unfettered press

Mr Ngiam on an unfettered press ...


Unfettered free press not desirable: Ngiam Tong Dow

A FREE press is not a tower of Babel, retired top civil servant Ngiam Tong Dow told SPH journalists yesterday.

'In extremis, censorship is necessary,' he said, though the power to censor must be used 'wisely and sparingly'.

Mr Ngiam - chairman of his own consultancy, iGlobe Advisors, and also a SPH director - was speaking on 'Reporting, Then and Now' at the SPH Lecture in News Centre. He was, after all, a Straits Times cub reporter in the 1950s before he went to university. Apart from regaling his listeners with newsroom stories from those early pre-tape recorder days, he spoke his mind on Singapore journalism today.

In his view, opinion writing is 'not quite journalism'; he prefers straight reporting.

'Straight reporting allows the facts to stand on their own. Straight reporting allows the story to tell its tale. There is no attempt ... to juxtapose words and pictures to create misleading impressions.

The straight reporter does not crusade. He has no personal agenda,' he noted.

If journalists allow their own beliefs and convictions to creep into their work, 'we should not be surprised if our neighbours and, indeed, the state, respond and challenge us frontally', he said.

'I am not suggesting that as citizens and journalists we should be simply unquestioning, uncritical, sycophantic admirers of the state and the power it wields.'
But an unfettered free press is undesirable, he suggested. While the media can report the number of people killed in racial riots, it will be totally irresponsible to break down fatalities by race in the highly emotionally charged tensions of the first days, he pointed out.

On the other hand, a complete news blackout of the Tangshan earthquake that killed a million people in 1976 did untold damage to the credibility of the Chinese government.

The role and value add of the journalist is to make a complex subject easy to grasp, Mr Ngiam said.

'I asked many of my more erudite friends in finance and economics to explain what exactly are carbon credits. I am afraid I have yet to receive a crystal-clear exposition of carbon credits in the literature on climate control.

'In my more sceptical moments, I even wonder whether highly paid risk managers in banking ever really understood what are derivatives, collatorised debt instruments and sub-prime loans.'

The 'sacred mission' of the press is to 'uphold truth and protect the integrity of our nation in clear, simple, inspiring writing', Mr Ngiam said.
'Our role is to read the verdict of the people correctly, so that the government can continue to retain the mandate of heaven to rule.'

(Thanks to BT, 4 Mar 08)


Tell it simple, tell it straight

Ngiam Tong Dow, a member of SPH's board of directors, spoke to the group's journalists yesterday. Here is an edited excerpt of his reflections on the role of the media.

STRAIGHT reporting allows the facts to stand on their own. Straight reporting allows the story to tell its tale. There is no attempt by the sub-editor to juxtapose words and pictures to create misleading impressions. The straight reporter does not crusade. He has no personal agenda.

The ogre in our nightmares is said to be the imperial censor. Yet are we being honest with ourselves? You may hang and quarter me for saying this, but if we look deep into our hearts, we may find that our enemy is within us. Our ego may be our greatest stumbling block.

As human beings, we all have our own convictions - religious, political or moral. If we allow our own beliefs to creep into our journalism, we should not be surprised if our neighbours - and, indeed, the state - respond and challenge us frontally. I am not suggesting that as citizens and journalists, we should be simply unquestioning, uncritical and sycophantic admirers of the state.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew once told me that to govern, one must have one's hands on three levers of power - the treasury, the army and the voice.

If one manages the economy well, the treasury would be full and abundant. If one trains the army well, one need not fear one's foes. And if one wants to win the hearts and minds of the people, one needs to have a free press.

Unlike Western-educated liberals, to me, a free press is not a tower of Babel. In extremis, censorship is necessary.

For example, while newspapers can report the number of people killed in racial riots, it would be totally irresponsible for the media to break down fatalities by race in that highly charged emotional environment. Fatality figures by race can be released later when the police and armed forces have regained control.

But the power to censor has to be used wisely and sparingly. History records that the death of Qin Shi Huang on one of his trips to Eastern China was kept secret from his troops until the imperial war carriage arrived back in Xianyang, the capital, now known as Xian. A premature leak of his death would have demoralised his troops and aided his enemies.

On the other hand, the complete news blackout imposed after the Tangshan earthquake in 1976, which killed a million people, just before the death of Chairman Mao, did untold damage to the credibility of the Chinese government. It was a bad, if not futile, exercise of censorship. In fact, with the advent of the Internet and cellphone cameras, such censorship is now almost impossible.

As reporters, our craft is writing. We are wordsmiths. To keep in top form, the writer has to exercise his vocabulary and command of language in the same way as a single handicapper in golf hits 200 balls on the practice range everyday.

Former deputy prime minister Goh Keng Swee taught me how to exercise my vocabulary. He told me to pick a word, any word, and write out its five synonyms. Turn it over, and write out its five antonyms. Start with hot and cold.

Skill in writing does not make you a good writer per se. You need knowledge and content. You have to research the facts and the background of topics before you set out to write a political, scientific, economic or even simply a human-interest story.

For instance, the straight reporting and the reflective articles on the passing of former Indonesian president Suharto in the Wall Street Journal and the International Herald Tribune made for more compelling reading than our own. To improve, I suggest we benchmark ourselves against what we consider to be good writing in the pages of our competitors.

The role, value add, of the journalist is to make a complex subject or a profound topic simple to grasp. If the average reader with an 'O' level cannot fully understand what you want to say, it is your failure, not his ignorance.

I asked many of my more erudite friends in finance and economics to explain what exactly are carbon credits.
I am afraid I have yet to receive a crystal clear exposition of carbon credits in the literature on climate control. In my more sceptical moments, I even wonder whether highly paid risk managers in banking ever really understood what are derivatives, collatorised debt instruments and sub-prime loans.

Let me end by quoting one of my mentors, who said that if you do not think straight, you cannot write straight. If you yourself cannot understand a topic well, how can you have the temerity to write an opinion piece on it?

If I sound overly critical, it is because I believe passionately in the sacred mission of the press, which is to uphold truth and protect the integrity of our nation in clear, simple, inspiring writing.
Our role is to read the verdict of the people correctly so that the Government can continue to retain the mandate of heaven to rule.

'To me, a free press is not a tower of Babel.
In extremis, censorship is necessary.'
MR NGIAM

(Thanks to ST, 4 Mar 08)