The Star editor who sought ‘balanced’ reporting gets kicked upstairs

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English-language daily The Star’s experiment to inject some balance in its reporting and win back readers after the 13th general election is over with the promotion of group chief editor June H L Wong to a more corporate role.
Wong, an arts graduate from Universiti Malaya, has been appointed chief operating officer of content development and will assist group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai.
In recent months June's editorship was sharply questioned by pro-Barisan bloggers, including Wee Choo Keong, the independent, pro-Barisan Nasional former MP for Wangsa Maju. 
Writing in his blog in January and February this year, Wee had questioned the abilities of June (and one or two other unnamed editors) for the Star's editorial coverage, picking on "weird headlines" as examples and pro-opposition slant in coverage.
However, pro-Umno blogger Jailani Harun, a former journalist, also defended The Star for covering matters on the DAP and other Pakatan Rakyat parties.
He said that the paper had treated news for its value and covered opposition events as any newspaper would.
He said when The Star published a story about Ong Kian Ming's entry into DAP, it was just another form of news, just like when other papers carried stories about Zaid Ibrahim leaving Umno and forming Kita
“Although readers have options in sourcing it, mainstream newspapers are always sought after. For English, The Star and NST are the major ones but readers who look for balanced-reporting would go for The Star,” Jailani wrote in his blog.
The paper said June will also help Chun Wai to carry out the media group’s convergence plans to bring together its various platforms.
It said Leanne Goh has been appointed acting group chief editor, taking over the position held by June.
Goh, who was the deputy group chief editor, joined the company in 1984 after graduating from Universiti Malaya with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English Literature.
She moved up the ranks from reporter and senior writer to chief reporter and editor and worked at the news, education and Sunday Star desks.
She is the main person behind several education pull-outs and projects, including the Newspaper in Education (NiE) programme which has won international recognition.
The Star Media Group also announced the appointment of Calvin Kan as group chief operating officer.
The paper reported that all appointments will take effect immediately. - TMI

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