We killed a story

Dear readers,

This week, I’m not going to start by talking about a story we had published, but rather one that we didn’t.

Without saying what it’s about, I can tell you that this story would have done well for us commercially.

But when it was about 80% done, one of our colleagues told the management, myself included, that he felt uneasy about it. A debate ensued, which lasted for days.

In the end, I made the call to kill the story. Here’s why:

• We wanted to minimize harm. We acknowledge that some of our reporting has had negative impact on people and companies, but we do what we can to be fair and accurate (it’s been more than a year since we’ve had to retract a story). In this case, we felt that publishing another article on the topic would be excessive.
• We felt that its editorial value was limited. Any negative story we publish has to be in the interest of the public. In this case, we felt that it wouldn’t advance the narrative much, even though it might satiate some people’s curiosity and get us more subscribers.
• Our reputation with readers matters. Of course, we were concerned about how our audience would perceive us if we were to go ahead with the story. Ultimately, we felt it wouldn’t be worth it, as our bond with our readers is sacred.

I’m proud that we had this internal discussion. I’m glad our company culture enables anyone to speak up and have their views taken seriously.

It’s also great that independent journalism matters here – it was clear during our debate that the ultimate decision rests with the editorial team.

Also, there have been many cases in the past where we’d published sensitive stories about companies even while we were negotiating deals with them, or even though we shared a common shareholder.

Were there instances where biases have gotten the best of us? Sure. We try to root these out all the time.

But I have never been compelled to abandon a story due to commercial pressures.

So you can be assured that the following stories were published with integrity.

Last week, we continued our ever-popular landscape map series, this time covering the key players in Vietnam’s fintech battleground.

We discussed what’s ailing Indonesia’s telehealth industry, which hasn’t quite taken off like other internet verticals.

Last week was also when Sea released its latest earnings. We discussed the conglomerate’s blistering growth and how it’s hinting at a bolder vision for its hit game Free Fire.