Pantipha Sakulchai on the lucrative Thai entertainment magazine business
By Jon Fernquest[Introduction|Article]
[Reading Questions|Answers]
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Men read about sports. Women read about entertainment.
Or so the stereotype goes.
The ins and outs of the entertainment news industry, the subject of today's article, should be interesting to both men and women since entertainment is the most widely read and profitable subject worldwide to publish about.
Sales of movie star magazines far outstrip sales of other types of magazines devoted to serious subjects like politics, economics, art, travel, and religion.
The most unique aspect of Pantipha Sakulchai's approach to entertainment reporting seems to be: 1. the emphasis she gives to strict ethical standards of truth, and 2. avoiding unbalanced negative treatments of celebrity lives.
This is certainly a high standard worthy of emulation and praise.
stereotype - a fixed general idea about the way a group of people behaves (for example, Farang all eat bread)
ins and outs of - detailed information about
outstrip - becomes larger and more important
emulation - imitating a good thing
Reading Questions
Here are some questions to guide your reading (See answers at end):1. What is the name of Pantipha Sakulchai's publication?
2. How long has it been in publication?
3. What industry does Pantipha's publication cover?
4. Who does Pantipha have to maintain relationships with to keep up-to-date on developments in her industry?
5. What are the stories about in TV Pool magazine?
6. Why did the magazine cut business news?
7. Why did Pantipha choose entertainment as the subject matter of her magazine?
8. What was Pantipha's first venture in the media business?
9. What was Pantipha's first husband known for in the entertainment industry?
10. Why do you think Pantipha and Toi Aigner separated? (Express your opinion)
11. What was the magazine like before Pantipha stepped in to run the magazine in 1993?
12. What is the problem with having sharp-tongued criticism of the sort that Pantiphas' ex-husband Toi Aigner used to write in his entertainment columns?
13. What precautions does Pantipha take to avoid lawsuits?
14. How does Pantipha provide food for thought to the readers of her magazine?
15. What are the dangers of writing about adultery?
16. What are some of the reliability problems of entertainment magazines that she has had to overcome? How has she overcome them?
17. What might happen if one actor, channel, or production house is given more publicity than others?
18. What personal appearance does Pantipha strive for?
19. How old is Pantipha and does she have any children?
Bangkok Post Article March 28, 2007
01-09-2007
THE STAR WATCHER
Although her subject matter is light, celebrity reporter and magazine editor Pantipha Sakulchai takes her job seriously
KLOYKAMOL SIRIBHAKDI
Every evening on Channel 5, a good-looking, middle-aged lady appears on the TV Pool Tonight programme to give a brief commentary on entertainment issues. Despite knowing her face, one may wonder who she is and how she knows almost everything in the entertainment business.
Pantipha Sakulchai may not be well-known to the public, but she is not a new face in Thailand's show business.
Every key player in television knows her, every production house wants to befriend her. And every newcomer is dying to be introduced to her.
"My house is always open. Actors and actresses and their managers often visit me. We have good mutual relationships," said Pantipha, owner of the popular, 18-year-old weekly entertainment magazine TV Pool.
The magazine offers all the gossip behind Thailand's television programmes, dealing mostly with the personal and professional lives of television stars; who is having a fling with who, or which couple has broken up.
befriend - make friends with
having a fling - having a brief romantic relationship
broken up - ending a romantic relationship
"We just offer what people want to read. We used to give 50 per cent of the content to business news, but readers want to know more about what's going on in their favourite stars' lives," said Pantipha, who despite being an influential figure in the entertainment business remains very warm and open in person.
Yet TV Pool did not come about because its founder was enamoured of celebrity.
"Many of world's wealthiest people are from the entertainment industry, especially in the UK and USA, and entertainment-focused magazines have the largest circulation in every country. So, when I wanted to start a successful business, an entertainment magazine was my obvious choice," said Pantipha.
Pantipha had earlier tried her hand in the media industry when she received concessions for 36 radio frequencies. Some of them were operated by her own company, which ran music programmes.
She had also established Note Publishing Co, through which she personally financed the production of TV Pool magazine. The magazine was originally managed by Pantipha's ex-husband Kriangsak Sakulchai, or Toi Aigner, a prominent entertainment reporter and reviewer known for his sharp tongued critiques.
influential figure - person who can influence the outcome of events
warm - friendly with affection and enthusiasm
open - can talk about problems with
in person - meeting face to face (not over a telephone or internet)
circulation - how many copies of a magazine or newspaper are sold
enamoured of - loved
concessions - monopoly rights from the government to do some special business
sharp tongued - says critical things that are painful emotionally
critiques - finding problems
In its earlier editions, the content of the magazine was quite different to what it carries today.
