The Prostitution Of Business Today (The Magazine)

You may notice that there are no business people on these covers.

I saw what I assume is the April issue of Business Today, uh, today. It had Mervyn Silva on the cover. I mean, c’mon. Somewhere around the war BT went from being the usually businessy bullshit to complete propaganda. The covers were Gotabhaya repeatedly, Sarath Fonseka, et cetera. They did it to curry favor with the government, which is good business I guess, but not a very good magazine. Now the thing honestly just makes you stupider to read.

BT Options really sold out when they started producing a magazine called Target. The last time I checked it (in a confined space) there were 20 pages and over 50 photos of a Rajapaksa. It’s just insane ass-kissery.

The company was amply rewarded with the SriLankan Airlines in-flight magazine contract and other work, but what do readers get? Business Today is now a bunch of syndicated content from abroad and propaganda from here. It’s completely unusable as business or other intelligence. It’s just a front for one business – BT Options – to get in good with the government.

Perhaps Business Today was always bad and I didn’t notice, but it used to be readable. Now it’s just dumb at best, and lying to you at worst. I mean, Mervyn Silva is a man who just threatened to break the legs of journalists, and they’re putting him on the cover? Please. If you’re looking for regular corporate whoring out the Daily FT is the place, and for something a bit more unbiased, LBR produces a decent mag. Business Today has just gone off the rails.

17 Comments

BTO has ALWAYS been about ass-kissery.

The best Lankan business read is LBR. Their print magazines are impressive, very impressive.

IMHO, the LMD is way better than BT.
It covers a plethora of topcis, and the standard of journalism is brilliant!!

Spot on about Business Today. LMD is similar but ass-kisses the corporate world. Check out their ‘most admired companies’ list. Gag-worthy. LBR is the best business magazine.

I was a regular subscribe to the BT but about the time they went after politicians (in 2009) I stopped my subscription.

This has been happening for some time and it’s not only magazines. Banks, corporations, advertising agencies. If you want work done you need to prostitute yourself and these days the big money lies with the corrupt government/monarchy. I used to work at a bank (world’s local hint, hint) and let me tell you, I’d get screwed a good two, three times a day. Left the bank in 2010 with a big fuck you and haven’t looked back since!
But yeah, most journalists and the orgs. they work for in SL are a bunch of cheap govt. ass kissing floozies, long live the royal family. Le sigh

It’s not like sri lanka has a single decent business magazine

Been a daily reader of the LBO website for 7 years now. One of the first sites I log into when I wake up in the morning. They know what they are talking about.