Steno Journalism - A Great Dis-May!

First a dedicatetion (on proofing, I'm leaving this TYPO as 'tis to show that I've no steno in my office! Can any newspaper office spare one?) to devoted Reader imran in Verse:

I've been in constant conversation
With an esteemed Reader called imran
He (could be a she?) noticed a "change in direction"
In Desiderata's daily postal terrain

I answer today in all humility
It's the Muse inspiring my Poetry
I return to the minefield of socio-politics today
After re-energising on the Magic and Music of May

Now a quiet return to Desiderata.CivilSociety post to assure that the "change in direction" is NOT permanent!

The Business Times within the NST today (May 26, 2005) devoted 2 pages to an exclusive interview with Bursa Malaysia's CEO Yusli Mohamed Yusoff with a bold header Wooing back the investors on B4 and Industry needs transformation on B5.

But as a reader, especially if one is a businessman on the run, the first question that comes to mind is: What's the news?

A hint is given in what in journalese is termed a Standfirst that reads:

BURSA Malaysia's chief executive officer, Yusli Mohamed Yusoff, gives his views on various issues affecting the stock market, investors and the trading community in an exclusive interview with Business Times Executive Editor (name) and journalists (2 names). The following is the first of a two-part series.

BT: What is the latest following your discussion with the Securities Commission (SC), brokers and banks after SC's launch of a probe into disruptive price movements on the market? What has the response been and has there been any improvement in this regard?

Dear Desiderata esteemed Readers:

I won't spoil the soup for you, go spend RM1.20 and see if you agree with me and turn to pages B4 and B5, and after reading a while, would you ask: What's the news?

The rest of the interview-article goes on in Q and A format in what I would call Steno Journalism. My educated guess is the News Editor body-guarded by two senior journalists would have spent several hours of the stock exchange's top gun and all we, the paying readers, are given is a TRANSCRIPT running two full pages! Hey, readers pay for the news of the day, not running a hide-and-seek in a forest of words to sift, siphon and come to a conclusion of what, where, why, when and who and How the NEWS is.

What's the News?

People in this Internet age have long hours for a romantic novel or Lord Byron's or Samad Said's poems (YL Chong's???); for news, they want it in short, tight Top-to-Bottom Inverted Pyramid style.

Or have these three journalists forgotten the 5Ws and 1H basis of news writing through advancing, and diminishing, years?

A few points to share from a newsman's point of view:

This mainstream newspaper has got good journalists, its standard of English used is still way above its main rival, but s-called journalists have forsaken the profession and craft, and resorted to PR (public realtions, not permanent residency!) practise to seek the comfort zone. Less work, less trouble, same money (may be some side benefits for the PR work done)and covering less potential mind-field.

I or even a junior newshound with two years' business reporting experience could have crafted the six questions highlighted in the BT's two valuable pages today, faxed across to the BM CEO, and wait for his faxed answers (in the best PR style, I'm sure BM has an efficeint PR team!) and the copies would still read as good as today's. I wonder if the Editor's position would become reduntant? I won't raise about the accompanying journalists' status -- most times, it's merely taking instructions, and in this case, armed with a tape-recorder each, and transcribing the taped interview.

That's what I term Steno Journalism. Pay the stenographers and secretaries the journalist's salary, and wallah, they would churn out neat copies faster than the senior journalists. I'm sad to record that this is an increasing trend in the Business Sections in the mainstream papers; yet the leading one is gaining circulation growth by default. Am I doing the NST a public relations service with my free advice? I wonder if the top guns even appreciate this observation from a jornalist who cares for this Fourth Estate, and wish to see an increasing circulation in the paper to give the rivals a run for the money.

But please, NST-BT, go back to telling the readers the news of your exclsuive interview> After spending 10 minutes, I still haven't got it, and that's 5 minutues too many! For your sake, Write a Main Story, and maybe the QandA can follow as a Sibebar of maybe one-fith the length highlighting the Snippets that don't fit in as news in the mainpiece. Well, I won't go further providing free PR service today.

Today I've made a case for a higher pay scale for stenos (I'm assuming they are getting less than the jornalists at comparable time-service.) I don't expect a cuppa from the NST-Business Times EE, but maybe I'll get a call from the SYT stenographer reading this post?

PS: Sdr IMRAN, my esteemed Conversationist, art thou satisfied, or you prefer me in Verse?