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Reluctant Editor: The Singapore Media as Seen through the Eyes of a Veteran Newspaper Journalist
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
196 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 14, 2022
Understanding journalism in modern Singapore requires a walk back to the time of independence, a mere 57 years ago. While the shenanigans of a state controlled broadsheet are best examined in “OB Markers: My Straits Times Story” by Cheong Yip Seng, in “The Reluctant Editor”, P N Balaji reveals some of what went behind the evolution of the landscape with the alternatives: The New Paper, and the competing Today.
Balaji keeps his writing succinct and simple and is a highly recommended read for anyone in Singapore unfamiliar with what the press went through. Editorial insights are rare so this is precious. It’s less controversial than it seems because times have changed. It would be difficult to imagine the pressure under which editorial teams functioned to straddle OB markers in the first few decades of independent Singapore.
This was a print book which can be read in one sitting. Why the four stars? Ironically because it is too short. For more, there is the newly published “Transition, The Story of P N Balaji” (2022) by Woon Tai Ho, penned from their coffeeshop conversations.
Balaji keeps his writing succinct and simple and is a highly recommended read for anyone in Singapore unfamiliar with what the press went through. Editorial insights are rare so this is precious. It’s less controversial than it seems because times have changed. It would be difficult to imagine the pressure under which editorial teams functioned to straddle OB markers in the first few decades of independent Singapore.
This was a print book which can be read in one sitting. Why the four stars? Ironically because it is too short. For more, there is the newly published “Transition, The Story of P N Balaji” (2022) by Woon Tai Ho, penned from their coffeeshop conversations.
June 26, 2019
The last book on this topic was OB Markers which I read in 2013. The author of that book was a faceless unknown to me. Yet that book startled and made me think about the state media and relationship with the government. It was around that time I stopped subscribing to both ST and BT and had altogether stopped reading TNP and Today. Tabla! I read when i placed advertisements or wrote pieces for them that they would print with a changed headline. That’s how dull the local papers are. So the local media content has for some years become irrelevant to me. And I found my life better for it. So where is this book within that context? It’s not essential reading. The best parts of it is the foreword and the appendix featuring the authors old articles. The book is superbly edited though. I wish the author spent his energies writing a book about his father or his life - like what it’s like to have a heartattack when you are young, how that changes you... or even his conversations with his grandsons. We would have better remembered his contributions. or he could have written a fictionalised version with all the characters from the newsroom and created a gripping tale steeped in magic realism and allegory. But that would have been too much creative effort, right? Too much editing in retirement. The trials of life with the now dead LKY and SR Nathan have little value to the next generation & the way media is digested has radically changed. If anything, this author reintroduces the shame of Singapore which has little relevance to the new citizens who run so many sectors of our space.
October 20, 2020
PN Balji was a communicator well ahead of his time. Well before the age of clickbait, Balji’s first question as Editor for The New Paper was not how important a headline was but how interesting? Any news story had to address WHY it matters. Every day, the TNP Page One design was taken to office girl Mala for vetting. Did she get it? She had to understand the Page One lede if it were to pass. Once, a 1990s Malaysia Cup final was given a BLANK headline, for readers to fill in themselves. Awesome! This book is a great read especially if you’re a Singapore watcher and want a front-line view to journalism in Singapore. Balji writes from his experience helming The New Paper and then Today, and on that alone — this makes him the most exciting person to me, the ex-journalist! My favourite part, which brought a terrible lump in my throat, was about a TNP reporter entering a (then stigmatized) HIV ward and writing an empathetic story about patients, only to have the editorial headline kill it all with a sensational “DEATH WARD” line. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Singapore journalism. I loved it all, and it brings back many memories of elections and court cases I covered. Balji writes well with impact and clarity. My idol. Some minor editing errors I’ve reported to the publisher and I didn’t think it was necessary to plonk those articles at the back to pad up the book. They were not editorially cogent with the rest of the book.
