Press Release reporting

I chuckled when Governor Benigno R. Fitial's press release on the signing of PL 110-229 (S.2739), the CNMI immigration bill, was published as an opinion piece in the Saipan Tribune. The end of an era indeed.

I first ran across the 'letter to the Editor' when I stopped by Unheard No More. I couldn't resist commenting that “I don't get it. Who is the press statement aimed at? The issues are settled and he's still arguing against the legislation." *

Oh. Question answered; it was for local consumption. The 'run against Washington' thing.

Please release me

You see, I'd expected to see it run, word-for-word, as a news story. That's the pattern with the Saipan Tribune. The Marianas Variety and the Pacific Daily News did do what you'd expect: they quoted from it extensively and added background.

I understand what the Tribune is doing. First, of course, is the need for fewer reporters. That's even more important now that profits aren't padded with pages of imaginary job announcements. (It's interesting, and a little scary, to see how few real job offers are being advertised now that openings for guest workers aren't included.)

I don't even mind for Public Service Announcements and that sort of thing—though it's boring to see identical stories in both local papers (and, yes, I'm aware of the Pacific Times. They make the old Commonwealth Examiner look like the pre-Gannett Detroit Free Press.

Persons of (self) interest

On the other hand... persons or organizations they agree with are often allowed to use the news-hole as a soapbox. Reporting, done properly, is supposed to temper exaggerations and add information the writer doesn't necessarily want included. You know, all of that noble Fourth Estate stuff.

The Tribune is part of Tan Holdings, of course. There's nothing wrong with that and it's well-known locally so there's some built-in skepticism. Still, the practice troubles me, particularly because the Tribune dominates in Saipan and CNMI stories on the internet. “Outside' readers are missing that datum. Do a search and you'll see what I mean.

Some stories in the Variety just never show up in the Tribune, but I don't really think reporters are told what to write.

Read between the deadlines

It doesn't have to be that overt. Any employee knows who writes their check. That would easily explain the few biased stories I've read with a by-line. It's easier, and easier on reporters' credibility, to just run press releases.

It's personal preference, of course, but I think Assistant Editor Mark Rabago is the best reporter working on Saipan right now. I've ragged on malaprops in Agnes Donato stories a few times, but she's improved tremendously. It's not about the reporters to me.

The spice of life

But that's a system I don't trust, which is why I hope the Variety survives our current troubles. It's a different voice, valuable even when I disagree with some antediluvian views. And have no doubt, the Tribune is meant to destroy the Variety. That's competition, but Willie Tan once told me he was going to start his own newspaper to “put (Publisher Abed) Younis out of business.”

The conversation was about poker machines, and a Variety story that claimed the limited number of machines allowed then were allocated to government officials or their families. I was teasing a current and a former Department head about the piece.

Internet buzz?

That's all swimming around in my head when I read the Tribune. I usually buy both papers so I can read the ads. On the internet the Tribune is a good source, plus the Variety is unwillingly and hesitantly entering the internet age. Links, sometimes stories, disappear and the server is easily overwhelmed. They don't seem to 'ping' the aggregators when they publish.

Bad planning, in my view. Very few small communities have 2 ½ newspapers. Big-city U.S. papers are cutting staff and shutting down. Cutting-edge companies are looking for internet revenue to make up for falling sales, one has even quit publishing on paper.

I mentioned this to Variety Editor Zaldy Dandan and he said they were published for a local audience, adding that some of the Tribune's bells-and-whistles were too expensive. I hope he's right.

*I agree with some of his arguments, just shake my head at others. But they're moot, so there's no sense in wasting our time on that is there?

Decena redux

Here's what I don't understand.

As far as I can determine, Ms. Sedy Demesa first popped up locally in the Saipan Tribune as President of Willis Management, Inc. Reporter Aldwin Fajardo (soon-to-be Editor of the Pacific Times), quoted Demesa as saying "NMC and Willis Management have joined forces to “recruit, educate, graduate and assimilate” individuals into the nursing profession". Remember the "Global Education Strategic Initiatives"?

You might also be interested in this story (I couldn't reach into their archives):

CNMI: Health Care Firm Willing To Provide Scholarships
By Ulysses Torres Sabuco Variety News Staff
(Marianas Variety, 2/21/2005)

A California-based health care industry executive says her company is willing to provide scholarships for qualified local students. Sedy Demesa, the vice chairwoman of Willis Management Group Inc., is also proposing a partnership with Northern Marianas College through a “Global Education Strategic Initiatives Nursing Program.” Willis Management wants to recruit students from Asia for NMC’s nursing department. Gov. Juan N. Babauta said NMC should “take advantage” of this proposal from Willis Management which, he added, is in line with his administration’s plan to make the CNMI an “education hub” through the Pacific Gateway Project. “NMC should get moving because there are a lot of opportunities knocking at their door. They have to take that opportunity,” Babauta told Variety. Demesa said under their proposed partnership with NMC, one scholarship for a local student will be made available for every 10 international students enrolled in the Global Education Strategic Initiatives Nursing Program. Demesa said they can start the “accelerated” nursing program in the fall semester this year. She said they are also in the process of finalizing the criteria for their proposed local scholarship program. NMC President Deleon Guerrero was unavailable for comment when reached by Variety last week. Press Secretary Pete A. Callaghan said the proposed Global Education Strategic Initiatives Nursing Program is an “indirect result” of the Los Angeles business conference that the Department of the Interior hosted for the insular areas. Over 50 Filipino doctors who want to work as nurses in the U.S. have already expressed a strong interest in signing up for the accelerated nursing program this fall, Demesa said. “We have shifted our marketing efforts to a higher gear in order to spread the word around Asia, particularly China, Korea and the Philippines, that American education is now only about three hours away,” she said, citing the “very strong demand” for licensed nurses in the U.S. and Europe. Financial assistance will also be made available to local students wanting to pursue a career in nursing under Willis Management’s proposed program, Demesa said.

