Very simple, remove all the red tapes and you will see all your journalists suddenly becoming so talented overnight. Whats the point of being so talented when what are actually being reported are all being censored, you cut the head, you cut the tail and then cut the body, what else to report?

HEAR ONLY THE GOOD STUFF!

“I don’t see that kind of talent in our young journalists”

I don’t see any talent in the newspaper editors either.

I don’t see any talent in the management either.

who has the final say on what the journalist in the political section of the 154Shit154thimes can write and pubilsh? Cinderella’s siblings?

the hope of an impartial and professional media lies in an enlighten citizenry. when every citizen in whatever station or office he is in, think a little, have a little conscience and integrity, and ask a simple question, ‘if i do this or that, if i am to enforce or regulate, is it for the good of the country or for the good of something else?’

when the citizenry start to question their own actions on the basis of integrity, conscience, moral responibilities, self respect, then maybe there is hope for an enlighten media.

Do Singaporeans in high positions really need to take decades to realize where we are heading?

Pardon me, I just can’t believe it ! Devan Nair, Ong Teng Cheong, Tan Kin Lian and now Balji, they (were) are in the System themselves helping to shape the country in their earlier days, earlier days that run into decades. And now they seem to dislike the Result that they helped to achieve.

Hey, You people have your hands in it, You know?

patriot

Good Morning,

LOL Once again. Why does it not suprise me, Balji harbors another set of false assumptions; that is why what he has to say here isn’t something stellar as it remains a muffled crie de couer; to paraphrase Balji; what he is in effect saying is; if the right conditions magically came into being (presumably if govt decamped from limiting the role of the press from playing the fourth estate); the press would somehow be able to prosper in the digital age and even be able to step out from its current unimaginative moribund chrysalis; forgive me, but that IMHO is like saying a tornado can rip through the junkyard in National Steel and magically assemble a 747. Probabilities dont make for possibilities.

The danger inherent in Balji’s assumption, is it fails to recognize the salient; its conceivable, the press has become so terminally miserly, complacent and supine that it CANNOT reasonably be expected to step up to the plate EVEN if the right conditions somehow came into being; its even possible, there isnt sufficient intellectual capital, not of the quantity and quality at least to even support the journalistic metier we usually associate with world class outfits; and the rot is already so acute; it’s beyond all prospects of economic rehabilitation.

I think in this case; our government MAY be both right and wise to set a clear remit on the role of our press. I would have done the same thing and it would just take me 5 seconds to sign off.

Can you all imagine what would happen if some journalist in SPH are given free rein? Do you all have any idea what they will do to the internet?

I don’t imagine Balji knows. Dont worry, we will reach there, water always finds its level. Trust me, no one can fight gravity.

SD (Internet liaison officer of the brotherhood)

we don’t have enough intellectual talents? that is too insulting and patronising.

you can bring in all the best foreign talents to replace our media professionals. would it make any difference?

SPH’s stand is that it is not ‘pro govt’ but ‘pro-singapore’. However, as you can see, if the govt believes it is the only entity who knows what is pro-singapore, then the lines really becomes muddled.

Also, the insistence – and SPH observes that too – on criticising policies but not people also becomes problematic. Because it means that questions of competency and integrity of individuals cannot be raised. Journalists have been taken to task for reporting on the more ‘personal’ stories, for eg Mdm Lee seeking treatment in UK (correct me if I’m wrong; can’t find articles online). The underlying assumption is that PAP officials and ministers are incorruptible and competent so these are out of bounds. However, policies and the character of the policy-makers cannot be seen as separate issues. If I don’t know the policy-maker and about his connections to business interests etc well enough, how am I to know that the policies are not made to benefit them?

