Winner
of PANPA Award for Excellence
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Monday, June 28, 1999 |
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INTRODUCTIONThis week's Post Tips takes a different approach to the news. The lesson is written through the eyes of ISB (International School Bangkok) student, Dana Brown, who recently spent a week working with Bangkok Post news assignment editor, Sonchai Nokeplub. During his week here, Dana got an excellent overview of the complete process behind the news stories which appear in the Bangkok Post. As you read his account of this process, make a list of all the steps he describes.
Writing the newsThe first thing I noticed during my time here was the fact that the general atmosphere is very informal and tension-free. There is no set time when people have to arrive and leave the office; some people even come in around 1:00 in the afternoon. Lunch/coffee breaks are taken whenever one pleases and there is even a gym to help work off those calories! Prior to my week at the Bangkok Post, I had often wondered how news stories are selected, gathered and written. Now I know. Story selection is essentially a consultation, largely by phone, between reporters out in the field and their news editors. Reporters are hardly ever in the office, but are most often outside following a hot (or not-so-hot) story. They check in regularly and, when they have found sufficient information, they write up the story and fax it in. These stories are typically in Thai (the reporters are usually local) or in extremely raw English. Thus, they need a lot of work to get them in a form suitable for publication. This job falls first to a translator for text submitted in Thai and then a rewriter. News editors also play an important role in the initial process, checking the story for accuracy and making sure they are suitably free of bias. I had one hands-on experience with this process in which I was given a long, raw story that a Thai reporter had written in English. It dealt with a Thai businessman who felt he was cheated by the Canadian Embassy. I edited it and cut it down to almost half the original size. However, after doing this I found out something that is actually very important: not all stories end up in the paper. I was told that the story was too one sided and could not be printed — at least until the Canadian Embassy was given a chance to respond. Stories from abroad are also sent in from various news agencies, such as AP (Associated Press) and Reuters. This answered a question that had been burning in my mind for a long time: how do newspapers based in a single country get news about global events? I'm ashamed to admit that up until now I assumed they had reporters based in the various countries around the world! After the story has been translated, cleaned up and rewritten, it is time to get it ready for publication. A night editorial meeting, which consists of news editors, chief sub editors and photo editors, is held every evening at around 6:30 PM to make tentative decisions as to the where each story will be placed. I say "tentative" because a lot of news can come in between 6:30 p.m. and 1 a.m. when the paper goes to press. There are serious size constraints, however. The more important stories are given the most space and some of the lesser important stories may not even be selected. Then there are pictures and various other items to be inserted as well. These decisions are made throughout the evening. After the stories have been selected, the sub-editors take over. Their job is "to viciously rip the stories up and tear them apart," as Chief Sub John Hayes put it. Putting mercy aside, the stories are edited for language, content and size. This can mean stories are cut to a half and even a third of their original size. "Sometimes it feels bad to tear up someone's hard work so much, but it has to be done," Hayes said. Stories on the front page are often especially difficult since the Bangkok Post has a "no spill" policy in which the stories must be completed on the front page without any continuations in the following pages.