July 5, 2020
A Seminal Editor's Memoirs
PN Balji the Reluctant Editor of the title, writes he hesitated when he was offered the editor’s job, but his wife told him to go ahead. In the process, he earned a place in the history of Singapore journalism as the editor who helped launch not one but two tabloid newspapers in the city-state. Starting as the deputy editor of The New Paper when it hit the news stands in 1988, he became its editor within two years and went on to launch Today in 2000. The two dailies redefined journalism in Singapore, The New Paper as a colourful tabloid that told the news like a story and Today as a tabloid that was as serious as a broadsheet.
As the editor behind two such contrasting newspapers – both departures from Singapore’s main newspaper, the Straits Times, a respected newspaper of record – Balji played a seminal role in Singapore journalism. His memoir Reluctant Editor, however, is refreshingly free of self-importance. Like a seasoned journalist, he tells a good story, letting the facts speak for themselves. He was a natural-born editor for a mass-circulation daily, given his humble but aspirational background. His father was a storekeeper at the British naval base in Singapore but also a trade unionist, poet and playwright. Balji admits his father’s influence on him. He inherited both the flair for words and the socio-political awareness.
His memoirs take us back to a wilder, woollier Singapore where newspapers actually competed with one another and even paid for tip-offs. Balji freely admits that working as a crime reporter for the now defunct New Nation in the 1970s, he along with a colleague bribed the fire brigade’s telephone operators for tip-offs because a rival newspaper did the same. For this, he was fined. The experience was so traumatic that he gave up reporting and became a sub-editor. That’s how he rose to be an editor.
The editor’s is a hot seat in Singapore, from what Balji writes. He recounts run-ins with the government. He recalls the case of the former reporter Suresh Nair, who reported on a Singapore air force helicopter crash in The New Paper in greater detail than the defence ministry divulged, prompting the government to crack down on the reporter’s sources. Anguished by the punishment meted out to his sources and his own ordeal – he was questioned by the investigators – Nair gave up reporting and became a sub-editor like Balji.
Singapore ranks 158th out of 180 countries on the 2020 World Press Freedom Index, but maybe there are journalists who thrive in such challenging conditions – like Balji. About The New Paper, he writes: “The TNP life was my most rewarding experience not just because it became the only afternoon daily to hit a daily sales figure of more than 100,000 copies a day, but also because of the talented team… I worked with.” “He made the newspaper commercially successful and intellectually credible,” says international lawyer and diplomat Prof Tommy Koh about Balji’s contribution to The New Paper in the foreword to Reluctant Editor.
It’s mind-boggling how in Singapore of all places false allegations were made against a former leader. But The New Paper reported former deputy prime minister Toh Chin Chye was arrested in connection with a hit-and-run accident in which a 17-year-old student was killed. It turned out the man arrested was a namesake of the former deputy premier, not him. He sued and obtained damages. Balji was on leave when the newspaper made that shocking blunder.
Balji went on to launch the free newspaper Today. He reminisces about the competition it faced from Singapore Press Holdings, the publisher of The New Paper and the Straits Times. All that’s history now. Today has ceased to be a printed newspaper, appearing online only. The New Paper has shrunk. The Straits Times soldiers on but is not as rich in advertising as it used to be. Even an editor as successful as Balji may not have been able to turn around a newspaper now. As he says: ”Journalism has evolved into a very different creature, facing different challenges.” His memoirs, nevertheless, are a compelling inside story about the Singapore media. A bestseller in Singapore, Reluctant Editor shows Balji’s enduring popularity as a writer.
June 6, 2021
With the announcement of the restructuring of SPH and concerns over whether the measures would lead to increased partisanship of the SPH towards the government, this book came at an appropriate time.
What makes this book striking is how it is written in the perspective of PN Balji - a rather significant figure in the Singapore news industry. His vivid descriptions of how he and his peers had to toe the government line; his suprisingly candid stories on government interference in the news media and his genuine passion for the setting up of the new paper and TODAY, were all fascinating and engaging reads.