Decena then pops up in the road show (pdf) "Department of the Interior’s first Business Opportunities Mission to Palau, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands" from May 12-20 1995. Within a week, we had Volume 01, Issue 01 of the Pacific Times. The Top Story, "Commerce Chief: The best is yet to come" featured this New Outlook: "Taken in the light of the Secretary's words, any entity or individual that is quick to weave negative spins against Governor Juan Babauta ought to first go back to his primary school Arithmetic that he may, at least, be fair with his judgments." Note that these are the reporter's words.

Now if her Pleasant Care Corporation is the $224 million behemoth it's advertised to be, why would she start up a newspaper in California to mix into CNMI politics? Hmm, also in Issue 01: GOP reveals 2005 candidates.

Ooh, this just in: I had only begun googling Pleasant Care. During a break from that arduous duty, I found one answer on Middle Road. Well, you know, people die in any nursing home. They're old.

Ah, well, I'm getting there too, time for bed and this was just getting interesting.

Mean sheets

Okay, so I like to make fun of the Pacific Times. After all, nobody really takes that dreck seriously, do they? Hmm, maybe I'm wrong.

I was meandering through The Saipan Blog and noticed the uproar caused by Libra Mae Sparks' monorant and decided to pay more attention. So I asked my wife to grab a copy when she went by Winchell's. They didn't have it and told her to check the next day, when they said the same thing. Now I'm wondering if it's actually widely distributed. Maybe because it's so hugely popular, and free, copies just fly off of the shelves as the CNMI spreads economic wings (Pacific Times)*.

That's the Top Story this week, in case you weren't able to pick up a precious copy. Strangely, the article says absolutely nothing, but says it pretty well if you've got the proper attitude. Well, actually it does say that Praxedes Sedy Demesa is working to have the Board of Regents approve Emmanuel College in the CNMI. That's not really news, though; that story is in every edition of the Pacific Times. Okay, then, "Another California-based investor, the Loyola Medical College Foundation, Inc., has decided to revisit its previous plan to establish a medical/nursing school in the Northern Marianas." Strangely, I thought the Foundation was based in the Philippines, and I vaguely remember their plan involving government funds, not investment.

Emmanuel College is obviously the burning issue here, because there's another story saying Over 30 students on waiting list for new nursing program(Pacific Times)*. It's advertised as a sister school of Xavier College in Stockton, California, which just graduated its first class. It looks like we'll have to wait a few months to see how it did on the exams.

But the Times can't wait, and neither can we darn it: Higher ed body proposed(Saipan Times)*. According to the Times "This is in line with the Fitial Administration's plan to centralize government operation as a way to eradicate bureaucratic processes for businesses and investments." OK, I can see that adding a new office would do that.

But hey, we can't blame Demesa for touting one of her companies, can we? Actually Aidem, the publisher of the Times, is a clever joke: media backwards.

Ah well, let's save the rest for another blog. I've got to reheat a potroast and do some real work.


*I've given up on linking to their stories individually; it's a lost cause. For future reference, the stories are in Vol 02 Issue 40 Feb 2007

Nisei for a new century?

Somebody please tell me I'm wrong.

I just pulled up the Pacific Times on the internet, realizing I keep forgetting it's around. It's easy to do, because I can't take that rag very seriously. You know, the people who thought things were Pretty Darn Good before the gubernatorial election and let the voters convince them that they were Pretty Darn Better instead. It seems a broadsheet can make an excellent weathervane.

But if you want to know the Covenant Party Line there's probably no better place in print.

The headline 'America will be just'* caught my eye. Normally I don't pay much attention to politicians' speeches at a soldier's funeral. They're meant to be a comfort to the family, and I hope they are. And, of course, no one is cynical enough to try scoring political points:

"Our boys will continue to fight and die for American policy objectives in Iraq and around the world, wherever they may be called into action. And I do know that our local community will continue to support our troops as loyal and patriotic Americans, in much the same way that second generation Japanese-Americans served during World War II," Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said in a speech during a solemn mass held at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cathedral.

The emphasis, of course, is mine. Did the U.S. declare war on the Commonwealth? Maybe I'm reading too much into that. Or maybe not:

He added, "And in the end, I believe America will be just and that the sacrifice of our boys will not have been in vain."

Is this where the administration is headed on labor and immigration issues?

*Sorry, you have to navigate to it through the Local News tab, none of the stories link. Well, Maybe they do. One of my browsers helpfully shows a choice of titles like 'most read story' with an identifying number, but that looks like the sort of thing that's temporary.