This week’s stories
The two stories that follow both appeared during my week at the Bangkok Post. The first is an example of a straight news story. The idea came from Khun Sonchai who heard about the incident on the radio. At about 1:00 pm, he assigned a reporter to the story who then went to the police station involved. The reporter then got the raw information, wrote it down in Thai, and faxed it in around 5:00 pm. The story was then given to a rewriter who translated it and wrote it in proper news-story form. Then came the night editorial meeting where the story found its location in the paper. The story ended up on the second page, and in a relatively small amount of space. Thus, the story had to be edited. In this case, their task was easy. They simply lopped off the bottom of the raw story. The reason they could do this was that the end of the piece contained facts that were not essential to the story. One sentence, for example, was about another gang fight which was planned but never happened. The second example also appeared on the news pages, but it was written in a different style. As you will see, this story is more of a feature-type story rather than a straight news story. Notice, for example, that while the headlines contain the main facts of the story, the introductory paragraphs do not. They are designed to catch your interest, not to summarise the story. According to Wasant Techawongtham, Deputy News Editor for Environment and Urban Affairs, the reason for choosing the feature style of writing for this story is that the basic facts had been reported many times before. The purpose here was for the reporter to take a deeper look into the current situation, particularly the people involved. Reading the stories
1. The first story is short, but it contains a lot of facts in the limited space available. Make a list of the facts included in the story. (For example: A vocational student was shot dead. He was killed by a student from a rival school. The victim was riding on a bus at the time, etc.) 2. The second story is about a group of Karen villagers with a problem. What is the source of their problem? Have they received adequate help in overcoming their problem? Why or why not? 3. News stories are supposed to be neutral. That is, the writers are supposed to give the facts without including their own opinions. As you read the second story, look to see if the writer followed this rule. Can find any examples of the writer's own opinions?. 4. Sometimes the facts of a news story lead readers into forming opinions of their own. After reading the story, what opinion do you have of the public health officials mentioned in the story? What about the owners of the lead extracting plant? Do you think the Karen villagers have been treated fairly? | ||||||||||||
OUR STORIES FROM THE BANGKOK POST
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Student shot dead by rival on city bus Wassayos NgarmkhamA vocational student was shot dead yesterday morning on a bus in Bung Kum district by another student from a rival school, who was arrested shortly afterwards.Thitipong Ichayaviroj, of Chalermsart Vocational School, was shot in the chest, right arm and neck while riding on a bus in front of Trarak Market on Navamin Road around 7.30am. Some 20 police officers were later sent to hunt for the suspected gunman who was sighted in Soi Suwanprasit. The police arrested Suchin Ritthidej, a 23-year-old student of Prachachuen Technical School, from an apartment building in that soi around 9 am. A blood-stained shirt was also seized from the suspect's room. Mr Suchin allegedly confessed he shot Mr Thitipong in revenge for an attack two years ago by a student from the same school as the victim’s.
* * * * * * * Serious lead levels found in villagers of Klity Creek Wassayos Ngarmkham
Karens learn their bodies contain five times normal amount of lead ANCHALEE KONGRAT Kanchanaburi The villagers of Lower Klity in Thung Yai Naresuan wildlife sanctuary were well aware how discharge from a nearby lead-processing plant turned the clear water in Klity Creek to a reddish brown. What they did not know was the lead-contaminated water caused ill health, though they felt something was wrong when several cattle dropped dead after drinking water from the creek. It was not until a team of public health officials from Bangkok conducted physical examinations recently that the Karen villagers learned their bodies contained five times the normal amount of lead. The Environmental Health Bureau last month revealed the results of the blood tests of 115 of the 150 villagers. They were found to have lead in their blood at an average range of 23 and 28 microgrammes per decilitre (ug/dl) compared to the average level of normal Thai of 4.92 ug/dl. Thirty of 39 children between infancy and six years old were found to have between 20-44 ug/dl. Three of the children have anaemia, according to the Public Health Ministry's report. Eight children have problems with eyesight and another eight have troubles with muscular mobility and development. Public health officials visited the village again early this month only to tell the villagers the lead content in their blood was very high and warn them not to consume water from the creek. "But what they failed to tell these Karen villagers is their lead content is dangerously high. They were not warned that at 11 ug/dl the lead can jeopardise the neurological and physical development of children under 12," said Surapong Kongchantuk of the Karen Studies and Development Centre. The health officials prescribed no medication or medical advice even though the public health standard recommends that people with over 25 ug/dl of lead content in their blood seek medical attention in hospital. A villager said the health officials said they would visit again but did not say when. The officials also told the villagers that all 47 households would soon have tap water supply. Since 1993 less than half the households have enjoyed access to tap water. Officials have so far posted no signs to warn villagers about the contamination and some villagers continue to consume the water from the creek and use it on their farms. Yaser Nasuansuwan, 50, deputy village chief, reported that some staff from the lead extracting plant which has been shut down since April last year, had visited the village and asked them to keep silent about the water pollution. "They told us the water was safe to drink and complained about having lost millions of baht from the plant’s closure."' The deputy village chief said the villagers expected no special treatment or assistance. "The only thing we wish from this whole mess is that the water in Klity Creek becomes clear and usable again. That's all we ask for."' Lead Concentrates (Thailand), operator of the lead extracting plant, began cleaning up the creek since late May after the Pollution Control Department approved its clean-up plan. It expects the operation to end in February next year. The company has reportedly hired 50 Burmese workers to manually remove lead-contaminated soil along the creek’s banks. The operation currently concentrates on the first three kilometres starting from the plant location which is outside the wildlife sanctuary. It is scheduled to be finished by the end of this month. The remaining 19km passes through conservation forest and any activity must be approved by the Forestry Department. So far the company has yet to file for permission to begin work in the wildlife sanctuary but a provincial forestry official said he foresaw no problem about granting permission. Mr Surapong expressed doubt about the effectiveness of the clean-up operation, saying only a small amount of contaminated soil would be removed.