A prima facie assumption of this book is that it focuses merely on the effects of the government on the news industry in Singapore. While there is a definite truth in that statement, that belief does not do the book justice - there is so much more to it. It contains stories about hardworking foreign journalists in Singapore trying to forge a better life; stories about the political struggles and ruthless or even "bloody" business struggles ( as the author terms it) in the news industry; stories about how commonly accepted and staid news practices ( by today's standards), were considered unorthodox, shocking and even rebellious.
The most interesting part of the book to me was the last chapter on former giants of the Singapore news industry: names like Cheong Yip Seng (author of the OB markers book), Elise Tan and Peter Lim. PN Balji's piece on them summed up the complexities of book and how the news industry is not a monolith. His writing on them is engaging and even romantic.
Overall, this book is an important addition to the paucity of Singapore literature on the news industry in Singapore. A great read in trying to understand the rather opaque practices of news media in Singapore.
What makes this book striking is how it is written in the perspective of PN Balji - a rather significant figure in the Singapore news industry. His vivid descriptions of how he and his peers had to toe the government line; his suprisingly candid stories on government interference in the news media and his genuine passion for the setting up of the new paper and TODAY, were all fascinating and engaging reads.
A prima facie assumption of this book is that it focuses merely on the effects of the government on the news industry in Singapore. While there is a definite truth in that statement, that belief does not do the book justice - there is so much more to it. It contains stories about hardworking foreign journalists in Singapore trying to forge a better life; stories about the political struggles and ruthless or even "bloody" business struggles ( as the author terms it) in the news industry; stories about how commonly accepted and staid news practices ( by today's standards), were considered unorthodox, shocking and even rebellious.
The most interesting part of the book to me was the last chapter on former giants of the Singapore news industry: names like Cheong Yip Seng (author of the OB markers book), Elise Tan and Peter Lim. PN Balji's piece on them summed up the complexities of book and how the news industry is not a monolith. His writing on them is engaging and even romantic.
Overall, this book is an important addition to the paucity of Singapore literature on the news industry in Singapore. A great read in trying to understand the rather opaque practices of news media in Singapore.
July 17, 2022
Overall a pretty good read that reveals the inner workings of the media industry. I read this after reading OB markers by Cheong Yip Seng, so it was interesting to see the same people or events being described differently by these 2 people with differing interests. Rather than detailing his entire news career in a chronological manner, he organises the book into chapters describing key incidents. This is a plus because it's much easier and less tedious to read as compared to OB Markers!
At the end of this book, I learnt about the precariousness of the media industry in Singapore and salute journalists and editors who work tirelessly behind the scenes to educate the common man in the street about complex issues globally and back home. It truly is an art to be able to break down issues beyond an individual's comprehension to palatable bits and capture readers' attention.
Though Balji speaks of his past experiences, they remain even more relevant today with the rise of social media as anyone can post information. The Rashoman effect has never been so prevalant as information can be presented in varied ways and often without context as people's attention span shorten and demand for bite-sized news surge. This is a mounting challenge presented to journalists today who have to cut through the noise and present objective, palatable information and maintain editorial integrity in the face of a confining government.
At the end of this book, I learnt about the precariousness of the media industry in Singapore and salute journalists and editors who work tirelessly behind the scenes to educate the common man in the street about complex issues globally and back home. It truly is an art to be able to break down issues beyond an individual's comprehension to palatable bits and capture readers' attention.
Though Balji speaks of his past experiences, they remain even more relevant today with the rise of social media as anyone can post information. The Rashoman effect has never been so prevalant as information can be presented in varied ways and often without context as people's attention span shorten and demand for bite-sized news surge. This is a mounting challenge presented to journalists today who have to cut through the noise and present objective, palatable information and maintain editorial integrity in the face of a confining government.