Lastly of course, is the question of who owns SPH. You can’t say that SPH operates independently any more than Fox News operate independently of the Conservative Agenda, if majority stake of SPH is under Temasek. (Fox is owned by Rupert Murdoch who is unabashedly Conservative)

mr brown was a great journalist for today medias
he wrote with his heart and soul
catherine lim is another ex-government service writer
so is the former hdb cum whatever pap whipper
ngiam something
in singapore
you want your ricebowl?
write the way the mental1 want it to be written
p.s.
i am the ONE
that got the poor journalist who got fired and transferred
with the ceditor in charge demoted
when she was writing a writeup on the mental1 infamous experience in london when his poor mrs was sufferin from an attack
which she was warded into a cheapskate 3rd class government hospital in london paddington W2
and yes i too was treated in the same paddington hospital..
when the mental1 came back to singapore
he blow his trumpet on how he make 1 super duper flyin ambulance
in youngpap forum
i asked 1 question
in 1 topic
who paid for the flying ambulance expenses?
even simwonghoo could not do that
by monday somebody come from the instana office
sayin
that the mental1 will settled the flyin ambulance expenses
what do i get in return for askin a simple question
my bannishment from youngpap forum
and you all want to know why i asked that simple question?
it because in emergency situation
we the people also cannot suka suka called the hospital ambulances
the government maked sure we call the expensive private service ambulance
and what do ambulance do
to save live in time of emergency
every seconds counts………

p.s.
directed @ gemana you know the other aspired contributor here
have you ever piggiebacked your unconcious father on your back from your hdb flat to your sibling car and goe straight to the hospital
and kicked the a& e door open
politely
asking a china talented nurse
where do i get a Q number for diabetic attack unconcious patient
or you just bloomin wait @ the a& e seat until his Q number is called?
do you want to doublecheck with tantockseng on this experience as well?
let alone the experience of piggybacked your parent in this modern day and aged

Good Morning Red Bean 8,

I heard many nice things from Y2K about you, how are you?

Red bean, I think the press will always be strategic in Singapore for obvious reasons, as the domain is measured in square footage conquered in the mind rather than in numbers in a spread sheet.

So it’s really a very different ball game from lets say a biscuit company or a firm manufacturing toys that vibrate and give lonely spinsters like the sister of perpetual hesitation (SPH) haunting refrained pleasure.

Yes, I understand, how you can see, it’s certainly possible to augment the deficit by buying into a well regulated mercenary market.

The real danger Red bean, inherent in the resort to mercenaries in such a context is what if they come to see that they constitute the effective power within the system like the condittieri? What if they decide to take sides? What if they go out of control?

Do you see the problem now for planners?

That of course Red Bean was the issue in several Italian cities states of the 15th century, where citizens became so bovine and mercantile to do the duty of defending themselves that they resorted wholesale to mercenaries; and as the French say, Après moi le deluge.

Have to go in for a conference call now, bye back again tonight.

Thanks and do have a productive week ahead

SD

hi singaporedaddy, and my regards to Y2K.

what is important is for all citizens to know and feel that this is their country. the country belongs to everyone of us and it is our duty to make sure that the country will move in the direction that is good for the people in general.

the earlier the people realise this fact the better they will be. we are the co owners of this country.

This Balji guy was with TODAY which is a baby of Mediacorp. It is noticeable that lately TODAY has been trying to alienate itself from the Straits Times, SPH. Is there a reason for this? I would think so.

My take is that the ST has been taking a beating in recent times and its credibility has come under very close public scrutiny. Although sales figures may suggest that it is the most read paper in Singapore, it does not say anything about its credibility in content matters. Generally, I feel that the result of such close scrutiny does not reflect well and there is a need for the PAP govt to try and move away from it and try to present itself as being open to alternative reporting as well as having diversity in news coverage.

In comes TODAY, the guines pig on standby.

It came out of the blue and all of a sudden. If you guys could recall, the first ‘attack’ by TODAY on ST came in the form of an advertisement suggesting that TODAY is more newsworthy because it presents a different view from the Main Stream ST. I have been asking myself since I first came across that ad, what the purpose was for such an attack.

It is now quite clear that TODAY is a paper now being used to sort of ‘balance’ the propaganda of PAP in ST. Another PAP trick for sure, and it seems also that Balji is the main man in the scheme of things, even as he is no longer with TODAY.

