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Letter from Japan: Like a Kid in a Candy Shop
A day in the life of a columnist
By PETER McKILLOP
November 10, 2000
Web posted at 8:40 p.m. Hong Kong time, 7:40 a.m. EDT
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INTERACTIVE |
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With much of the world waiting in suspended animation over the U.S. presidential
election, I thought I would use this moment to remind readers what is the
purpose of an Asia Buzz columnist. I do this because we receive an awful lot of
e-mails like the edited version below, which, while always flattering to me,
sometimes miss the point of the columns.
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ASIA BUZZ |
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The world's tennis legends let their hair down
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Asia Buzz: Online Advertising
Can you remember the last banner ad you clicked on?
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Tuesday, October 31, 2000
Letter from Japan: Dirty Politics
Clinton and Albright are playing right into the hands of Kim Jong Il
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Friday, October 27, 2000
Culture on Demand: Bottoms Up
Oktoberfest in Hong Kong
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Friday, October 27, 2000
Asia Buzz: Travel Woes
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Thursday, October 26, 2000
Asia Buzz: You've Got Mail
Being rude in the New Economy
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Tuesday, October 24, 2000
Culture on Demand: Marketing Wars
Are you ready for green ketchup?
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Friday, October 20, 2000
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ASIAWEEK |
Intelligence
The story behind today's news from the editors of Asiaweek
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Wayne, a newspaper guy, writes:
"Dear Peter,
You're a shortsighted man with absolutely no knowledge of world politics. My
family has been in the newspaper business for many years. It's your lack of
reporting any news that has led us to believe that all the good newsmen are dead
or retired! Your article "Dirty politics" is a great example of how a lack of
education and placement in the wrong job can be deadly. You have the obligation
to report, not gossip on true issues. How in the world you could blame the
President [Bill Clinton] for the violence in the Middle East? Do you not read
good reports, know the facts? Obviously not. Your biased opinion leads me to
believe you're using your job to promote your own political views."
Hey Wayne, thanks for trying to tell me what I do. By the way, I think I'm
farsighted because things get all blurry after a few feet.
Anyway, being a columnist is very different than being a reporter. That's why we
are called columnists rather than reporters. Columnists don't report -- we
columnists sit back with our feet on the desk, sipping a Starbucks coffee,
cutting out articles from interesting media publications. By the third cup of
coffee, we get all cranky and worked up and try to think up something outrageous
to say about an important topic. We do this because that is our job. Being a
columnist is about being biased. We are paid to present our views.
This week, for example, I can think of no outrageous thoughts about Japan. Why?
Because my attention and the attention of the world is focused on the U.S.
presidential election. If I was a columnist writing on that subject, I would be
having a field day pontificating on what was right or wrong, depending on what
my own political views were. If I supported Gore, I'd be calling Jeb Bush a
crook and claiming fraud in Palm Beach. If I was a Bush supporter, I'd argue
convincingly that the Democrats were stealing an election from the Republicans
using every dirty Chicago-style political trick possible. After all, who is
Gore's campaign manager? The son of the former mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley.
Now, let's take your next point Wayne.
"You seem to come from glamour school judging men and women on looks, not
performance. How does someone being overweight even reflect on their ability to
negotiate a peace deal? If your judgement of Albright starts with the woman's
weight and beauty, trying to demean her stature as a human being, I ask that you
retire from your position."
Wayne, you argue I had no right to make that crack about the weight of the U.S.
Secretary of State. You know, you are right. It was kind of a cheap shot. But
that's O.K. Columnists have the right to exaggerate and make unkind remarks.
Consider the coverage of Hillary Clinton over the years.
Finally, you raise a fascinating point about retirement. Let me tell you that it
is the dream of many journalists to go to the equivalent of journalism heaven,
that is, to write columns and be known as a "columnist." For decades we sit
there and scrupulously report just the facts, bending over backwards to be fair
and to show both sides of the issue. We strive to be seen as serious, sober,
responsible journalists.
Then, we blow a career's worth of gravitas when, like a kid in a candy shop, we
do all the things we spent a career not doing. Why? Because we are columnists.
Fun job, eh? Our job as columnists is to forget all the rules that have guided
our careers, and just say it like is. We are told to write from our hearts, not
our brain.
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