May 3, 2021
Oh how I delayed finishing the book.... Mind you it wasn't a tough read in fact it was smooth sailing. The narrative and prose was engaging. But me and my ill considered mindedness was thinking : oh there's not much I could possibly learn right? But I was wrong, it took me till the end of the book that rightly rounds up Mr Balji's considered opinions of his working life as a journalist to editor to his PR firms and to his last article in The Independent of his musings as a grandfather to Arrian that cemented how wrong and how much I enjoyed the book. It wasnt about how restrain and self censorship is perpetrated in the media that one could come away with at the end of the book. Like Arrian and his growing up years I darefully considered as an analogy to Singapore, LKY and our political environment for the "non participatory citizen". Sometimes our status as an adjunct to the political cores just might reveal more about our thirst of being consistently aware. At the end, I didn't want this to be an expose but an enjoyable read which it turned out to be.
Now I can't wait to read Letter to my Son.
Now I can't wait to read Letter to my Son.
August 16, 2025
Book 185 of 350 ~ 2025
🌟🌟🌟🌟
This has been on my tbr for way too long... and given it is #sg60 I am making an effort to read more #singlit and #singreads this month.
This to me felt like a bit of the golden age of journalism, especially given that there were journalists who dared to challenge and think for themselves.
Was reminded stories about some journalists and editors that I knew about and was disheartened by some stories that were shared.
Don't get me started on the aids/hiv one...
Quite the read.
#book185of350 #amreading #tbrpile #instareads #readstagram #reading #bookreview #bookreviewer #booklover #booksAreLife #booksForTheWin #booknerds #thisbookfairyisreading #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramfeature #bookshelf #booksofinstagram #bookish #bookworm #goodreads #booklovers #bookaddict #theSGbookfairyReads #theSGtrekkiereads #bookchallenge2025
🌟🌟🌟🌟
This has been on my tbr for way too long... and given it is #sg60 I am making an effort to read more #singlit and #singreads this month.
This to me felt like a bit of the golden age of journalism, especially given that there were journalists who dared to challenge and think for themselves.
Was reminded stories about some journalists and editors that I knew about and was disheartened by some stories that were shared.
Don't get me started on the aids/hiv one...
Quite the read.
#book185of350 #amreading #tbrpile #instareads #readstagram #reading #bookreview #bookreviewer #booklover #booksAreLife #booksForTheWin #booknerds #thisbookfairyisreading #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramfeature #bookshelf #booksofinstagram #bookish #bookworm #goodreads #booklovers #bookaddict #theSGbookfairyReads #theSGtrekkiereads #bookchallenge2025
March 30, 2020
A glimpse into the struggles faced by the newsrooms of Singapore's smaller papers, and the dedication of editors and journos who worked hard not only to keep those papers running but also ensure their own editorial integrity remains intact as Big Brother watched. More than that, Reluctant Editor reminds me of 3 things: 1) always remember your audience; 2) the sometimes forgotten value of a good story and headline (as opposed to mindless reporting and copying/pasting press releases and speeches); and 3) be mindful not to end up subconsciously self-censoring, afraid of infringing OB markers which may not even be there in the first place.
August 30, 2021
I had underestimated the dailies Balji mentioned and dismissed them as tabloids unworthy of spending extra time on but having an insiders perspective renewed my perspectives and corrected such biases that I had. I think that anyone seeking to challenge their own opinions of Today or The New Paper should give this book a read to understand the intricacies and journaled of how these “tabloids” were run, conceptualised and even the challenges they faced.
March 27, 2020
An interesting look into Singaporean journalism that you wouldn't find in most places. Its contents cover stories that are surprisingly honest, what with the names being dropped and censorship in Singapore.
However, the book itself tends to appear disjointed between chapters. This mars comprehension and lends to a reading that leaves one with a piqued interest but furrowed brows.
However, the book itself tends to appear disjointed between chapters. This mars comprehension and lends to a reading that leaves one with a piqued interest but furrowed brows.
February 15, 2020
“Nearly every editor in Singapore has a Lee Kuan Yew story to tell. Former editor-in-chief, Cheong Yip Seng has written in his book, “OB Markers: My Straits Times Story,” of being warned as a rookie reporter that if he broke an embargo, he would have his neck broken.”
