Outside the NTN Offices, Phetchabun – Chaos and disappointment gripped NotTheNation (NTN) headquarters yesterday as the website’s entire writing staff walked off the job, armed with hand-scrawled signs and the office’s sole coffee maker. The strike, announced via a Facebook post, has thrown the editorial workflow into disarray and shocked their readership—a group of at least 17 loyal supporters.
One journalist, who only gave his name as Serm, explained what it was like to work at NotTheNation.“We have earned a much-deserved break,” he said, holding a sign that read, ‘Honk if you love NTN’, while marching in a small circle with two other employees. “I have attended so many PAD and Red Shirt protests, each group thinks I am a supporter. My editor forced me to follow Steven Seagal’s rotting career around Bangkok for two weeks just to confirm he was never going to be cast in another serious movie. We’re willing to go where other journalists won’t. What we do matters.”
The writer went on to complain that he barely escaped visiting North Korea and Pakistan alive to report on Kim Jong-Un’s advice column, and the Pakistani government revising Bhutto’s cause of death, respectively. Of course, not every story was dangerous.
“Okay, fine, I admit that reporting on Amy Suriyawong’s dress was rather spectacular,” he noted with a lecherous grin, “but any of us is more likely to be sent down to Yala to report on the violence there, than get asked to cover a revealing outfit at a movie premier. At least let us go home on the weekends–this constant output is killing us.”
Another reporter lamented the poor wages doled out at NotTheNation, noting the journalists at the real Nation Multimedia Group earn actual salaries, and receive benefits, like health care, paid time off, and a retirement plan. “The NTN owner is always asking us to take IOUs, instead of actual paychecks. My kids make fun of me when I tell them we need to go fishing for our dinner.”
Other grievances included a lack of proper equipment, with reporters claiming they often had to handwrite drafts on scavenged receipts from 7-Eleven. One journalist revealed she was forced to cover a diplomatic incident using only her grandmother’s ancient Nokia and an expired BTS card. “I graduated top of my class at Chulalongkorn,” she sighed. “And now I’m spending my days fact-checking claims that security guards might actually have been helpful to the residents in their building. I expected better for myself.”
When word of the strike hit a table at a nearby khao mun gai vendor, one patron expressed deep concern: “Who’s going to write about Thailand’s government banning puns for being ‘too destabilizing’? The Bangkok Post won’t touch that,” said Orachon Tancharoen, adding she hoped the strike was resolved quickly in favor of the reporters.
But another citizen disagreed, welcoming the fallout. “Good, I hope management fires all of them and hires some real reporters,” said the person, only identified as Kittichai. “NTN’s anti-traffic-cone bias was obvious. I won’t miss their ‘jokes’ about the Ministry of Public Health’s alcohol policies. Real satire comes with respect for authority.”
Speaking with the managing editor at NTN, he expressed some frustration with his stable of reporters. “I asked for a story about Bangkok’s world-famous food dishes, and instead I got back a piece about two expats eating at Burger King,” he noted incredulously. “Does anyone think this is legitimate journalism?”
When asked why he hadn’t fired his reporters if they were so bad at their work, he replied, “Do you know anyone else willing to write a story about the Ministry of Information blocking 500,000 websites, including its own? I didn’t think so. Our journalists might be a little clueless sometimes, but they are also fearless. You can’t find that just anywhere in this country.”
