1. Ok, long story short: RazorTV, an online media product by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) has been accused of bait-and-switch and misreporting by a group of girls who do freelance modelling.
2. RazorTV caused a stir on the Internet on April 15, 2014, when it put out a video interview, "Showing off their sexy side" (YouTube video link).
The video, which went viral shortly after it was published, portrayed a group of post-teen/ pre-adult girls as bimbos who would do raunchy photo shoots for money and popularity.
3. The video interview drew plenty of flak from viewers, mainly because the girls were quoted as saying things like:
"When I put my lingerie photos on Facebook, my friends were like 'you look so slut', I don't give a damn because I do what I like. There is a gain and lose in it. Even though I lose a lot of friends but I gain a lot of popularity and like... it's ok."
And the male photographer who was doing the photo shoot was quoted as saying:
"Photographers want to shoot the girl and he pays the girl."
"The girl tends not to have rights to the photos. There is also an increasing trend now to shoot nude - from nude, naked, soft-porn, hard-porn... they are actually trading their photos online."
4. However, the girls in the video, including the male photographer who was interviewed, have since come out to share their side of the story.
Their gripe? They said RazorTV had asked to interview them based on the premise that the video was on how amateurs dabbling in freelance photography/ modelling in Singapore can better protect themselves in an unregulated industry.
In other words, the interviewees were told they will be put in a good light.
The final video, though, showed a lot of skin and made everyone appear like they had loose morals.
5. To prove their point, the girls and the photographer have since released their own video showing the interview as it happened -- which is unlike the final hack job edit by RazorTV that used out-of-context cherry-picked quotations.
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6. On April 16, 2014, one of the girls shared on her own Facebook page that she had sought help from the police and a lawyer as someone was spreading rumours online about her being a social escort.
7. On April 18, 2014, the same girl shared on her own Facebook page that she sought help from women's group, AWARE Singapore, and they had provided her with legal counsel.
8. In response to the backlash, the RazorTV video interview has since been taken down. However, the written report can still be accessed on AsiaOne.
9. After the video attracted widespread ridicule, the RazorTV team allegedly did not respond to calls and messages from the girls, except for a one-liner reply by the video's reporter, Amanda Wong, saying: "Ok the video is removed."
Message from the photographer to a member of the RazorTV team:
10. This RazorTV hullabaloo comes after SPH had to publicly defend STOMP on April 17, 2014. A petition that circulated online calling for STOMP's closure accumulated almost 23,000 signatures in less than two weeks, forcing SPH to respond.
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