On a conversation PN Balji had with then Minister David Lim: “what would you do if your reporter comes to you with a story that a minister is corrupt?” I replied: “we will do all our checks & go to the PM for comment,” and then what? He wanted to know. Depending on what the PM says, we will make a decision on publication. What he said next surprised me: “No, you should not publish it. Let the PM investigate and decide what to do.”
PN Balji has worked in fives newsrooms in 40 years & this book collects some of his key experiences & observations. It was interesting to me that he got a job as a journalist with an A level cert...how times have changed. A lot of his interesting observations came from his experience with The New Paper, a newspaper that aimed to be “80 per cent human interest content, 20 per cent coverage of political & foreign events in a way that readers appreciated and understood.” The book is written accessibly, reflecting his time there, it’s an easy read I recommend! Plus it’s in the library :)
What I found interesting was him saying that in his time, there were journalists, such as Peter Lim, who were principled & daring despite the blowback they would expect & have felt from the state. Journalists were willing to take risks with OB markers, even as they risked being re-shuffled, losing their jobs, & in one case being called in for questioning for hours. He felt today Journalists have more leeway than they had, but are afraid to test the OB markers, which is something everyone will lose out from. Idk much abt the journalistic scene but I felt like this showed that the culture of fear has cemented itself effectively into the present.
Also interesting was to read how cutthroat the industry was! When TODAY started, vans from SPH followed them to the printers & see if they slipped up so they can inform advertisers & threaten their financial viability.
On a conversation PN Balji had with then Minister David Lim: “what would you do if your reporter comes to you with a story that a minister is corrupt?” I replied: “we will do all our checks & go to the PM for comment,” and then what? He wanted to know. Depending on what the PM says, we will make a decision on publication. What he said next surprised me: “No, you should not publish it. Let the PM investigate and decide what to do.”
PN Balji has worked in fives newsrooms in 40 years & this book collects some of his key experiences & observations. It was interesting to me that he got a job as a journalist with an A level cert...how times have changed. A lot of his interesting observations came from his experience with The New Paper, a newspaper that aimed to be “80 per cent human interest content, 20 per cent coverage of political & foreign events in a way that readers appreciated and understood.” The book is written accessibly, reflecting his time there, it’s an easy read I recommend! Plus it’s in the library :)
What I found interesting was him saying that in his time, there were journalists, such as Peter Lim, who were principled & daring despite the blowback they would expect & have felt from the state. Journalists were willing to take risks with OB markers, even as they risked being re-shuffled, losing their jobs, & in one case being called in for questioning for hours. He felt today Journalists have more leeway than they had, but are afraid to test the OB markers, which is something everyone will lose out from. Idk much abt the journalistic scene but I felt like this showed that the culture of fear has cemented itself effectively into the present.
Also interesting was to read how cutthroat the industry was! When TODAY started, vans from SPH followed them to the printers & see if they slipped up so they can inform advertisers & threaten their financial viability.
August 10, 2020
I was expecting more juicy behind the scenes stories but sadly none. Will try and see if I can borrow the Cheong Yip Seng book instead.
December 10, 2023
Good insights into what happens in a Singaporean newsroom and the relationship between the press and the government.
January 1, 2023
Having read this and Cheong Yip Seng's, the book I really would like to read would be one by Peter Lim.
October 15, 2019
I'd read OB Markers - Cheong Yip Seng's behind-the-scenes look at the Straits Times, where he served as editor-in-chief for 19 years - several months ago and was looking forward to reading Reluctant Editor by PN Balji, another media veteran.
At just under 200 pages, it was definitely a faster read than Cheong's 450-page tome (complete with an index at the end of the book). I finished Reluctant Editor in one sitting, which is very rare for me. It's a very different book, written from a very different vantage point in the media industry. Whereas Cheong spent most of his career with the Straits Times, a venerable institution founded in 1845 and Singapore's dominant English language paper, Balji spent most of his career with media "underdogs" save for a five-year stint from 1982-88 with ST. (He started out as a reporter with the Malay Mail, then served as a crime reporter then sub-editor at New Nation before making acting editor one year before the paper was shut down in 1982. Balji then moved to ST, serving in various editorial roles, before being offered the chance to join The New Paper when it was launched in 1988. Balji took over the editorship of TNP in 1990 and spent 10 years in the top job before moving out of the SPH stable entirely to join Today, a new paper launched by Mediacorp, in 2000.)
