Today I feel like telling a story. This happened years ago when I was just working barely 2 months with a subsidiary of NST. At that time, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays were off-stone days - the days when our newspapers got printed. So, this incident happened on a Monday. And as luck has it, all seniors were on leave on that day. There we were - the 3 of us new sub-editors with me being the most senior by a few days.
The newspaper for print that day was The Management Times. It was a weekly insert and usually completed days ahead. So, the task for the day was to go through one last round and when the chief editor says OK, off it went for print. I was unofficially the team leader for the day, so I went through all pages meticulously to make sure everything's perfect. It was also a chance for me to prove that I was all ready to become an officer-in-charge (OC) to my boss, so I wanted desperately to make it a perfect and error-free day. OCs are the newspaper's edition's team lead, so being one means you have the edition as your baby - which article, advert, etc goes to what page and making sure the paper gets printed (no matter what).
Anyway, the PC's monitor resolution at that time was horrible. Only the graphic designers get the best monitors. So, I was reviewing the front page when I saw that the photo accompanying a story looks a bit funny. It was a story about the then MDC chief (Tan Sri Othman Yeop) but the photo funnily looks like Jamali Shadat the veteran comedian. Here's a painful lesson of "assume". The sub-editor who did the page was the most senior sub-editor. The page was approved by the paper's news editor and while I was contemplating, the chief editor came and said all set and go print.
I had assume that all those senior people had seen the photo, approved it and it is correct. So, I went ahead and got the paper printed. An OC will go to the printing press to retrieve the first prints, go through it and make corrections if there are any. So, for the first time in my short career in NST, I went to get the first print. There I was in the press room with newspapers being printed and hundreds of pages going around at the top of my head like roller-coasters, the loud noise of the printers, you can imagine my feeling of exhilaration. But when I had the paper in my hands, my knees went weak. There it was on the front page a story about the efforts of Malaysia's MSC with exclusive interview with the MDC chief and right next to it the photo of Jamali Shadat!
I ran like being chased by a lion back to the office, shouted orders to get the print stopped, photos re-scanned, and then ran over to my boss to break the news. People started to gather. The edition had ran for 15,000 copies and half of them have already been shipped to the northern region. The bosses met and decided the remaining had to be destroyed. We will have to pay for it, but the papers must be destroyed. I had one loud and angry senior female reporter at my side asking me whose fault it was while I was fixing the page. I didn't know where I had the courage but I barked back saying let me do my job and you can screw someone later.
Anyway, things were fixed. The remaining papers were destroyed. Some got loose in the northern region but not many people noticed. We did got some complaints and issued an apology the week after.
I didn't feel like going home that night. I stayed till 11pm just staring at the wall. My boss came, told me not to worry and went home. Yea right, the big boss was due to come back the next day and I know I'll be sacked. There goes my dream job, and just 2 months... One reporter came and cheered me up. He told me he made a bigger mistake and cost the company huge loss. He went to a signing ceremony to cover the event, instead got asked to sign on behalf of the big boss without knowing the big boss did not approve of the arrangements and as a result, the company had to give free magazines to PC buyers of a certain brand. Wow, that was huge. I felt better.
The office was almost empty when I decided to go home. I stopped at another chief editor's desk and saw him doing layout for a new magazine of the company. I asked him what's the biggest mistake he made and he said - this magazine! Apparently, he's a one-man show for the magazine even getting the layout done. Wow, another huge one. I felt better.
The story ended well. I met the big boss the next day. He told me it's OK and I was not getting sacked. And he liked the idea that I made a huge mistake and got myself remembered as he hates people making small petty mistakes.
Yup, it was a one huge mistake and I'm still remembered in the press room as the one who put Jamali Shadat's photo on the front page of The Management Times.
I became an OC the month after.
The newspaper for print that day was The Management Times. It was a weekly insert and usually completed days ahead. So, the task for the day was to go through one last round and when the chief editor says OK, off it went for print. I was unofficially the team leader for the day, so I went through all pages meticulously to make sure everything's perfect. It was also a chance for me to prove that I was all ready to become an officer-in-charge (OC) to my boss, so I wanted desperately to make it a perfect and error-free day. OCs are the newspaper's edition's team lead, so being one means you have the edition as your baby - which article, advert, etc goes to what page and making sure the paper gets printed (no matter what).
Anyway, the PC's monitor resolution at that time was horrible. Only the graphic designers get the best monitors. So, I was reviewing the front page when I saw that the photo accompanying a story looks a bit funny. It was a story about the then MDC chief (Tan Sri Othman Yeop) but the photo funnily looks like Jamali Shadat the veteran comedian. Here's a painful lesson of "assume". The sub-editor who did the page was the most senior sub-editor. The page was approved by the paper's news editor and while I was contemplating, the chief editor came and said all set and go print.
I had assume that all those senior people had seen the photo, approved it and it is correct. So, I went ahead and got the paper printed. An OC will go to the printing press to retrieve the first prints, go through it and make corrections if there are any. So, for the first time in my short career in NST, I went to get the first print. There I was in the press room with newspapers being printed and hundreds of pages going around at the top of my head like roller-coasters, the loud noise of the printers, you can imagine my feeling of exhilaration. But when I had the paper in my hands, my knees went weak. There it was on the front page a story about the efforts of Malaysia's MSC with exclusive interview with the MDC chief and right next to it the photo of Jamali Shadat!
I ran like being chased by a lion back to the office, shouted orders to get the print stopped, photos re-scanned, and then ran over to my boss to break the news. People started to gather. The edition had ran for 15,000 copies and half of them have already been shipped to the northern region. The bosses met and decided the remaining had to be destroyed. We will have to pay for it, but the papers must be destroyed. I had one loud and angry senior female reporter at my side asking me whose fault it was while I was fixing the page. I didn't know where I had the courage but I barked back saying let me do my job and you can screw someone later.
Anyway, things were fixed. The remaining papers were destroyed. Some got loose in the northern region but not many people noticed. We did got some complaints and issued an apology the week after.
I didn't feel like going home that night. I stayed till 11pm just staring at the wall. My boss came, told me not to worry and went home. Yea right, the big boss was due to come back the next day and I know I'll be sacked. There goes my dream job, and just 2 months... One reporter came and cheered me up. He told me he made a bigger mistake and cost the company huge loss. He went to a signing ceremony to cover the event, instead got asked to sign on behalf of the big boss without knowing the big boss did not approve of the arrangements and as a result, the company had to give free magazines to PC buyers of a certain brand. Wow, that was huge. I felt better.
The office was almost empty when I decided to go home. I stopped at another chief editor's desk and saw him doing layout for a new magazine of the company. I asked him what's the biggest mistake he made and he said - this magazine! Apparently, he's a one-man show for the magazine even getting the layout done. Wow, another huge one. I felt better.
The story ended well. I met the big boss the next day. He told me it's OK and I was not getting sacked. And he liked the idea that I made a huge mistake and got myself remembered as he hates people making small petty mistakes.
Yup, it was a one huge mistake and I'm still remembered in the press room as the one who put Jamali Shadat's photo on the front page of The Management Times.
I became an OC the month after.
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