Roses and Rockets - Seven
This "Roses and Rockets" idea comes from my old mentor, Reuters, which used it to distribute compliments (Roses) or criticisms (Rockets) to its large force of correspondents and sub-editors worldwide during the 60s and 70s.
It was all in good spirit done for a vital feedback purpose. Even the best got a rocket once a while; and the newest recruit would sometimes earn a bouquet of roses.
Readers' contributions that are concise, informed and reasoned are very welcomed - but please, no personal complaints or rude remarks. Littlespeck will, of course, subject itself to the same criterion.
Jul 7, 2003

Rockets

When Singapore Airlines retrenched, The Straits Times provided a comprehensive coverage for days that readers appreciated - pages of news, interviews and pictures of departing workers.

But when it came to its own bad news, retrenchment of 111 SPH workers, the reporting was minimal.

It was nowhere near the intensive coverage given to SIA (tearful workers, free taxi rides, remember?) - and other high-profile down-sizing companies.

Readers were merely told Singapore Press Holdings had to retrench 111 employees, 38 of them journalists, for "right-sizing".

No names, no interviews despite the fact that some of the journalists affected were well-known people, some of them publicly-known for many years.

It was surely a matter of public interest.

The paper is, of course, not the only medium in Singapore that is guilty of inadequately covering its own "bad news." We hope it will be the last.

When Chinese-language TV Channel I, won - for the first time - many of Asia's awards, its opponent at Channel 8 (which had dominated for years) refused to air the ceremony.

When its star journalist, Zahara Latiff got into trouble for abusing a maid, Channel News Asia (CNA) was silent until the opposituion media broke the story.

As a former editor, I know how pervasive this trait has become in Singapore of people - especially businessmen - refusing to talk to the press.

When the news is "good" or they have a new product to sell, they're all smiles, wining and dining journalists. But when their companies run into trouble, they're nowhere to be seen, refusing even to return calls.

I know many of my fellow journalists have suffered in their work from this "keep-bad-news-under-wraps syndrome".

Media owners should contribute to stop this habit by themselves becoming more open when things are not too good.

Roses

Congratulations - and a bouquet - for TODAY newspaper for launching, at last, its own web-site www.todayonline.com. It's an crucial development for this reason.

Being a cost-free newspaper, it is distributed at MRT stations, which means readers' access to it is spotty at best. Many get it only if they ride the train at the right time of day.

This means a reader often gets one, but not another - no continuity suffers. Under this circumstance, it's hard to promote readership loyalty.

Its rival, Treats, is also a cost-free newspaper and has the same predicament - but it has the big advantage of being distributed to the home every morning - to subscribers of the Straits Times.

In other words, it's like a supplement of The Straits Times but with a much lower advertisement rate.

(See letter: Streats & Today. Streats only for ST subscribers in condos only, says reader)

With the web-site, TODAY has largely resolved the continuity problem among people with access to the Internet.

It also gives the newspaper a sense of stability that it will be around for a long time. This should be a boost to its own staff morale and advertisers', too.

What's more the launch came at the time when Singapore Press Holdings announced retrenchment of 38 (among 111 people) journalists. It was the third cut in two demoralising years.

Rockets

Looks like a poor week for The Straits Times. Nothing deliberate; the shoe happens to drop this way.

On July 2, the paper carried an inside report under the headline; "Chinese PM a big hit with people of Hong Kong."

In it, its Hong Kong reporter wrote that the friendly Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had "won over the Hong Kong people with his benevolent image."

This stirred some questioning because on Page 1 was a report of a street protest by half a million Hong Kong people against the proposed security law that would strike at the heart of their liberties.

To say that Mr. Wen had won over the people seemed jarring to me especially after I had viewed the Hong Kong (Cantonese) television coverage of the popular anger on the previous night.

Sure, it was directed at Chief Executive Tung Chee Wah, but the initiative was widely viewed as coming from China.

So, I asked myself, how could he have succeeded in winning over the hearts of Hong Kongers in a few hours visiting Sars-hit Amoy Gardens?

Actually she was right about the Premier being a friendly soul, and on a different day, he might have made a hit.

Surely not this day.

I was looking for portions of the report that backed up the headline - and found nothing.

Beyond a baby-hugging incident and a few friendly exchanges with the residents of Amoy Gardens, there was nothing remotely suggesting he had won over the Hong Kong people.
Seah Chiang Nee