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A review by heathcliff
Dirty Old Media Men by Millie Lee
lighthearted
fast-paced
1.5
A book that truly only appeals to the niche subset of Singaporean journalists and media personnel — and only because of (natural) curiosity over the real author and who the characters in the book are based on.
There are parts of the story that are relatable. The author captures the mundanities of the job well, and is also broadly good at sketching out the cast of characters in the Singapore media industry. But while the book advertises itself to be about sexual harassment in newsrooms, I find it to be the weakest part of the book.
For one, it doesn’t seem like this was written by a woman. And it doesn’t seem to be written by anyone who has worked in a Singapore newsroom (at least as a reporter) in the last 5 years. (That the reporter could saunter up to a school principal and interview him is seriously laughable, especially given the actual news event that the author references in the book).
Secondly, it hardly passes the Bechdel test. Millie is hardly believable as a Gen Z twenty-something young aspiring journalist. She doesn’t have any peers. Her only friend is a much older senior reporter, and all they talk about is how they’re both sleeping with their bosses. I cannot imagine that if this was sincerely written by a current or former female journalist that this is a) the type of female friendships she has in the newsroom and b) that’s all they can talk about. It’s giving very r/MenWritingWomen.
The book is more and — I would argue most — successful at critiquing how stuffy and backward newsrooms are, and the struggle newsrooms have today in trying to court new blood and improve readership. It winks at funding and financial issues (the multiple retrenchment exercises) and poor newfangled attempts at courting new audiences (podcasts).
But ultimately, anyone who has worked in a newsroom will tell you there are juicier stories than the one being told here — despite the proactive hook and premise. So it kind of fails in its two promises of being scintillating and incisive.
Another thing I didn’t like about the book is its insistence on presenting newsrooms as staid, quiet places. There are a lot of references on how the office is empty due to work from home. But actually, anyone in the industry would tell you the drama continues to happen over slack messages and private chats. It gave the hint that the author was low key lamenting of an old forgotten time, and again to me hinted the age of the author. The general lack of colour on who else worked in these newsrooms made the setting feel very dead. Where are the journalists huddling and gossiping about the protagonist? The newsroom is a character in itself and it’s surprising that a current or ex-reporter failed to capture that.
There are parts of the story that are relatable. The author captures the mundanities of the job well, and is also broadly good at sketching out the cast of characters in the Singapore media industry. But while the book advertises itself to be about sexual harassment in newsrooms, I find it to be the weakest part of the book.
Secondly, it hardly passes the Bechdel test. Millie is hardly believable as a Gen Z twenty-something young aspiring journalist. She doesn’t have any peers. Her only friend is a much older senior reporter, and all they talk about is how they’re both sleeping with their bosses. I cannot imagine that if this was sincerely written by a current or former female journalist that this is a) the type of female friendships she has in the newsroom and b) that’s all they can talk about. It’s giving very r/MenWritingWomen.
The book is more and — I would argue most — successful at critiquing how stuffy and backward newsrooms are, and the struggle newsrooms have today in trying to court new blood and improve readership. It winks at funding and financial issues (the multiple retrenchment exercises) and poor newfangled attempts at courting new audiences (podcasts).
But ultimately, anyone who has worked in a newsroom will tell you there are juicier stories than the one being told here — despite the proactive hook and premise. So it kind of fails in its two promises of being scintillating and incisive.