INDOCHINA NEWSPAPER WAR HOTS UP WITH CAMBODIAN PUBLISHER LAUNCHING THE BURMA DAILY
May 17th 2008 09:48
In what seems to be a spite-ridden burst of publishing madness, the eccentric octogenarian Tokyo-resident publisher of the Cambodian Daily, Bernard Krishner, launched a quarto-sized publication, The Burma Daily, on Friday in Cambodia.The flimsy eight-page ‘newspaper’ will initially be distributed inside The Cambodia Daily, but “soon will be available on request” and on a website.
But in a high-minded ‘Letter from the Publisher’ Krishner said he hopes the paper will be circulated in Myanmar, “as are other international media, like the International Herald Tribune and news weeklies.”
But he hasn’t got a hope in Hades of getting his publication distributed in any way, shape or form within Myanmar, especially considering that in the inaugural issue he has published a two and half page paean to democracy hero Aung San Suu Kyi, which in reality is a very dated interview, from February 2000.
This will make the junta spin.
It appears that Krishner perhaps doesn’t have a full grasp of the realities of distributing anything in Myanmar, and the international papers he refers to are often withheld if they contain contentious material about the pariah nation, or sometimes offending pages are simply torn out.
Krishner reacted strongly to the emergence of the new Phnom Penh Post, and news of its intention to go head-to-head with the Cambodia daily by becoming daily itself in early July.
He wrote threatening letters to his staff which received a lot of negative feedback on blog sites – he referred to the Phnom Penh Post as the “enemy” and pointed out that anyone pondering moving from his paper to the Post would be regarded as “treasonous.” He also threatened the staff with hints of writs for breaking confidentially employment clauses if they defected to the Post.
Speculation n Phnom Penh is that part of the motivation behind The Burma Daily is simply revenge, a get-back at Ross Dunkley who is publisher of both the Phnom Penh Post and the Myanmar Times, by bating him to the punch to start up a daily on his own patch.
It is well known in South Esat Asian media circles that Dunkley hopes to one day publish a daily newspaper in Myanmar.
In fact earlier this year the Irrawaddy Journal erroneously reported that systems were being geared up to publish that daily immediately.
But in a high-minded ‘Letter from the Publisher’ Krishner said he hopes the paper will be circulated in Myanmar, “as are other international media, like the International Herald Tribune and news weeklies.”
This will make the junta spin.
It appears that Krishner perhaps doesn’t have a full grasp of the realities of distributing anything in Myanmar, and the international papers he refers to are often withheld if they contain contentious material about the pariah nation, or sometimes offending pages are simply torn out.
Krishner reacted strongly to the emergence of the new Phnom Penh Post, and news of its intention to go head-to-head with the Cambodia daily by becoming daily itself in early July.
He wrote threatening letters to his staff which received a lot of negative feedback on blog sites – he referred to the Phnom Penh Post as the “enemy” and pointed out that anyone pondering moving from his paper to the Post would be regarded as “treasonous.” He also threatened the staff with hints of writs for breaking confidentially employment clauses if they defected to the Post.
It is well known in South Esat Asian media circles that Dunkley hopes to one day publish a daily newspaper in Myanmar.
In fact earlier this year the Irrawaddy Journal erroneously reported that systems were being geared up to publish that daily immediately.
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Comment by Anonymous
The Burma Daily is surely a cheap shot at Dunkley - watch out for The Kampuchea Times!
Comment by JJ McRoach
Watching the Media
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Comment by vutha
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Comment by Anonymous
There were other typos, spell mistakes whatever as well; raw copy only is posted on this blog.
A final version that appears subscription only via Factiva and other outlets is sub-edited in Melbourne.
Maybe you would like to volunteer to sub this blog?
I don't have time : I have full-time job and write this after hours, with the exception of answering urgent and vital comments such as this.
Thanks for your wisdom and your presumption that this blog seeks to raise media standards.
