Lines in the
Sand: The Controversy Surrounding to Unceremonious Firings
of Columnists Bernard Trink and
Harold Stephens by The Bangkok Post
Well, Bangkok Post --
So you do it again. Bernard Trink, thrown
aside like a piece of trash, and now Harold Stephens.
What's with you guys anyway? Have you
forgotten, ungrateful ingrates as you appear to be, that it was Americans who
were instrumental in founding your newspaper -- a newspaper which is quickly
(and sadly) becoming a tame tiger indeed?
If this trend is not only stopped but reversed,
I, for one, will stop supporting The Bangkok Post and will actively seek to
deflect others from buying your newspaper or even reading the free online
edition. Yes , I happen to be American, so there is that aspect of
things, which I openly acknowledge. But I would feel much the same
regardless of from whence I came: you're wrong. Not to mention
editorially-impaired; Trink and Stephens are highly regarded and their
unceremonious sackings reflect extremely poorly on your editorial judgement.
Keep it up and eventually -- probably sooner
rather than later -- you'll succeed in having the blandest, most boring
newspaper in Asia, indeed, in the entire world.
Kurt T. Francis
In this instance, neither my address nor phone
number are any of your business. You've not shown good faith, so you
have absolutely no right to ask me to do so.
[The following was the reply I got.]
Dear Mr. Francis,
Thank you very much for your support of the
"Travelling Thailand and Beyond" section of BangkokPost.com. Unfortunately, a
decision was made by the senior management to remove this content and other
freelance contributions to BangkokPost.com from the website. I am hopeful,
though, that if we have enough readers writing in expressing their interest in
this section and the others that have been removed that we will be able to
return them to the site. It's a shame to lose such great content.
Sincerely,