Thursday, December 07, 2006
Blame it on Kali and Hisham!
Has the kitchen gotten too hot? I missed the Aidcom forum's morning session; some participants were still talking about how hot it was. Screenshots has the story here - a foreign editor pointing a finger at a local editor who had pointed a finger at his group editor-in-chief. Rajen Moses, the local editor in this kitchen, was brought into NSTP by the then GEIC Kalimullah Hassan and now serves under Hishamuddin Aun, the current chef.
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When you have an Executive Editor which says "you can't decline the GEIC" on the grounds that it is a politically protected position, then you are likely to have a problem.
ReplyDeleteHere's a guy, earning his (fat) bread and butter from a company, and goes on record to say/insinuate/suggest:
a) my bosses run the show, I'm just a puppet
b) my bosses are run by politicians, I don't have any say
c) I'll take my paycheque thank you, so what's morals if I don't agree with a story
d) I won't resign because I'm just a yes man, and these people loves a yes man
Geez Rajan! I'd call you a man for admitting you're not, but I'd also call you a wimp for having no backbone.
Get a job.
what's the problem. at least rajan moses has the guts to admit he has to take orders from the boss, in this case umno or whatever. you may be the group editor or whatever but at the end of the day you realise its the powers-that-be that call the shots. put simply, it's take it or leave it.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is NSTMAN, that he griped about it. The advice is succint; if you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteDon't be a hypocrite and take money from the organisation and then admit, not to the people that matter, that their shots hold no water because "I am the Editor".
No Such Thing in N-S-T, get it?!
To b.a. bakar:
ReplyDelete"a) My bosses run the show, I'm just a puppet;
b) my bosses are run by politicians, I don't have any say;
c) I'll take my paycheque thank you, so what's morals if I don't agree with a story;
d) I won't resign because I'm just a yes man, and these people loves a yes man."
Touche! You made it very clear yourself.
An EMPLOYEE must have an EMPLOYER. There you go.
That Thai fella said: "Media owners do interfere. Everywhere."
OI! He said media OWNERS! If I own the media I bloody hell tell the people operating it to do things MY way.
If you want "freedom", go rear chickens, tap rubber, sell Ramly burger, etc.
I'm not saying I condone shackled journalism and neither am I a defeatist, in this issue.
As long as media owners (no, not the ones listed in the company profile but the political parties/Government) remain the same, do you seriously think even an Exec. Ed. can go against what his/her boss says?
What, you think the Exec. Ed. is a special being who doesn't have to earn a salary to live?
And to all writers out there who seriously think that there is such a thing as total freedom in journalism, stop thinking and just do what you are assigned to do by your Editors/News Editors/Asst. News Editors/whoever in charge.
If you still want to write and have more freedom than mainstream media, run your own publication/production house - write/shoot documentaries about food, entertainment, gadgets, men, women, travel, golf, cars, bikes, fashion, etc.
Rocky is doing it ;)
*TypicalProgrammer*
ReplyDeleteI have crappy job. I still stay with my job cause i need it. I will only change job if I can find one but seeing the FDI is shrinking everyday I am stuck at this MNC hoping i wont get retrenched as other MNC are not expanding aggressively now. I blame Abdullah for that. Still if my boss ask me to write a defective software just to meet his timeline I ouwld still quite. There is such thing as moral ethics. I would assume an editor holds a bigger burden to the nation. They must have the guts to go againts their boss because an editor role is important in a society. Now a minister shouldn't just approve a crony project just because the Pm ask him to right?
Again, to b.a. bakar:
ReplyDeleteYou say 'gripe', but wasn't Rajan simply 'answering' a question?
Rajan said: "Don't always gun down the journalists."
He should've left out the word 'always'.
I'll get a bit worked up if I'm the (appointed) head of a publications/media house and someone from some 'Centre' can't understand something so simple such as that I earn a living at NST or wherever.
And bamm! people like you, b.a. bakar, say Rajan 'griped' about it.
If you don't like me being where I am, vote against the party or parties that put me there, for example.
erm actually a lot of newpapers (eg South China Morning Post, New York Times, Bangkok Post, and most Chinese papers in HK) hold the separation between management and editorial SACRED.
ReplyDeletein those institutions, ideas such as freedom of speech, integrity, without fear or favour, etc (you know those 'TENETS OF JOURNALISM' our ministers were preaching about) are upheld in the 'NOBLE' profession.
one day they tell us to uphold the tenets, the next day they say it's ok just listen to the boss and get your paycheck cos nothing is gonna change in malaysia anyway..
WTF?
i think the first step would be to grow a backbone. malaysia has turned into a country invertebraes.
The Thai fella also said: "To toe the line or not, ultimately the editor must decide."
ReplyDeleteCheers to his idea of independent journalism. I envy them over there. My best wishes to them.
Personally, I don't think he believes in what he himself said.
In other words, a load of bull$#1+...