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FOLLOW-UP
Several days after the second story appeared in the Bangkok Post, Mr Wasant wrote a commentary on the same subject. In commentaries, the writers are expected to give their own opinions. As you will see for the excerpts below, he had some very strong opinions indeed. What were they? What words and phrases did he use to express his disapproval of the government officials involved.
About 200 km from Bangkok, a group of Karen villagers in Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary have been exposed to lead contaminated water for years. Yet health officials only recently went there to give them blood tests and physical check-ups, even though they had known about this for at least a couple of years.
For more than two decades, a lead processing plant has dumped its wastewater into Klity creek, which is used as the major source of water by the Karens of Lower Klity village. The villagers would not have realised their lives had been put at risk, and officials would not have cared less, if an advocacy group had not taken up the issue on their behalf.
Working in tandem with environmental groups, the Karen Studies and Development Centre has brought news of the destruction of an important waterway in the wildlife sanctuary by mining operations and its impact on the Karen population there to the outside world.
Having run out of excuses, the Public Health Ministry sent a team to look at the villagers' health.
Even then, the medical team managed to do a half-hearted job. Even as it determined that the lead content in the villagers' blood averaged out at five times that of a normal person, it did nothing more than tell the villagers not to consume water from the creek.
No treatment of any sort was prescribed. The health officials said they would return but didn't say when.
TEACHERS' NOTE
Two weeks ago we had a group of three students from the International School Bangkok working with us for a week. Their task was to help us write two of the Post Tips columns in this series. We thought it would be both useful and interesting to get a student's point of view on the newspaper business.
This week we will feature the first of our student-assisted columns. It comes from Dana Brown who spent much of the week learning how news stories are produced from start to finished. We think your students will enjoy his first-hand account.
As your students read Dana's story, have them make a list of the steps the Bangkok Post follows in producing its news stories. That finished, have them read his short introduction to the two actual news stories feature in the lesson. We have also included four questions for them to consider as they read.
The main focus is on the second story. Notice that while the writer did not include any personal opinions, the facts clearly lead the reader to disapprove of the public health officials mentioned. Alert your students to the fact that there may be another point of view. Believing the story depends on how much you feel you can trust the writer. At the Bangkok Post, we try to be as fair as and as accurate as possible, so we do receive a lot of trust on the part of our readers.
The follow-up gives you an opportunity to show the difference between news reporting and commentary. This is a teaching technique you can use often. Just find a news story and an editorial or commentary on the subject and the differences will be obvious.
There is a lot of reading in this lesson, so you may want to spread it out over more than one day. You may also want to assign some of it as homework. The reading is not particularly difficult, however.
![[meeting the editor]](dana3.jpg) Here Dana is amused by editor Pichai Chuensuksawadi's explanation of why some stories don't make it into the paper. |
- This lesson was prepared by Dana Brown, a student at the International School Bangkok. His ambition in life is to be "a happy man". He was assisted – just a little – by Acharn Terry Fredrickson, manager of the educational services department at the Bangkok Post.