, which bores the reader and adds nothing to his stock of knowledge.

Oddly enough, when our reporters go along to speak to someone who uses English, we stuff those quotes up as well.

[Up2U]

That's why the newspaper employs journalists, who presumably know what they are doing.

A famous (or perhaps I should say infamous) newspaper barron once told me "never presume".

But does that apply to 'presumably' ??

My lesson was (when I used 'presume' instead of 'assume') not to be presumptuous. But then, being British, I am never presumptuous.

I cannot think of a synonym for 'presumably'. Any suggestions?

And my grandmother was in service at a baron's residence, not a barron.

Sorry, but I am pedantic, if not presumtuous.