There is something in it that I just cannot put together for now.

Never if TODAY also kenna attacked, then they will come up with another paper called TOMORROW and then THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW and then THE JUDGEMENT DAY . . . . . still the same mah!

My daily reads are WSJ and SCMP.
Have dropped ST and BizTimes(ESPECIALLY)..

ST at least a good coverage of mundane local news …
BizTimes is totally ..wow… no news… ..

1. The ST people love to roll out “overhauls” of the newpaper’s presentation format every few years which serve no useful purpose.

2. Just read the IHT and the Economist for news. Their websites publish well-written, analytical articles which are up-to-date and informative. Furthermore they are free. One shouldn’t waste precious time reading the Straits Times. (Maybe only the Life! section for advertisements of sales and promotions)

“Never if TODAY also kenna attacked, then they will come up with another paper called TOMORROW and then THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW and then THE JUDGEMENT DAY . . . . . still the same mah!”

The PAP fears the future so much that they always resort to bragging their past glory and achievement. They continuously brag how world-class they are in building Singapore for the past decades and how much they deserve to be paid based on their pathetic brand. So according to their characteristic, another newspaper that will effectively counter TODAY or TOMORROW could be YESTERDAY ! YESTERDAY will talk about how PAP build HDB in early 1960s to cater for the country, how MRT is built in 1980s to provide transport system etc, and they are there to remind Singaporeans of their past glory and legacy as to get sympathetic vote. The future of PAP will be based on YESTERDAY.

“ST and BizTimes”
Should merge these two together to form BST (BullShit Times).

Ya my sentiments too as I only see Today presenting as a viable competitor to ST for viewership.

I am disappointed that the online paper that Balaji presented did not take off due to advertisement issue. Should revenue be solely the factor for one to be started?

I think TOC can slowly evolve into an online paper as a force to be reckoned with.

ST has being the only dominant paper so far here and we have seen how the govt has censored it into being a national paper providing a myopic picture of local and world views.

If you read NY Times or The Australian online paper (all free), you be shocked to see how diverse they are in providing readers with all kinds of different views. Such views allow one to think differently and critically.

I believe our population all suffers from only one national newspaper which holds strongly to self-censorship. We are all poorer for it andt his is reflected on how our people cant think or contribute as effectively to any national issue. We become narrow minded and tend to think around our small little island.

I was also thinking along the same line why Balji’s online paper did not take off and how successful TOC is moving along. It is becoming a force for sure.

Another point of note is one can see the vast difference in the comments between those who are widely traveled and widely read against those who have been fed with local news in its one-sided splendour.

Take your example, Gilbert, the views that you are constantly coming up with can only come form some place you have read and thought through while reading them. You them improvise and change it to fit into Singapore’s context. This is one of the beauty of a knowledge-based society.

Unfortunately the PAP govt do not see its beauty. It is a threat to stability. The PAP’s stability; which they want us to believe is also Singapore’s stability at stake.

Good Afternoon Gilbert & Gemami,

“I am disappointed that the online paper that Balaji presented did not take off due to advertisement issue. Should revenue be solely the factor for one to be started?

I think TOC can slowly evolve into an online paper as a force to be reckoned with.”

Have you ever considered one possibility; it may NOT be possible to make money from high end journalism; that’s to say when Balji goes around trumpeting the idea of upstream press (btw does that mean water can run uphill?) whilst trying to pique the interest of the book keepers at the same time; all it is; is a great exercise in futility; as he can never ever successfully square off the accounts to justify it as a business model.

Never, not even if you give him ten lifetimes; I guarantee you 100%. I can give you specific examples, why this CANNOT be reasonably accomplished; but as you all know there is a restriction on me to speak freely about a certain press and a certain person. So I cannot elaborate further by way of suggestion or even actual case study. Unless you want me to make up stories. Which I feel, I shouldn’t.