"Back then, we sold sensationalised news. We had many famous columnists like Toi Aigner and Sananjit Bangsaphan, whose articles could sell out the magazine, but only in particular issues," Pantipha said.
For the first five to six years, Note Publishing suffered a loss. Only in 1993 when Pantipha sold her radio concessions to Wattachak media group and stepped in to personally oversee the magazine did it start to turn a profit.
Given her background - a finance and banking degree from Assumption University, a master's from Chulalongkorn University and a stint as account manager at Spa Advertising - Pantipha knows that to run a successful magazine business you have to think like a successful businessperson.
"I understand very well the impact of advertising. If we write harsh news, we will have a lot of enemies. Clients will not feel comfortable placing their advertisements in our magazine for fear of ruining their product image."
The magazine underwent a total make-over when Pantipha took the helm. It was given a more modern appearance, some English words were used and the cover was made glossy and more colourful. The magazine's content was also changed at this time.
sensationalised - make a situation more shocking than it really is
stepped in - entered and participated in the organisation
stint as - work for a short time as
account manager - handling business relationships with clients/customers of the company
harsh - unkind, without sympathy
undergo a make-over - change completely
took the helm - took control, became leader of
glossy - shiny outside (on cover of magazine)
"When I started to run the magazine, I realised that writing critical articles was not good for circulation. Our readers are mostly fans of television stars. We should provide them in-depth information on their favourite stars, not just the stars' dark sides, which will upset their fan clubs. If we want to criticise them, we will be careful and find ways to support and help them, too. No matter how badly he or she has behaved, we don't want to corner them. They are all just humans, not angels who can be perfect all the time."
Consequently, TV Pool magazine began attracting fewer lawsuits. Since Pantipha took over the magazine has only been sued once, compared to four times in its first year alone. Whenever the people written about feel dissatisfied or offended, Pantipha asks them to speak openly with her.
To please a wider range of readers while maintaining credibility, TV Pool usually transcribes its interviews. "If they lie, the readers will know," said Pantipha.
critical - negative, finding fault
circulation - number of copies of a newspaper sold
the dark side - the bad, negative, and sinister part of someone's life
corner them - force them into a place they cannot escape from
lawsuits - legal case before a court involving a dispute between two people
credibility - believability
transcribes - record in writing
However, the most important factor for producing a quality magazine, Pantipha said, is the team.
"The best way is to recruit good people who have a good moral consciousness. I always tell them not to intentionally hurt anyone because our pens can be a weapon."
Some may disapprove of the way celebrity magazines present trivial stories of love and hate that are usually unrelated to their subjects' professional lives, but Pantipha says there's more to her magazine than that.
"Love affairs will always be saleable," she admitted, "but we have to make sense out of it. Every relationship is part of each individual's life so we should turn it into a life lesson. The reporters should give some food for thought to the readers."
moral consciousness - being aware that your actions may be good or bad
intentionally - not an accident, on purpose, wanted to do what you did
trivial - unimportant
food for thought - issues and problems to think about
Note Publishing has also launched two other titles: Spicy, a women's lifestyle magazine, and Starnews, a paparazzi-based magazine. Paparazzi journalism has recently become more popular in Thailand, raising questions about privacy rights.
"Our bottom line is the law. We won't do anything that goes against the law," Pantipha, who is editor-in-chief of both magazines, said firmly.
Although reader satisfaction is the main priority, Pantipha said her publications must be extremely careful when writing about adultery since it could affect the families and children of those involved.
Related to this is reliability, which is key to entertainment and gossip newsmakers as they are often accused of making things up. On this matter, TV Pool hopes its two television programmes, TV Pool Tonight and TV Pool Live, will help gain people's trust.
"Audiences will see that we really interview our subjects and don't make things up," said Pantipha, who has a segment on TV Pool.
Yet Pantipha admits that entertainment news is filled with frauds and hoaxes. Fan clubs and rumours are sometimes fabricated. Letters by celebrities attacking their rivals or even promoting themselves are sometimes sent to editors.