Some of the things that Balji relates are not new. Cheong discussed them in OB Markers - incidents like how LKY wanted Sunday Nation writer Mary Lee sacked for her "provocative" columns; SPH instead moved her to a sub-editor role but she was unhappy with the role and left for the UK. She returned to Singapore after 20 years to join TNP but was demoted after criticising ministerial salaries - a sensitive issue - in an interview with the BBC. Balji relates his fair share of stories of learning how to navigate political waters as a newspaper man - that matters concerning the military were strictly off-limits; that the government was not averse to using the media to further its political ends like when TNP was told it could obtain copies of Tang Liang Hong's police reports against Goh Chok Tong and his team; that failure to manage the media firmly and decisively could damage one's political prospects, as was the case with Ong Teng Cheong and his perceived failure to set the media straight after they reported on impending bus fare increases in 1981; that an independent streak and failure to accommodate the PAP's interests and demands was a career-limiting move, as was the case with Han Fook Kwang and Leslie Fong.
What was new was a better understanding of the role tabloids like TNP and Today serve in Singapore's media landscape. The common impression of TNP is that of a low-brow paper selling sex, sensation and soccer. Balji presents an alternative perspective - that TNP sought to deliver a paper that readers would want to buy, making it politically and socially relevant. It was roughly 80 percent human interest content (I guess this was the sex, sensation and soccer) and 20 percent "coverage of political and foreign events in a way readers appreciated and understood". While the elites in government may disdain what TNP represents, in reality, they need a paper that can reach out to audiences untouched by ST, to cover key political and foreign events in a way that these audiences find accessible.
TNP was a completely different model from ST. Unlike ST, TNP doesn't operate on a subscription model. And so the Page One headline was everything - it would determine whether people would pick up a copy of TNP at the newsstand or walk away."Page One didn't discriminate. Wherever the biggest news came from, whether it was from...local, foreign, sports events, or from news agencies, it could make it to Page One. What The Straits Times picked as its Page One lead would almost invariably be the most important story of the day; TNP would gun for the most interesting."
Today, as a freesheet depending on advertising revenue, was yet another very different model. To be attractive to advertisers, Today had to be credible to readers; it could not be a downmarket paper like TNP, which large advertisers like DBS and Singapore Airlines stayed clear of. Today's approach therefore blended news with (more critical) analysis and content. This would allow it to distinguish itself from ST, capturing an audience that wanted something more provocative and analytical than what ST could offer.
Balji limited each chapter to not more than 4000 words - influenced perhaps from his years of working in tabloids. This makes Reluctant Editor an easy (and yes, accessible) read. Its length means it isn't as rich and detailed as OB Markers. But it makes for an excellent supplement to the book, to help give a more rounded picture of the media landscape and government-media relations in Singapore.
At just under 200 pages, it was definitely a faster read than Cheong's 450-page tome (complete with an index at the end of the book). I finished Reluctant Editor in one sitting, which is very rare for me. It's a very different book, written from a very different vantage point in the media industry. Whereas Cheong spent most of his career with the Straits Times, a venerable institution founded in 1845 and Singapore's dominant English language paper, Balji spent most of his career with media "underdogs" save for a five-year stint from 1982-88 with ST. (He started out as a reporter with the Malay Mail, then served as a crime reporter then sub-editor at New Nation before making acting editor one year before the paper was shut down in 1982. Balji then moved to ST, serving in various editorial roles, before being offered the chance to join The New Paper when it was launched in 1988. Balji took over the editorship of TNP in 1990 and spent 10 years in the top job before moving out of the SPH stable entirely to join Today, a new paper launched by Mediacorp, in 2000.)