I will however say this much; that doesn’t mean one cannot aspire towards the ideal; you can ONLY the nub that sustains high quality writing isn’t the business model as Balji was going on about; as it remains philanthropy and good will.

So when you talk about high end journalism or magazining be it the Phi Beta Kappa – American Scholar etc, it really is dependant more on readership patronage; as I said, I can speak a lot on this topic, but there is a restriction on me; so I cannot give you specific examples. That is regrettable again.

All I can say if TOC tries to move into the commercial quadrant without getting this fixed firmly in the head, don’t be surprise if the only model they come up with is Zombieland Mr Brown; then don’t be surprise if all it does is give way to a form of chelating and leeching that simply promotes the dumb instead of the intelligent.

As I said, I can talk a lot on this one area to even identify all the salient of critical success factors – but there remains a restriction on me. That is regrettable. You will all just have to fill up the blanks with your imagination.

SD

Gilbert (#19) and Gemami (#20),

If TOC becomes a printed media, it will fall under the purview of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act and the Sedition Act (given the broad definition of Seditious Tendency). The way to work around the law is perhaps the introduction of electronic ink whereby newspaper become something between an online and offline media.

how about Upstream the Downstream? hee hee

I hope all ST writers, senior or not senior, deputy or not deputy editors too.
phographers and reporters too, not forgeting the newspaper sellers, all read this article and tell me their thoughts about Balji’s comments of talent no enough.

1st world ah.

Chua Mui Mui of the Hoong,

Not so much as talent not enough, but how they have been reined in. I recall ST used to have a very experience journalist from India, who worked for three months and wrote some of the most insightful article. Then Chua Mui Hoong, whom we all know, was from ISD but had a meteoric rise to become senior editor of political desk due, of course to her talent (what else?), started teaching him how to write professionally. If i can remember the name of the writer, I could link you guys up to his blog. The story is all there, plus some of his opinions on the inside working of the ST desks. Naturally, he left after he had enough of this kind of nonsense.

If you have friends working in TODAY and ST, you can ask them of their experiences in wanting to be more ‘professional’. Many of them were very talented and fine writers, who unfortunately had to work under the ST culture.

I swear I do not subscribe to ST.
I only help my mother buy chinese newspaper.
news is available everywhere on the net.
main reason for not subscribing is
to offset the electricity bill / s&cc / season parking / transport fare hike / GST hike. SAVING$ of $0.80-$0.90 PER DAY, goes a long way. I use this savings per day to offset the risen cost of living in a 1st world.

i am thinking of writing my own news.

i chua mui mui of the hong.

what’s the difference between Sg journos and the rest of the typical sgrean?

nothing much! brainwashed, uninquiring, rote-learners with no love for the language.

then they join a media organisation that behaves like a secret society, censorship and hush hush gossip all around, overseen by secret police and Mr Tony Tan ..

how to write like the FT ??? LOL

I disagree with Mr Balji that journalists are the biggest threat to the media. A repressive govt is. The Newspaper and Printing Presses Act should go.

”

I disagree with Mr Balji that journalists are the biggest threat to the media. A repressive govt is. The Newspaper and Printing Presses Act should go.”

totally. i second this. third this, fourth this, fifth this.

a repressive government is a threat to everyone except itself, and any tools it uses to perpetuate its hold such as the monopoly over mainstream media and tight leash control everywhere are as big threats as the repressive government itself.

Hi Singaporedaddy,
You’re right! I would venture further to say that a hundred lifetimes would also produce the same result.

Hi smallvice585,
There is no need for TOC to move into hardcopy printed news and I do not see myself or Gilbert suggesting this anywhere in this thread. I would prefer to see TOC, apart from sustaining itself, moving to higher ground, to bring news of its own rather than depending on ST or MSM to dictate discussions.

For this to happen, I envisage TOC having tv crews, interview teams complete with visual coverage etc to source out newsworthy items and to bring these to the attention of the population for further discussions.