"Star couples are mostly set up to promote upcoming TV dramas. When two good looking people meet, they could easily have a crush on each other, but it doesn't last long because they don't really fall in love in the first place," explained Pantipha.
paparazzi - photographers who follow celebrities hoping to take a good photo they can sell to a magazine or newspaper
the bottom line - the most important thing
priority - importance
adultery - when a married person sleeps with another person
reliability -
gossip - informal news about personal affairs passed from person to person
making things up - creating an untrue story, lieing
has a segment on - has a short time on TV
frauds - gaining money by tricks or lies
hoaxes - people are tricked in believing something that turns out to be a big lie
fabricated - making things up (see above)
set up - planned and arranged beforehand (not a chance meeting)
have a crush on - in love with, but do not have a relationship with
In dealing with actors from various channels and production houses, keeping balance and neutrality is not always easy.
"Of course, no one is ever satisfied with the amount of publicity they get in the magazine, but our neutral policy is clear and firm. I know everyone in the business and want to keep good relations with all of them."
At 51, Pantipha is still active and exudes vitality. Her appearance is well put together, with just the right make-up and attire to look stylish but not pretentious. She is healthy and happy, having raised three children who are now teenagers. And of course, she is never bored at her job.
"I still enjoy working and associating with people in show business such as the production house owners. We call to chat, hang out and take part in overseas trips together sometimes. They are all like my friends."
neutrality - not supporting one side in a disagreement
publicity - information or events to attract peoples' attention to something, usually through the media
exudes vitality - energetic, looks full of energy
attire - (formal) cloths
pretentious - try to appear more important than they are
show business - entertainment
hang out - be with friends, relax, talk, socialise
Answer Key:
1. What is the name of Pantipha Sakulchai's publication?
TV Pool.
2. How long has it been in publication?
18 years.
3. What industry does Pantipha's publication cover?
The entertainment industry.
4. Who does Pantipha have to maintain relationships with to keep up-to-date on developments in her industry?
Actors, actresses, and their managers.
5. What are the stories about in TV Pool magazine?
a. The personal lives of television stars.
b. The personal (private) lives of television stars.
c. Who they are having a fling with.
d. Which couples have broken up.
6. Why did the magazine cut business news?
Because readers would rather read more about movie stars' lives.
7. Why did Pantipha choose entertainment as the subject matter of her magazine?
All over the world magazines that focus on entertainment have the largest circulations.
8. What was Pantipha's first venture in the media business?
She operated radio stations which ran music programmes.
9. What was Pantipha's first husband known for in the entertainment industry?
He was known for the critical reviews he wrote as an entertainment reporter.
10. Why do you think Pantipha and Toi Aigner separated? (Express your opinion)
11. What was the magazine like before Pantipha stepped in to run the magazine in 1993?
a. Sensationalised news.
b. Famous columnists like Toi Aigner and Sananjit Bangsaphan.
c. Uneven sales: Columnists could sell out particular issues.
d. Not profitable.
e. Less modern appearance (later a glossy cover, more colour, and ENglish words were added)
12. What is the problem with having sharp-tongued criticism of the sort that Pantiphas' ex-husband Toi Aigner used to write in his entertainment columns?
a. The publication will have lots of enemies and advertisers will "not feel comfortable" placing ads in the publication out of fear of "ruining their product image."
b. Readers who are fans of television don't want to just learn about the "dark sides" of their favorite television stars. The fan clubs for the TV stars will also get upset.
c. The publication will also be involved in lawsuits. Stars will sue the magazine when critical articles are directed at them.
13. What precautions does Pantipha take to avoid lawsuits?
a. She transcribes interviews.
b. She encourages people who feel dissatisfied or offended to speak openly with her.
c. Encourages a less critical and more positive attitude in articles written.
14. How does Pantipha provide food for thought to the readers of her magazine?
Articles on love relationships and relationships among the stars should provide "life lessons" so that readers can relate to stories and "make sense" of them.
15. What are the dangers of writing about adultery?
You can ruin peoples' lives, for example if your article reveals that their husband is romantically involved with another woman.
16. What are some of the reliability problems of entertainment magazines that she has had to overcome? How has she overcome them?
a. Many magazines are accused of "making things up," audiences can see that they really do interview stars and don't just make these interviews up.
b. Frauds and hoaxes are commonly used.
c. Rumours are fabricated
d. Fan clubs are fabricated.
e. Star couples are set up to promote upcoming TV dramas.
17. What might happen if one actor, channel, or production house is given more publicity than others?
Relations might be ruined with the ones which didn't get the publicity.
18. What personal appearance does Pantipha strive for?
Stylish but not pretentious with just the right make up and attire.
19. How old is Pantipha and does she have any children?
She is 51 years old and she has three children who are now teenagers.
