Flood of protests
Re: “Please don’t erase Stephff’s unique and funny view of Thailand,” Have Your Say, June 7.
We wish to add our voices to the flood of protests against the decision to eliminate Stephff’s cartoons from the online edition of The Nation. We have been faithful subscribers to the print edition since January 2006, and have been clipping and saving Stephff’s best cartoons since November 2010.
The loss of the print edition will leave a large hole in our lives, and the loss of Stephff’s cartoons will leave an even larger one. Having to boot up the computer and fight our way through the ads to read the truncated online content will be a poor substitute for the essential morning ritual of savouring the print edition over breakfast.
When The Nation announced the forthcoming cancellation of the print edition, we thought it had shot itself in the foot. Now we realise that it has shot itself in the head as well. A light is going out, the darkness is surging in, and life will be a lot emptier.
S Tsow
I am shocked, but understand your decision to stop printing. Your newspaper was always informative and you’ve provided good topics for a broad spectrum of readers. I thank you for being the “other newspaper with a fresh point of view”.
However, I must contest your decision to lay off all foreign staff, because by doing so, you will lose credibility and the “other point of view” needed by the expat community. Sure, foreigners are costly, but they are a necessity by today’s standards.
I hereby urge you to reconsider this decision because, as you go out of print, an important pillar in our expat community will be irreparably gone if you take every last bit of “English” out of the online version. Seriously, it would be business suicide.
Lastly, your cartoonist, Stephff (Stephane Peray) will be greatly missed.
Michael A S
Kindly reconsider your decision to end Stephff’s contributions to your online newspaper. I am aware of the deep crisis the news media are going through.
I don’t know what the new shape of media will be when we get to the end of this crisis, but I trust that reliable, verified, investigative news will always be required, as well cartoons that play in modern media the role fools played in the royal courts of yesteryear.
The Nation will be terribly impoverished if it gets rid of the impertinent, provoking, sarcastic cartoons Stephff offers.
Isabelle Michelet
The Nation should think very hard about getting rid of its foreign staff if that is the intention. If, as you say, around 70 per cent of The Nation’s readers are foreigners, the absence of foreign talent on the editorial team will be a massive step backwards. The subtleties of the English language will be missed by the local journalists no matter how accomplished they are, to the overall detriment of the publication.
And just think – without foreign editors, who will be there to decipher the ramblings of Dr Frank?
It is with great trepidation that I await July 1, and I say this from the bottom of my heart – dear Nation, don’t lose the plot.
Nigel Pike
Editor’s note: While the workforce situation remains highly fluid, as of publication date, foreign staff are to be kept on for the time being. Stephff’s future with The Nation remains undetermined.