We need to move up to this level because what we have been getting from ST are so one-sided and self-serving. Take for example minister Khaw’s remark that TC investments are transparent and opened for scrutiny. That was it. No further questionings from the media. The most natural reaction to such a declaration would be to ask for prove that the statement is true. No, zilch! Kuai, kuai just report and print the statement and add in a few words to make the sentence glossy.

We need to move away from this. One fine example is the 179 Bangladashi workers. TOC was first to the scene and broke the news before the MSM did. This is what I am looking out for. This is what TOC must strive to achieve on a regular basis. Long road, good start. Excellent job!

Another issue is, curtailment. I can sense the desperation of SD above as he tries to bring his style of writing across to make his point. The curtailment by TOC has made him a totally different writer, as far as I am concern, minus all the beauty of his writing style. This is no good and I have asked TOC about this in a few other threads already. TOC needs to follow up on such queries to maintain its credibility. If regulating is an issue, then keep it to its simplest form of regulating only religious, racial and (foul) languages.

Talking about outer space, ghosts, spirits, darkness or brightness should not fall under these regulatory conditions. I see this as two-step forward, one-step back which ultimately impedes the speed of growth, toward maturity. Discernment should be left to the audience, if not, introduce a rating, X, XX ot XXX.

balji,
i surplise you no say this when you big shot editor wor.
shiok shiok wor.
yibah yibah untooneh!

balji, last time u should tell the singapore news writers how to write the way you think is better lah.

now , all of sudden, you keep appear on toc.

good good hor?

regards
2 head shake

how can say like that balj?

aiyoyo

hope the news appear

the ELITEs can take actions asap to help commoners la…

economy getting blur/dark, how huh?

aiyoyo

With all due respect, Baliji was one of the few people who tried to push the boundaries towards better journalism. But the powers-that-be…

but the fact remains that no one can force them to serve there is they dun agree with the culture.

and now then say things like this?
also now a host on CNA?
and now appear alternative?
mediacorp,Today, SPH, TOC ?

i remember something i still dun understand : 1 guy from toc said not all news writers are like that.

oh, i now beginning to see…..

u guys may see what i seeing too….when u get enlightened….in the near future say 2 years time.

smallvice585,

“We need to move away from this. One fine example is the 179 Bangladashi workers. TOC was first to the scene and broke the news before the MSM did. This is what I am looking out for. This is what TOC must strive to achieve on a regular basis. Long road, good start. Excellent job!”

To my understanding, the Today reporter was there at the same time TOC Boris was there. But they need fact-checking and verification and editorializing etc etc before they can break the news. So the issue isn’t that Today was late in picking up the story, but the size of operation means that it will be slower to see print. I guess that’s the advantage of a small setup.

Lastly, I have to clarify I am not ex-journalist or MSM sympathizer, but when you work in the media, you tend to know people who know people, and you realize many times the problem is with the system and not the individuals. (but of course I reserve my objectivity when it comes to Chua Mui Mui…lol)

I believe TOC is currently doing a good job online. The govt may have underestimate the powers of the internet journalism – same issue with the Malaysian govt and the US Republicans. All paid a political price for it.

So far, the authorities are quiet about online journalism but I don’t know how they will keep mute if the readership extends to half a million a day or more.

The Malaysians have arersted a popular online blogger (I forgot about his name) as they realised that online journalism certainly can shape politics.

So far, the PAP has yet to venture successfully into online participation. They may not be able to do so with their dominant image and half hearted efforts. This can only benefit sites like TOC. The way to go is only up.

Netizens probably may also need to take up issues actively to help shape political environment here else we are all braned NATO – this is also probablly the reason the govt has not intervene into online politics. They knew that this netizen group is merely a group of talkers/bloggers which could not amount to much of a threat anyhow.

TOc invovlement into the FW’s issue is a step foward and should be encouraged. We should slowly switch from online netizens to active citizens taking up issues on the ground and “fight” for a better Singapore.

If we merely restrict our involvement behind the clout of secrecy online then we are merely talkers/bloggers only amounting to not much good.