Many are missing the point of what I wrote.
ReplyDeleteRajan sounded defeatist to me; by saying "don't always gun down the journalist", he is positioning himself and/or his journalists as of no character.
Admittedly, it takes a lot to leave an orgamisation if your own values are compromised - the bills alone would be a grave concern - but tha way Rajan put it is he is happy to be in that position.
BECAUSE he sad what he said, it is ASSUMED that he has a problem with the "interference". But he is not about to take a position on the interference but just leave it be because the boss is a politically ordered man.
Anonymous of 232pm epitomised the character: If I own the business, I'll do it my way.
Excuse me, if your way is right, fine. But if there is a better way, darn it....
Whatever happened to listening to the employee, giving him the right to state (not shout) his reasoning. He was hired to do a job. Not to cater to your whims and fancies.
Yes it may sound a tad realist, hence, unreal in the sense of the world today. Still, as you said it, Rocky's doing it!
What 'better way'? If it is 'my way', it is already the 'best'! Don't you get it?
ReplyDeleteAnd if 'my way' works for me all this while - gaining me power, accumulating wealth, influence and everything else - why should I listen to my employees?
And yes, you said it again - I do expect an EMPLOYEE to 'cater' to MY 'whims and facies'. Haven't you heard of such a thing as 'I pay you to do, not to think'..?
After all, I own the business. Duhh.
Please keep in mind that there's no democracy here, as far as owning media houses/publications are concerned.
I (meaning political parties) own them. They are mine. No votes needed to remain so!
The guys in my party (BN, for example) might change but they don't own the media. The party does.
Whether or not Rajan is happy to be a pawn or puppet is irrelevant.
Just because he has problems with the 'interference', that doesn't mean that he is in a boo-hoo position that we have to sympathise or even emphatise with.
This is all good, don't you think? People with different opinions and views.
ReplyDeleteWhile bloggers like Rocky, Jeff Ooi, NGOs, Centre for Independent Journalism and many others, plus commenters from b.a.bakar and also many others argue that newspapers, TVs and such should do the 'right' things, there are people who simply see it as black & white, i.e. "I own them. They do what I want. Be damned with nationalism, values and so on."
That's the yin-yang, balance in 'The Force', equilibrium...
Makes the world go around.
Keep it up!
Point taken. Nope, I'm not on Rajan's side.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree that the media is "owned", and the owners in this case seem to be the "twist my arm" kind of owner.
Sigh, now I'm sounding defeatist.
I run a business. But I don't own it. My boss does.
ReplyDeleteHe's a tyrant, many people say. Catering to his 'whims and fancies' over the years, I now have stomach ulser, high blood and all the stress-induced health problems.
Most of my 'customers' hate me. They say bad things about me. They want me out. They want my blood. You get the idea.
But hey, I may be physically unhealthy (or even morally impaired), but I do earn (fat) bread & butter there... AND my boss, who doesn't see there's anything wrong with my performance - doesn't want me out.
By now, I can see that even by being the least profitable of all our competitors, the company is still in the market, since my boss is very rich and is able to keep the company afloat.
Sihat or not, I pay my bills on time. I enjoy the fringe benefits along the way and my family is well fed, clothed, sheltered and schooled.
Do I have a problem?
Like most people - Yes and No.
I'm managing it. I'll quit when I'm tired of it or worse, my doctor gives me some bad news.
Till then, my customers can continue hating me.
Dear Rocky
ReplyDeleteWe, Malaysians, are sick and fed up with the ABB's administration. I think it is enough. Pleae call teh General Elections quickly so that we can resolve whatever the matters once and for all.
We must get rid of "I do Not Know' so that the menances like Kalimulah and SIL are atuomatically got rid of.
Who is Hishamuddin Aun? What is his background and what is so special about him?
ReplyDeleteI always see his pictures in NST, Berita Harian, Harian Metro, even politician, never get that kind of treatment - 4 papers in a row, but I never read his writing, except once or twice in Berita Minggu.
dear anonymous, hishamudin aun is the nst group head honcho who doesn't write. he chairs meetings, but most of the time he doesn't know what he is doing. anyway, why bother, he gets a fat salary. i bet rocky would love to be in that position. would you?
ReplyDeletenstman said...
ReplyDeletei bet rocky would love to be in that position. would you?
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nstman,
U got anything against rocky?
Maybe you talking abt yrself.
Rocky!
ReplyDeleteDid you know that the two day forum at Crown Princess in which you participated is funded by ECM Libra Avenue in which Kalimullah and Khairy have a stake in the company? I just dont see the rational why you people accept "blod money" for staging your conference!:
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"The two-day forum, funded by ECM Libra Avenue, also saw the participation of Berita Publishing editor-in-chief Kadir A Jasin, Bangkok Post editor-in-chief Pichai Chuensuksawadi, News Straits Times executive editor Rajan Moses and political blogger Jeff Ooi." Malaysia Today.