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