Our aspiration should be active citizenship – trying to make an influence so that our fellow countrymen can have a better Singapore in future.

i think balji said is true. there is no journalistic talents here.

any professional journalist worth his/her salt will stand up violently to prove balji wrong. but all so quiet. can we then accept that they all agree to what balji said? no talent!

# 39

u confused ‘talents’ with ‘courage’. u can be a talented writer/journalist and still be timid.

u can have talents, and under the circumstances, not show it.

to conclude as u have that there’re no talents is a logical fallacy.

they need fact-checking and verification and editorializing etc etc before they can break the news. : Joshua #37).

Good point. This is one of the advantage that online reporting has over printed news. The speed of real time reporting in its raw nakedness. A slap is a slap and is presented as a slap. No need to go find out who slap who first and why both are slapping each other. These can be filtered in as soon as new updates come in.

The govt may have underestimate the powers of the internet journalism: #38) Gilbert.

I don’t believe the govt is underestimating the power of the internet. Since 2006, there was an active approach to control internet discussions with Lim Hwee Hua (I think) spearheading the drive.

I think the main problem the PAP govt is facing is the ‘unknown’ factor. How does one control the areas that one does not even know need to be controlled? There have been no successful blogs that give the MSM a run for their money and most Netizens are purely seen as harmless ranters. Even blogs like Mr Brown are no where near comparison in terms of readership numbers.

Like I said, I don’t think the govt is underestimating the power of the internet, not especially with the impact it made on the US presidential election. I think it is monitoring the situation, as can be seen with the numerous references to TOC in their recent news reportings and as long as TOC remains within their manageable meter, we should not see any major clampdown attempts.

I don’t think anyone can qualify himself to speak for the future though and which direction things will head to. It all depends on impact. The impact it will have to PAP’s survival in the power game of politics.

Classic red herring to divert attention from the nub of the issue. So now it’s because our journalists are not up to the mark, nothing to do with the government controls? Nice try, balji.

The Straits Times is ultimately owned by whom? Does anyone know?

Observant regular readers of The ST, may have by now noticed the kind of respect being accorded to LKY. When LKY was the PM every sentence he uttered in public was given front-page treatment; when he became SM the equation continued unchanged; everything he mouthed = front page; since his assumption of the MM title, nothing much has changedf. But when GCT was the PM, it was usually prime page, not front page, for him. The chief editor of The ST should have been sacked, for not according the same respect for GCT. How many of the speeches made by GCT, whether as PM or SM, were published front-page? Has The ST been acting with bias? Review past issues of The ST and you will get your answer.

Articles that appear in The ST about the introduction or use of new technology in Singapore, whether in pharmacology or some other area, are usually written with half-truths, for instance, which nation/corporation invented the new technology is usually omitted in the article, if it was something that Singapore imported. While the reporter would usually not be shy in describing the wonders of the new technology and in projecting the image of Singapore being the first in introducing such technology in this part of the world, the fact that it was invented by a foreign country and the identity of the manufacturer are usually left unmentioned. Why? Otherwise it may discredit the purpose of writing the article – which of course can be readily seen as an attempt at blowing one’s trumpet. With false pride, presumably.

Good Morning Gemami & all,

“Another issue is, curtailment. I can sense the desperation of SD above as he tries to bring his style of writing across to make his point. The curtailment by TOC has made him a totally different writer, as far as I am concern, minus all the beauty of his writing style. This is no good and I have asked TOC about this in a few other threads already.”

I really appreciate what you are trying to do here. Yes, it’s true what you say. To be honest with you, I feel quite marooned inside my own skull as I have never had to write with a policeman in my head before; so yes, I agree with you curtailment does certainly aggravate this already acute sense of entrapment.

However please don’t get me into more trouble, as I said, all I want to do here is to keep to the house rules. Let me just say this; it is not easy to be a Liaison officer of the brotherhood. I wish, I could elaborate but present circumstances prevent me from talking further without having to mention a certain person and grp.

