Lately I’ve been reflecting on the more than a decade that I’ve been in the journalism business, and on the experiences we face in dealing with companies and people from all walks of life.
Journalism was not my first choice of profession. I was planning on a boring job as an analyst (no offence to all my friends in the field). The day I joined the profession, the first person to offer his sympathies was my father, who thought it a very unwise career choice. Journalism, he told me, is a profession that may eventually bring you the recognition you’re looking for, but initially it’s not a smooth road.
Indeed, I can attest that it’s been a long, bumpy ride. Being treated as a second-class citizen, even being shunned and looked down on — it all comes with the territory. But learning how to deal with adversity has helped make me who I am. And I feel fortunate to be in a profession that has given me the opportunity to know so many people I never would have met had I chosen a desk job.
But then there are times when you feel tired of dealing with people who take this profession for granted, not least the various “public relations” professionals who think they are experts in dealing with people like us.
Most journalists are not in it for money (you can trust me on that). We do it for various other reasons, and one thing that unites us is a high degree of ethics and sense of dignity.
But this understanding of what makes journalists tick has not got into the heads of many companies or their public relations officers. I receive a lot of invitations to go on visits to other countries and the fine print at the bottom says something along the following lines: “The media organisation must publish articles on the trip. When the articles are issued, a copy must be provided.”
This is not unique to Thailand. I see it across the Asean region and in the work of PR companies that have a global footprint.
My response to such requests is usually to spurn the offer, saying that any reputable organisation cannot and will not take up an invitation with such preconditions. Most of the time I get a response to the effect that the fine print was a mistake and would I please reconsider if they amend the invitation and resend it? I take this partly as an indication of the kreng jai attitude that we in Thailand have, and similar attitudes that exist in other Asian cultures.
One of my reporters recently took a trip at the invitation of a government (I won’t name names but there will be a story in a future edition) that was looking to showcase tourism potential. A visit to places rich in natural beauty turned out to be spoiled by the experience of travelling second- or third-class on the country’s messy rail network.
But despite the bad rail experience and hotels that were little more than guesthouses, the reporter came back and asked me if he should be kreng jai, or whether he should write about things as he really experienced them. My response was to write the facts.
So any company or country concerned that a junket will not generate a story can rest assured that any trip usually produces something worth writing about.
But then it is not always the public relations firms or people who are to be blamed. It is also the fault of journalists in some cases. If they feel they are not being treated fairly, they should push the issue to the top, and if they find the experience entirely unsatisfactory, just walk away.
For although a certain sense of obligation comes with any junket, I for one tell my reporters that they should take enough money to purchase a ticket back home in case they are not satisfied with the trip or the organisation sponsoring it.
I believe in sending a signal to the hosts that if they are not doing something right, then they should be told, and that can only be done if the journalist takes a stand and says “enough is enough”.
Most western media have and use a greater degree of freedom, partly because they are financially stronger organisations, but also because their journalists are more outspoken. The best ones accept junkets but repay every single penny of the cost themselves.
In the developing world, a free press is still a novelty in many countries. But when journalists are taken for a ride, being honest with the people involved is a healthy way to promote a higher level of professionalism on both sides of the fence: journalism and public relations.