Bruised souls

Someone wrote this to me recently: "I find that writing commercially can be quite bruising on the soul sometimes, so I scribble down stuff on my own occasionally..."

As much as I like writing and am glad that it is what I do for a living, at least for now, I totally empathise with his sentiments. Do I really care that this product boasts the latest in antioxidants and is hailed by even dermatologists and aestheticians as THE topical equivalent of Botox? Can I really be counted upon to offer sincere congratulations at the opening of the latest yoga mega-studio in town? It amazes me how product launches, announcements of celebrity endorsements and store openings seem so life-and-death to those involved; there are so many more important things happening out there for goodness sake.

Do I really give a flying fart whether an advertiser's product boasts a "gentle yet effective 15% concentration of hydrogen peroxide" instead of "between 10% and 25%"? No, I really don't care and I don't see why I have to take an advertiser's sales pitch as gospel and include it as such in my article. Hello, this is not an advertorial.

And even when it comes to newsworthy and more soul-enriching events and interviews, sometimes the organisers turn me off with their numerous and persistent requests for continued coverage.

A typical whine goes like this: "Oh, this is really interesting for your readers I would say. Something different, and very informative also."
Sorry dude, lots of things would be interesting to our readers. I can't possibly be writing about you all the time, even if you are a stat board or even a ministry.

But, the best has to be those who insinuate that you are somewhat lacking if you don't cover their event when the newspapers and major broadcasters are. After you explain to them that sorry, the nature of the event is not quite suitable for the magazine, and besides, the coverage it would generate would have to be very timely in order to have relevance, they take offence and turn pissy on you. "Oh, you know, Straits Times and Channel NewsAsia are coming down you know. I'm quite surprised that you guys aren't. Perhaps next time I should just approach them only."

Talk about burning bridges. Fine, I really don't care if you do that. I'm not interested, and so is my editor, in working with people who do not bother to understand our magazine and our operational constraints.

Yes, sometimes I can't help feeling that words are cheap, like what Yannisms groused. Can I take this for long?