———————————————————————————————-

Good Afternoon WK

I agree with you, a certain contrived reality is certainly at work here. Along with probably lashings of spin doctoring on the part of Balji.

I think we have to remain very cautious abt what Balji is forwarding here as a matter of observation and principle. Personally, I don’t take his masala dosai stricture of “young journalist” seriously. Neither can I see any thinking man doing so either.

While he is quick to train his sights on “young journalist,” which he describes as; “the biggest threats to change in the media,” and even goes on to add rather imperially, “I don’t see that kind of talent in our young journalists.”

Balji himself displays the same short comings; when he FAILS to account for WHY the press corps has found itself suddenly stricken by a complete failure of the entrepreneurial imagination needed to prosper in the electronic age?

Neither does Balji dwell deeper into the crux of WHAT may actually account for the rot and HOW did this lamentable state of affairs even come about; instead he seems to elide that part of the narrative so completely, that one really needs to question why he even went through the trouble of presenting his thoughts in the symposium. I really cannot understand, I would give you all examples and references to back up what I just said, but due to current restrictions, I cannot.

This I consider to be a travesty of rational logic as it’s nothing short of an attempt to ascribe blame for the failure of the press corps to those who have the least control over its destiny viz-a-viz young journalist (I would gladly have linked an article here to illustrate the point succinctly and even drive the point home most forcefully but again. I cannot mention due to certain restrictions imposed on me).

Instead of dwelling deeper into these cogent issues; Balji himself is guilty of the same list of accusations that he levels upon the “young journalist,” who he squarely points to as being responsible for this lamentable state.

This of course would only be believable, if we did not know, he himself was once an integral part of the same apparatus of assimilation he now seems to have no compunction heaping damming strictures on.

I do have a lot of sympathy with the younger journalist. I don’t think that was good sportsmanship.

SD (Internet Liaison officer of the brotherhood)

8) redbean “we don’t have enough intellectual talents? that is too insulting and patronising. you can bring in all the best foreign talents to replace our media professionals. would it make any difference?”

FT will either adapt to the SG’s modus operandi or feel stiffled and left. In the end, nothing will change until the environment changes that permits free fourish of ideas and their expression.

balji, why not you upstream the downstream like lim said upturn the downturn?
should be possible right as long as don’t make a wrong turn?

38) Gilbert Goh on December 23rd, 2008 10.53 am

I believe TOC is currently doing a good job online. The govt may have underestimate the powers of the internet journalism – same issue with the Malaysian govt and the US Republicans. All paid a political price for it.
————

aiyo Gilbert, why you say it out loud? you think people not watching what is going on meh. dont make it too obvious leh. low profile leh.

Oh, this is something very new from the mouth of Mr Balji…

What was quality of The New Paper or Today when Mr Balji was its chief….

Role play lah…. everyone just role play…..

why not Mainstream the Downstream so as to achieve Upstream of the Normal stream ?

“what is important is for all citizens to know and feel that this is their country. the country belongs to everyone of us and it is our duty to make sure that the country will move in the direction that is good for the people in general.”

citizen = elites, expats, and ministers
everyone else = slaves to above

ST is govt owned, …….talents? Tja. Crisp? The paper. FOS? Hands are tied.

errr….was Balji the CEO/ editor-in-chief when the Mr Brown incident happened after the GE 2006?

was/ is Today newspaper more upstream than any other mainstream newspaper when he was in charge?

did Today ever provide an alternative views for us before?

I believe Balji does have a point when he mentioned there is a lack of talent in the mainstream media. This particular lack of talent is deeply embedded in the Singaporean Psyche, in any given context. Most of us Singaporeans are programmed to think that it is suicide to go against the Status Quo in any organization.

