Newspoint.

Benjamin Defensor, vice-chairman and group editor-in-chief of the Journal Group of Publications, was right: his reply to my column last week itself deserved to be replied to. Referring to his own reply ("Journalistic truth," BusinessWorld, p. 5, 28 Nov), he said, "This should be good for another column for Santos." He may have meant "good" in another sense, but I prefer to take it in the sense that he expressed views that, for all their vagueness to me (possibly my own fault), could contribute to a healthy discussion.

Indeed, I hope the discussion would be kept on the professional level - impersonal, dispassionate, locked onto the issues. Again, he may have intended …