Comment by Anonymous
That said, I definitely agree that Mr Krisher is an extremely spite-ridden man. Reading your blog posting today completely made my day... I thought, finally someone is exposing the reality of crazy Bernie Krisher. You could also write about his recent tantrum in Preah Vihear when he pulled all of his funding to a poor school because Prime Minister Hun Sen also donated a building to the school which would be built over a metre-squared patch of the vegetable garden Krisher had donated - Mr Krisher certainly didn't like being outdone by Hun Sen...so he pulled all his funds to the school because the poor school didn't tell Hun Sen they didn't want his building like Mr Krisher expected them to do. He's spiteful even to the poor!!
However, JJ McRoach, if you are actually affiliated with the Phnom Penh Post I will be very disappointed that the exposure of Mr Krisher's spite was not done from a neutral and independent standpoint - but instead from an equally spiteful competitor. Both the Cambodia Daily and the Phnom Penh Post have their faults... why don't your blogs slander them both like they deserve - the tabloid that is the Phnom Penh Post is certainly no high-quality paper. They misrepresent sources in almost every edition in order to write what they want - instead of what people say. Tabloid rubbish. Please tell me you are not affiliated with them?!
Comment by Anonymous
I will do that again in this case, but to not an anonymous person.
So if you ask the question again as a pesron with an indentity, I will respond accordingly
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Nick Sparks
If you're going to write about the Post, it's your obligation to disclose that you are an employee of the Post each and every time, without being asked. If you have any notion of ethics, you probably shouldn't be touching the subject at all - especially on a website that claims to be "watching the media." Very sketchy.
Nick
Comment by JJ
I also note that you do not disclose your media interests, or are you making the same assumption that I made, that they are known? Actually I am presuming you are a media person from the authoritative air of your response, but maybe not. No disclosure from you.
But this is my response:
The Indian business daily, Mint just celebrated its first anniversary of publication and as part of the celebration it ran a full page listing its errors, both in fact and judgment.
In keeping with that spirit, I concede I made an error of judgment with this item.
Mea culpa.
It’s been interesting for me because I actually wear two hats, one being the hat that I wear as JJ McRoach when posting this blog. I go into the McRoach mode forgetting I wear another hat under another identity.
Knowing myself as I do, I now I would have written this item this way, regardless of whatever media I was connected with.
But I have learned from this exercise that I now I can’t do that.
I was also “caught by surprise” because I also forgot the global nature of this blog – when I started it some time back I wrote simply for an Australian media audience who mostly know who I am because I used to write for Media Week in Australia and in the past I have revealed all my connections.
But I understand that now I am in a new sphere in a new role with a new audience and with new obligations.
Until I came to Cambodia I wrote for many publications and many audiences.
In the 6 months before coming to Cambodia some of the outlets I published with included:
Fairfax newspapers – the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age.
Australian Consolidated Press; Australian Men’s Style
APN; Sunshine Coast Daily
Crikey.com
Media Week
Australian Rationalist magazine
News Ltd (Murdoch) – The Australian newspaper, and the Review section of that paper
Horwitz Publications: Inside Sport (which it no longer owns)
Online Opinion
Total Sports Dubai
Mens Style Dubai
Plus I have talked on various radio stations, did a spin off of items from this blog for Boardroom Radio in Sydney, and also appeared on television, the most recent being Australian Network in Asia.
In the past I have worked for the Myanmar Times as a journalism trainer.
A book about that experience and my observations on Myanmar in general was published by Allen & Unwin in Australia.
That book was on sale until recently. It has now sold out. My Australian literary agent is now in discussion with numerous publishers in India, Europe and the US for an update and reprint of that book.
This blog is raw copy that I post – but the raw copy is also sub edited by a Melbourne company, News Bites and published online by Lexus Nexus and by Factiva- the latter being owned by Dow Jones, which is now owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp so in essence I am also in the employ of the Murdoch network.
My current employer allows me to do write that news service, which is called MediaBlab on the understanding that I do it in my spare time, which I do.
From September to December 2008 I was in discussion with the now-publisher of the Phnom Penh Post about working for a new company which was negotiating, and subsequently did negotiate to buy the Phnom Penh Post.
On February 1 2008 I arrived in Phnom Penh to take up a new position, Siem Reap Bureau Chief for the Phnom Penh Post.
Details of my appointment and my media history and background were published in Australia and on this blog and via Factiva
.