In alluding to Focaullt, I see that the next generation needs to be more than just successful Yes Men. As a nation we have moved beyond the need for a monolithic movement towards prosperity. We need to be on the cutting edge. We need to be adaptable, equitable, and progressive thinkers. We should start challenging ideas (and not the people who thought of them) and have the moral and professional courage to voice them out. In order for any organization to progress beyond stagnation, it needs to value dissent, create niches of opportunity, and redefine paradigms.

I personally feel that we should look at this purely at the organizational level. I think we need to revise our perception of the printed media as the hallowed canon, and think about how we could all contribute to this long neglected aspect of innovation and excellence. I think in every organization, almost everyone can follow orders, and practically everyone complains. How many of us actually have the moral and professional courage to offer constructive criticism and offer suggestions for improvement?

I think many of us will be rudely shocked to find out just how receptive the leaders of the organization, even the government, actually are when it comes to new revolutionary ideas that would improve the quality of our systems and processes.

I think the key word here is competition. As long as there is no need to compete, there is no need to improve. Take a look at ST. As long as the majority of people feel that this is the ‘Only’ credible source of news in Singapore, the advertisers are going to stick with it as the most reliable medium in their daily activities.

What the online media needs to do is to get creative in the way it prodces offerings to the people who pay. As things stand, the online media is nice to those of us who want to get something of our chest but other than that, it’s not offering advertisers anything remarkably different.

Unless we, as an online community can be more than just a forum for grumbles and actually come up with a viable offering the main stream press will probably continue as is.

It is certainly laudable to work towards contributing to as illuminati said, to this long neglected aspect of innovation and excellence. The problem of late which I and many othershave noticed recently in toc is certain quarters may be starting to hold back and even hidding information. And its so obvious. They dont even bother to mask it. Its that obvious.

Why?

He also said that he was surprised that MHA replied to one of his newspaper commentaries on MSK saying: “Could we have done better? Probably yes”, so journalists have space to push.

And that advertisers and ad agencies don’t understand society has undergone a hard gear shift. Yet, ad money has stagnated since 2000 and >50% of ad revenue comes from outside Singapore now and not companies like, say, Singtel

IPS report on the event:

http://www.ips.org.sg/events/all/Seminar_New%20Media%20Challenges_181208/Seminar_Balji_181208.pdf

Bottom-line – change the political landscape!
Support the two party system and let
democracy flourish in Singapore!~

so we need to get rid of the PAP before we can expect any improvement in the sh*t times

I appreciate PN Baliji’s comments on the issue, but I take issue with his comparison of the mainstream media to the Financial Times. The Financial Times for their incisive and deep commentaries on issues. They may do some advocacy journalism, but when they do, they do it well, intellectually, and pragmatically. It has nothing in common with Singapore’s mainstream media, which is till now simply churning out the simplistic garbage sanctioned by the authorities.

Nonetheless, I agree that the problem lies with the lack of competition. The last time SPH and Mediacorp tried to take on each other, the government intervened with the argument that the market is ‘too small’. Rather, was the government actually afraid that media firms in competition, in order to produce better quality news to serve their customers and measure up to their competitor, will be churning out more truthful reporting and critiques that will inadvertently shine many a light on the unethical practices and dubious track record of the ruling party?

SPH got the short end of the stick, I remember, by having lost its television stations, while Mediacorp could keep its broadcasting monopoly while retaining a share of the print media market via Today. Perhaps because SPH is on a slightly looser leash than Mediacorp, the government would also rather keep SPH away from broadcast news where it was less likely than Mediacorp to sing its praises and instead could make potentially critical even if brief comments about the ruling party, given the fast-paced nature of broadcast news?

For a free and lively press to florish, the gahment must step back and stop prosecuting any reporter who wrote something they do not agree with. The press must be allowed to report the good, the bad and the argy. Remove censorship and let the private company operate all the media in the country and given time, a new press will grow in the place of the currently state controlled media. The West generally have a free media which had often been a pain to the gahment of the day if some policy or minister was found to be below public expectation. Would our PAP allow it or contemplate such a media? The control of the media started in 1959 and by now all we have is only a few left over. The sate is responsible for this sad state of affair in this sector.