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Friday, 2 October 2009
Straits Times deleted Ris Low’s photo, but “sg-stupid.jpg” remains
Following our revelation that the Straits Times had named a photo of ex-Miss Singapore World Ris Low as “sg-stupid.jpg”, the photo has been deleted though the link remains.
Straits Times deleted Ris Low’s photo, but “sg-stupid.jpg” remains
The Temasek Review 01 October 2009
Following our revelation that the Straits Times had named a photo of ex-Miss Singapore World Ris Low as “sg-stupid.jpg”, the photo has been deleted though the link remains.
The photo was uploaded to the Straits Times’ server on 25 September 2009 and was in the public domain for 6 days till 30 September 2009 until we exposed the inappropriateness of its JPG name.
One reader commented that it is only a small mistake. This is not simply an oversight, it is outright personal attack on an innocent Singaporean. Though we do not have favourable opinions of some public officials, we have never named their photos in such a derogatory manner.
There was also surprisingly no news on Ris Low or the fiasco today after one week of relentless media publicity on the poor girl which has created a backlash from Singaporeans.
If the Straits Times think it can remove the evidence of its mistake by deleting the photo, then it cannot be more wrong.
Thousands of Singaporeans have seen the photo named “sg-stupid.jpg” saved conspicuously under a “STIMEDIA” folder on the digital edition of the Straits Times.
The journalist who is responsible for the naming Ris Low’s photo as such should come out openly and apologize for his/her mistake instead of hiding behind SPH and pretending that nothing has happened.
Who is this journalist who deliberately label Ris as “stupid”? Does he/she bear a grudge against her? What are his/her real motives for disparaging her in public?
SPH should issue an open apology to Miss Ris Low and have the errant journalist punished for such an unprofessional mistake or its image will be tarnished beyond repair.
While there are so many critical issues affecting ordinary Singaporeans for the media to report on such as the rising prices of HDB flats and influx of foreigners, SPH journalists chose to turn a blind eye to them and instead electing to spend one entire week hounding a defenceless girl whose only mistake is to sign up for a beauty pageant without revealing her past convictions.
Is Ris Low being used as a smokescreen to distract Singaporeans from the real issues of the day? Is this the kind of journalism we expect from SPH, which is a public-listed company? And is the journalist who posted “sg-stupid.jpg” photo of Ris Low living up to the expectations of Rear-Admiral Lui Tuck Yew?
One cannot help but suspect if the journalists who took the trouble to dig out Miss Low’s past conviction and blowing it up in the media have a personal vendetta against her.
After all, her record will soon come to light when she applied to leave for South Africa and the onus will be on the authorities to grant her permission for her to leave, failing which the organizers will have no choice but to rescind her title.
There is really no need to wash her “dirty linen” in public to put her down when she has already been punished under the law for her mistakes. Yet, the state media found fit to lampoon her day after day to the extent of labeling her as “stupid”.
This is the kind of gutter journalism we have in Singapore when the media industry is completely dominated by one single player under the control of the ruling party without any other competitors.
Singaporeans have no choice but to read the Straits Times and other SPH publications. If we have an alternative media, then SPH will not dare to ride roughshod over us because its customers can always protest by boycotting it.
When other papers in the world are facing the spectre of closing down due to decreased readership and advertising such as FEER, SPH is still coping well by virtue of its monopoly in Singapore which will fall afoul of anti-trust laws in the United States.
Singaporeans should lobby for a change in the Newspaper and Printing Preses Law, break up SPH into various companies and liberalize the media industry in the future.
1 comment:
Straits Times deleted Ris Low’s photo, but “sg-stupid.jpg” remains
The Temasek Review
01 October 2009
Following our revelation that the Straits Times had named a photo of ex-Miss Singapore World Ris Low as “sg-stupid.jpg”, the photo has been deleted though the link remains.
The photo was uploaded to the Straits Times’ server on 25 September 2009 and was in the public domain for 6 days till 30 September 2009 until we exposed the inappropriateness of its JPG name.
One reader commented that it is only a small mistake. This is not simply an oversight, it is outright personal attack on an innocent Singaporean. Though we do not have favourable opinions of some public officials, we have never named their photos in such a derogatory manner.
There was also surprisingly no news on Ris Low or the fiasco today after one week of relentless media publicity on the poor girl which has created a backlash from Singaporeans.
If the Straits Times think it can remove the evidence of its mistake by deleting the photo, then it cannot be more wrong.
Thousands of Singaporeans have seen the photo named “sg-stupid.jpg” saved conspicuously under a “STIMEDIA” folder on the digital edition of the Straits Times.
The journalist who is responsible for the naming Ris Low’s photo as such should come out openly and apologize for his/her mistake instead of hiding behind SPH and pretending that nothing has happened.
Who is this journalist who deliberately label Ris as “stupid”? Does he/she bear a grudge against her? What are his/her real motives for disparaging her in public?
SPH should issue an open apology to Miss Ris Low and have the errant journalist punished for such an unprofessional mistake or its image will be tarnished beyond repair.
While there are so many critical issues affecting ordinary Singaporeans for the media to report on such as the rising prices of HDB flats and influx of foreigners, SPH journalists chose to turn a blind eye to them and instead electing to spend one entire week hounding a defenceless girl whose only mistake is to sign up for a beauty pageant without revealing her past convictions.
Is Ris Low being used as a smokescreen to distract Singaporeans from the real issues of the day? Is this the kind of journalism we expect from SPH, which is a public-listed company? And is the journalist who posted “sg-stupid.jpg” photo of Ris Low living up to the expectations of Rear-Admiral Lui Tuck Yew?
One cannot help but suspect if the journalists who took the trouble to dig out Miss Low’s past conviction and blowing it up in the media have a personal vendetta against her.
After all, her record will soon come to light when she applied to leave for South Africa and the onus will be on the authorities to grant her permission for her to leave, failing which the organizers will have no choice but to rescind her title.
There is really no need to wash her “dirty linen” in public to put her down when she has already been punished under the law for her mistakes. Yet, the state media found fit to lampoon her day after day to the extent of labeling her as “stupid”.
This is the kind of gutter journalism we have in Singapore when the media industry is completely dominated by one single player under the control of the ruling party without any other competitors.
Singaporeans have no choice but to read the Straits Times and other SPH publications. If we have an alternative media, then SPH will not dare to ride roughshod over us because its customers can always protest by boycotting it.
When other papers in the world are facing the spectre of closing down due to decreased readership and advertising such as FEER, SPH is still coping well by virtue of its monopoly in Singapore which will fall afoul of anti-trust laws in the United States.
Singaporeans should lobby for a change in the Newspaper and Printing Preses Law, break up SPH into various companies and liberalize the media industry in the future.
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