Out of all the comments that have appeared following this item, the ones that affect me most and embarrass me the most, are the ones pointing out my spelling errors re the name of the Cambodia Daily owner, and I have now reconsidered posting raw unedited copy of this site because of that..
I also now acknowledge the mistake of writing opinion about other Cambodian publication..
My comments about the Cambodia Daily were my own opinions, not those of anyone else at the Post nor written in the Post’s name, but I can understand now that I cannot write such opinions as it can be viewed as doing the Post’s bidding.
As for disclosure on other times, as you can see from the above list, it is possibly impractical to disclose my interest, connections etc on every item that may or may not have a bearing on who I write for and have written for, and who has published me and who might be publishing me in the future.
When I write about Myanmar events I don’t, for example, always disclose that I have written a book about that country because the down-side is that it then looks like I am merely plugging my book etc etc.
Hope that clarifies things, and puts to rest the anguish expressed by obviously high-minded readers of this blog, who I might add are mostly anonymous, and none of whom have disclosed their interests.
I concede the mistake.
I mostly follow the maxim of the great Australian man of letters Max Harris who said a good journalist should bite the hand of everybody except the one that feeds him.
Having said that, in my Factiva MediaBlab column, published by Dow Jones now owned by News Ltd, I have at times been critical of aspects of the News Corp organisation and News Corp has published that criticism.
I have also written favourably about some aspects of News Corp and have been critical of some of the more hysterical aspects of the demonization of Murdoch, such as Slate for example accusing him of genocide.
As a journalist I am also human and have my own negative and positive biases which are often presented in my writings.
Comment by McGee
Cambodian News
I apologise for not being able to post under the title of anything more than anonymous in my previous comments (May 20th 16:03 and May 21st 10:59) but, unlike your employer who allows you two hats, my employer at the time (the United Nations) does not allow staff to make any sort of public statements without their approval. I have been previously severely reprimanded when I wrote a letter to the editor to the Cambodia Daily in an expressly personal capacity about Mr Krisher's crazy "Radio Free Asia is Irrelevant" rants. Since posting my anonymous comments on this blog I have finished my contract and have hung up the United Nations hat, so to speak, and can thus now "expose" myself.
I am still genuinely surprised that you could be "JJ McRoach the Media Watch Man" and also work for a newspaper that displays a lack of any sort of neutrality with issues such as the ongoing CSD saga.
The Phnom Penh Post is clearly friends with Theary Seng as it has, for a while now, allowed her to write un-edited rants in every issue of their paper. Based on this, it was clearly going to be a difficult task for the Phnom Penh Post to attain neutrality on the CSD issue. It is for that reason that I reluctantly forgave them for the full-page and extremely biased rant on the CSD saga written by Theary Seng and published by the Phnom Penh Post in their previous issue. But the Phnom Penh Post stepped way over the line in their latest issue which included an "interview" with Theary Seng. (To read the interview follow the link: Really Long Link ). Is the Phnom Penh Post trying to inflame this saga for tabloid purposes? This one-sided portrayal of a very real and unfortunately not-as-trivial-as-it-should-be situation is unquestionably unethical of the Phnom Penh Post. I am truly glad that this type of tabloid rubbish is not translated into Khmer.
Theary Seng has been working for CSD for a little over 2 years and is now overthrowing her employers! I'd like to hear what Ross Dunkley and Michael Hayes would have to say if after two years of working with PPPost JJ McRoach declared them irrelevant, replaced them and decided he was now in charge.
A suggestion to the PPPost on reporting, using the CSD case as an example: if you want to know what the donors think.... ask the donors; if you want to know why someone wants to get rid of their employee... ask the employer; if you want know why the employee thinks they've been hard-done-by... ask the employee. Gathering this information is called reporting and when it is compiled into one place it is called a story. It's quite simple really - especially when you have two weeks to do it.
Thank you JJ McRoach for providing a space to bring attention to these types of unethical practices. I understand your reluctancy to "bite the hand that feeds you", but I sincerely hope that you are subtly trying to address these types of practices under both of your hats. Having worked for the UN for many years I understand the difficulty in bringing institutional flaws to the attention of the institution "that feeds you"... but sometimes it is outright unethical complicity if you don't.
Comment by McGee
Cambodian News
Comment by McGee
Cambodian News