In an unprecedented action, an estimated 80-plus newsroom staffers – male, female, Chinese and western alike – have signed what amounts to a no-confidence vote in Mark Clifford, the editor-in-chief of Hong Kong’s largest English language newspaper, after he fired two senior editors for their small roles in a mock front page farewell gift for another editor whom Clifford had fired.Please read the whole thing by Justin Mitchell at Asia Sentinel. Via every day HKThe incident, which began as a traditional office ritual for a departing employee, has uncovered a sharp divide in the newsroom of one of Asia’s oldest newspapers, essentially pitting a new chief editor against many of the paper’s long-time employees.
UPDATE: Subs sacked over leaving page: MediaGuardian
That Guardian report requires cookies as well as Registration Required. However, you can read the Guardian report in Comments (below) as well as an unlocatable (no URL found so far) report by Ken Sweet at Bloomberg. Thanks for both, Anonymous and Anonymous!
For newer/previous posts, click on scmp in Labels.
4 comments:
This from an email that one friend of one of the fired subs regarding Clifford's quote that "It's not something that you would show your mother":
"He told me today on the phone that it was tame enough to let his mother read. She is edging 80-odd.
Her response was: "Dearie, he sounds like a real little bully".
Guardian picks up Clifford Story
Subs sacked over leaving page
Stephen Brook, press correspondent
Tuesday November 14, 2006
MediaGuardian.co.uk
More than 100 staff from the South China Morning Post have petitioned the paper's chairman after its editor-in-chief sacked two subeditors for producing a mockup leaving page for a departing colleague.
The Post's American editor Mark Clifford was outraged by the leaving page for former Sunday Morning Post editor Niall Fraser and on Friday dismissed the two subeditors who created it.
This morning the petition, signed by 101 editorial staff, was presented to chairman Kuok Khoon Ean, with copies delivered to the editor and managing editor.
The management has held a meeting with representatives from a loose coalition of journalists that drew up the petition, but nothing conclusive has occurred.
The two journalists sacked on Friday were Paul Ruffini, from Australia, and Trevor Willison, from the UK.
They may take legal action against Mr Clifford after he sent around an email to staff stating that there was no room for people at the Post "who flout journalistic ethics of fairness and accuracy" and "treat the company's name and property as if it were their own".
MediaGuardian.co.uk has seen a copy of the leaving page and Clifford's email to staff, as well as spoken to several journalists at the paper.
The front page was prepared around one month ago for the departing Sunday Morning Post editor, Niall Fraser, a Scotsman.
Mr Clifford, the American editor appointed less than a year ago, took grave exception to the headline that appeared in censored form below the Sunday Morning Post masthead on the mockup front page: "You're a c**t but a good c**t".
The front page also contained mildy derogatory references to the newspaper's deputy editor, a Chinese woman by the name of Fanny Fung.
The leaving page was regarded as "generally pretty harmless", according to one person who has seen it Mr Clifford was incensed by the page, which was written by former colleagues and created by the two subeditors.
Mr Clifford wrote in the email: "The South China Morning Post name is one of our most valuable assets.
"Thousands of people have worked to build one of Asia's most prominent and powerful newspapers over the past century. The name symbolises quality, trust and integrity. We are a good newspaper on our way to becoming a great one.
"Becoming great requires effort and thought from each of us, in everything we do. We're lucky that so many of us do our best in every aspect of our professional lives. I have been enormously impressed by the intensity, the integrity and the pursuit of excellence by so many of you that I've seen in the seven months I've been here.
"Unfortunately, not everyone understands what it takes for us to ratchet up to the next level. Some of this I understand. Change is hard. Newsrooms are conducive to grumbling. And excellence takes effort.
"But some behaviour I cannot accept and will not tolerate. There is no room here for people who flout journalistic ethics of fairness and accuracy, no room for people who treat the company's name and property as if it were their own. And there are basic standards of decency that need to be respected in any modern company, standards that are enshrined in our code of ethics."
Mr Clifford joined the South China Morning Post from its smaller rival the Standard about seven months ago. Prior to that he had worked in magazines. He did not return calls in time for publication.
The controversy about the leaving page is seen by many as a clash between British and Australian journalistic culture and more politically correct American values.
The staff petition objected to the sacking of Willison and Ruffini.
"We believe that the sacking of high-quality journalists is against the interest of the South China Morning Post and that any involvement in the leaving page does not have anything to do with their work for the paper and is not a sackable offence," it said.
"We believe that more harm has been done to the core values of the SCMP by their dismissal without reference to our established code of verbal or written misconduct warnings.
"We would like the chairman to know that the action today has severely damaged morale of the staff. We call for their immediate reinstatement."
so does Bloomberg:
SCMP Staff Demand Reinstatement of Fired Editors, Sentinel Says
By Ken Sweet
Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- More than 80 journalists at Hong Kong's South
China Morning Post newspaper signed a petition demanding the reinstatement
of two editors who were fired for their involvement in a mock front page for
a departing colleague.
Mark Clifford, the Post's editor-in-chief, dismissed the journalists,
who were among several people who helped create a ``leaving page'' for
former Sunday Post editor Niall Fraser, because the headline was offensive
to women, Asia Sentinel said, citing unidentified SCMP employees.
After firing the two editors, Clifford sent an e-mail to the editorial
staff saying that the joke was in violation of the Post's standards,
according to Asia Sentinel. A petition was created in response and quickly
gathered 80 signatures, the Web site said.
Several phone calls to Clifford, Managing Director Nancy Valiente and
Assistant Marketing Director Irene Ho were not returned as of 11:50 a.m.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20764483-22822,00.html...it has got legs
Post a Comment