Editing arrogance

Editing arrogance

Those of us who have, over many years, contributed to the
"Your Letters" column, and subscribed to the newspaper, are well
aware that the editorial arrogance of The Jakarta Post team knows
no bounds. Whole sections of letters are slashed, the meaning
completely changed, and then published, with the contributor
unable to recognize his own work. This arrogance extends to the
editorial staff reviewing articles for the "Features" column.

In my own case I had a carefully researched article, which
proposed a closer look at Cyprus as a "Gateway to Europe" for
Indonesia, rejected unless I accepted a long and rambling
discourse on how it should be written. Many other contributors
have made similar comments and complaints over the years. At the
same time the paper regularly publishes emotive articles with an
author's name, but no indication of who he is, and in the case of
some of the wilder inputs from our famous left wing rag The
Guardian, in the UK, are allowed to present a political slant on
topics where there is no counterbalancing by other contributors.

I was, however, wholly amazed to read an all out attack
launched by Sabam Siagian, the former Chief Editor of The Jakarta
Post, against the Kompas columnist Kwik Kian Gie, who also writes
for The Jakarta Post. In this virulent attack (Letters, Kompas,
Saturday, Feb. 7), Siagian, whilst noting that Kwik has been a
good friend for many years, attacks his writing style, his use of
Bahasa Indonesia, his emotive style, and everything else you can
think of. The final insult is where he suggests the Kompas editor
allocates an "editor" to "help" the columnist to rewrite the
article so the logic of the argument is clear. The tell tale line
is where he says 'yang tidak begitu relevan dibuang saja'. In other
words, if this trainee, or even competent, editorial assistant
can not follow the logic of Kwik's argument, just cut it out. The
logic of this defies belief, as it clearly illustrates that
articles and letters by local contributors published in The
Jakarta Post are not the original musings of the contributor, but
rather they represent a Jakarta Post corporate leaning and
statement, whether it be political or otherwise. The arrogance of
this editorial team extends to altering good old Anglo-Saxon
spelling to the American version -- clearly the first task on
receiving a contribution is to get the office boy to run it
through a Microsoft spell checker so that, for example, "centre"
pops up as not known, and is changed to center.

Come on The Jakarta Post, step down from your lofty perch into
the real world and realize that why people enjoy regular
columnists is not to study their grammar and syntax, but to agree
or disagree with their emotive arguments. Realize also that in
these difficult times well-known public figures speak with
emotion because they feel very strongly about their points of
view -- watch any documentary current affairs program to get my
message. Clean up your own house first, so you can gain respect,
and apologize to the Kompas Editor for the unwarranted attack on
the editorial capabilities and independence of fellow
journalists.

BILL GUERIN

Jakarta