Some of the things that Balji relates are not new. Cheong discussed them in OB Markers - incidents like how LKY wanted Sunday Nation writer Mary Lee sacked for her "provocative" columns; SPH instead moved her to a sub-editor role but she was unhappy with the role and left for the UK. She returned to Singapore after 20 years to join TNP but was demoted after criticising ministerial salaries - a sensitive issue - in an interview with the BBC. Balji relates his fair share of stories of learning how to navigate political waters as a newspaper man - that matters concerning the military were strictly off-limits; that the government was not averse to using the media to further its political ends like when TNP was told it could obtain copies of Tang Liang Hong's police reports against Goh Chok Tong and his team; that failure to manage the media firmly and decisively could damage one's political prospects, as was the case with Ong Teng Cheong and his perceived failure to set the media straight after they reported on impending bus fare increases in 1981; that an independent streak and failure to accommodate the PAP's interests and demands was a career-limiting move, as was the case with Han Fook Kwang and Leslie Fong.
What was new was a better understanding of the role tabloids like TNP and Today serve in Singapore's media landscape. The common impression of TNP is that of a low-brow paper selling sex, sensation and soccer. Balji presents an alternative perspective - that TNP sought to deliver a paper that readers would want to buy, making it politically and socially relevant. It was roughly 80 percent human interest content (I guess this was the sex, sensation and soccer) and 20 percent "coverage of political and foreign events in a way readers appreciated and understood". While the elites in government may disdain what TNP represents, in reality, they need a paper that can reach out to audiences untouched by ST, to cover key political and foreign events in a way that these audiences find accessible.
TNP was a completely different model from ST. Unlike ST, TNP doesn't operate on a subscription model. And so the Page One headline was everything - it would determine whether people would pick up a copy of TNP at the newsstand or walk away."Page One didn't discriminate. Wherever the biggest news came from, whether it was from...local, foreign, sports events, or from news agencies, it could make it to Page One. What The Straits Times picked as its Page One lead would almost invariably be the most important story of the day; TNP would gun for the most interesting."
Today, as a freesheet depending on advertising revenue, was yet another very different model. To be attractive to advertisers, Today had to be credible to readers; it could not be a downmarket paper like TNP, which large advertisers like DBS and Singapore Airlines stayed clear of. Today's approach therefore blended news with (more critical) analysis and content. This would allow it to distinguish itself from ST, capturing an audience that wanted something more provocative and analytical than what ST could offer.
Balji limited each chapter to not more than 4000 words - influenced perhaps from his years of working in tabloids. This makes Reluctant Editor an easy (and yes, accessible) read. Its length means it isn't as rich and detailed as OB Markers. But it makes for an excellent supplement to the book, to help give a more rounded picture of the media landscape and government-media relations in Singapore.
February 26, 2020
Interesting read into journalism in Singapore. But I don’t think I’ll ever agree to sensationalism / writing clickbait-y articles just to get increased readership or have different angles to stand out from the crowd.
March 1, 2020
This book is an eye-opening inside look of the Singapore media as seen through the lens of a veteran newspaper journalist PN Balji. It is a worthy read because it sheds light into the competitive journalism scene of Singapore, mainly from the 1970s to 1990s, and more importantly, the relationship between the media and the government.
As mentioned in the book, the author wrote this book thematically and not chronologically, which makes the book read like a series of standalone articles that were ultimately stitched together. A short read that is precise when it needs to be, this is a throwback to the newsrooms of the olden days!
4/5
As mentioned in the book, the author wrote this book thematically and not chronologically, which makes the book read like a series of standalone articles that were ultimately stitched together. A short read that is precise when it needs to be, this is a throwback to the newsrooms of the olden days!
4/5
October 6, 2019
Finished in one day. It’s fascinating and a good read for the new generation. I remember a senior public official told me. We lack the willingness to strive and be willing to take chances. This books seems to sum it up rather nicely, a simple chronological review of the state of the media. Hopeful and reassuring. A good read.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews