DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU SEE

This picture has been bothering me a lot since it was posted by @richardbarrow on Twitter yesterday afternoon. 

As you can see, the television reporter is standing in water outside the Grand Palace in Bangkok. But look closer and you'll see dry land only metres away. No doubt the audience seeing the subsequent report will only see the flooding in the background.

In my opinion this reporter is breaking the most important rule in journalism - to report the truth. What viewers saw was not the entire picture. 

I'd love to know which television station this reporter works for, and indeed what the editor would say when presented with this image. No doubt the report was dramatic - floods lapping at the walls of one of Bangkok's tourist icons - but is that really what was happening at the time?

It just goes to show you shouldn't believe everything you see - or read for that matter.

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ICONIC IMAGES OF THE FLOODS

Today's front page of The Straits Times in Singapore has what I consider to be one of the most iconic images to emerge so far from the floods which are gripping parts of Bangkok right now.

But as a former press photographer I cannot help feeling this image looks a bit staged. The monk looks like he's been asked to stand in the water - and if you look closer you can see the water doesn't extend all the way to the walls of the Grand Palace. Surely the monk would not need to pass through the water ordinarily? That said, I have no evidence to suggest the situation has been manipulated.

As for the front page headline and associated government advice for Singaporeans to leave Bangkok while the main international airport remains open - it does smack of a certain degree of sensationalism. 

Bangkok and the floods have been dominating the news agenda in Singapore for more than a week now - and that only looks set to continue.

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FLOOD ON THE FRONT PAGES

Images from Bangkok once again made the front pages of a number of regional newspapers during the past weekend.

The Straits Times in Singapore lead with graphic images from the Thai capital on Saturday and Sunday, while newspapers in Malaysia and Indonesia also opted to run with front page stories and images depicting the flooding in Bangkok.

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KUDOS TO THE NATION ..

.. for allowing anyone affected by the Thailand flooding to download the latest copies of its newspaper as a PDF edition.

When people are searching for news in all its forms then any initiative like this is surely a welcome one.

On the down side the files take a long time to download and, one would guess, that downloading today's copy of The Nation isn't going to be high on the list of things to do when water is lapping at the door.

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WHILE STOCKS LAST ..

Seeing these three words associated with a magazine subscription sales campaign always make me laugh. And I've seen two in the last couple of weeks.

"Hurry, subscribe now while stocks last .."

As if the publisher is going to turn away cash from a potential subscriber saying "I'm sorry, we're run out." 

Think about it.

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NATION WEBSITE TO USE PAYWALL?

The website of The Nation newspaper in Thailand appears to be close to introducing a paywall for its online content - again.

An advertisement appearing on its website says: "Enjoy 45 articles per month free before paying". No pricing details are provided.

This isn't the first time Nation Multimedia has toyed with the idea of charging for content. In February 2010 the company introduced “The Nation Exclusive”, a paywall-protected section of its free-to-access website that promised to deliver “exclusive news, in-depth analysis, tips for investors, premium lifestyle articles, exclusive video, exclusive business tips, best offer for your lifestyle, privilege for high-class travelers and audio analysis." This service is no longer being offered.

The issue of charging for content, especially in Thailand, is a difficult one. Unless The Nation will be providing significantly different content from The Bangkok Post, Thailand's other English language daily, then it will likely not make much money from this initiative. Very little news in Thailand is truly exclusive.

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OUT-OF-DATE FOOD MAGAZINE ON SALE

Thailand is not the only country where old editions of magazines are still on the shelves.

In Singapore I spotted this May 2011 edition of BBC Good Food on sale at a supermarket this week. For a magazine that's been on sale for more than five months it's in remarkably good condition, suggesting not too many people have browsed it.

The fact the retailer hasn't removed this edition from sale indicates to me they don't care about magazine sales. If they did they'd make sure only current editions were on sale. The publisher also needs to share some of the blame for not ensuring all sales and returns are accounted for.

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CLANGERS FROM THE NATION

I sometimes wonder whether The Nation has totally dispensed with its proofreaders? Here are a couple of banners which have been appearing on its website over the last few weeks.

I am the first to admit that typos happen (I've made a few here myself), but these have been appearing for more than a few days? Either they don't read their own advertising or no one is bothering to let them know about these errors.

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BKK POST CIRCULATION UP 4.15%

Circulation at The Bangkok Post rose 4.15 per cent during the first half of 2011 from the previous six month period, according to data published by the Audit Bureau of Circulation. 

The English language daily recorded average daily sales of 44,754 copies during the six months ending June 30, 2011 - up from the 42,967 copies during the last half of 2010 and slightly less than the 44,901 copies recorded for the same period last year.

The detailed audited circulation report shows that single copy sales of the newspaper rose by an average of just 75 copies per day from the previous six months, now standing at 12,335. The number of subscription copies fell by slightly under 400 copies per day to 16,086, while the number of bulk sales rose from 14,147 to now stand at 16,243 copies on average per day.

So, although the headline figure shows a healthy 4.15 per cent rise, the vast majority of this increase can be attributed to bulk and multi copy sales of the newspaper to places like airlines and hotels.

The Bangkok Post is Thailand's only newspaper with an independently audited circulation.

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ANOTHER BOOKSHOP TO DISAPPEAR?

Hot on the heels of the demise of the Borders bookshop chain in Singapore comes news that Page One's flagship store at the VivoCity mall could be set to close next March.

Last Saturday's The Straits Times reported how the retailer has been recording a S$600,000 to S$800,000 (THB14.5 million to THB19 million) loss per year since it opened in 2006. Rent negotiations are currently underway pending the expiry of the current lease in five months time.

The impact for regional and global magazine publishers, coming so soon after Borders' closure, could be severe. The two Borders outlets and this Page One store are responsible for some of the best magazine sales throughout the city. Kinokuniya is now the number one outlet for magazines in Singapore but they've refused to take more copies of magazines to make up for those which were previously sold by Borders.

There are less magazines on sale in Singapore, which ultimately means less revenue for publishers.

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MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE FLOODS

This is in interview I did with Asean television in Bangkok last week, talking about media coverage of the floods in Thailand.

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