The Bangkok Post is a buffet

Why is the Bangkok Post so big? Recently I put that question to Mr Pichai Chuensuksawadi, our editor, and here is what he had to say:

"The size of the newspaper is due largely to the many different interests of our readers. In fact, we really have a schizophrenic readership. Our readers are mostly Thai, but there are quite a few foreigners as well and we have to do our best to satisfy everybody. That means providing everything from news to entertainment. Variety is very important and that is what makes the paper the size it is.

"It is interesting that you say the newspaper is big. I think it’s small. Its certainly smaller than it used to be. That’s because of the economic crisis, of course. We’ve had to cut back, but we’ve tried to give our readers the same variety that they have always been accustomed to.

"If you think of our newspaper as a buffet dinner, we’ve simply tried to reduce the size of the plate. Our articles are shorter, but the variety has remained intact. This has meant, however, that our writers and our editors have had to work a little harder by being more selective in what they include in their stories.

"While we have struggled to give our readers a wide choice of subjects, we have also tried to make it easier for them to find what they want. Notice how consistent our labelling system is, for example. In each section you can see almost immediately what the story is about by looking at the labels and the introductory headlines."

No one reads everything

No one reads everything in the Bangkok Post. People pick and choose what they want to read according to their interests. As Mr Pichai says, we try to make it as easy as possible for our readers to find what they want to read.

We do this in several ways. News stories, for example, begin with a label which gives the general topic. This is followed by the headline which briefly states the main idea.. Many of our news stories also contain a second headline – a sub-headline – which adds an important detail. The introduction concludes with the story’s lead – the first one or two paragraphs which is usually a short summary.

This format allows you to very quickly make a decision as to whether or not you want to read a story. Most readers, in fact, simply skim through the labels and headlines until the find something that interests them. On some busy days this may only be about four or five stories.

The exercise that follows will give some practice in decision-making. It includes the openings of a wide variety of stories. Some are news stories and others are features which, as you will see, have a slightly different format. Quickly read through each selection and decide whether it is something you would like to read. Don’t be shy about saying "no". It’s your decision.

Here are some questions to ask yourself as you read:

1. What is the story about?
2. Does this subject interest me?
3. Would I like to read further?
4. If so, what additional information would I like to know?
5. Are there any words or phrases that you don’t know? If so, can you guess what they mean?