How to make a good paper even better

A good newspaper like Asian Voice should not strive to take credit for covering stories unless something extraordinary  is involved. In last week’s issue I was surprised to see two headlines which read: “Asian Voice attends sponsored evening for Gurkhas” and “Asian Voice attends Yoga Day launch at the Indian High Commission”.
Both these events were held not in snake-infested jungles or mountainous terrain requiring reporters to carry machine guns or wear protective clothing but in the civilised confines of two London locations.  The flag-waving words “Asian Voice attends…” should therefore not have appeared in each of those headlines because they were run-of-the-mill events a newspaper would be expected to cover as part of its role as the eyes and ears of its readers.
Another observation, based on my 58 years as a professional journalist, is that this paper often publishes pictures of its reporters posing with the people they interview. Newspaper reporters should never present themselves as part of a story they are covering as this reduces the paper to the level of a fanzine.
Asian Voice, as I have said, is a good newspaper, staffed by an impressively talented team of writers. It has the potential to be even better as it reaches out to swathes of new readers all over the world.
 
Rudy Otter
By email