Media must introspect and learn from cave mission: experts

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Media must introspect and learn from cave mission: experts

By PRATCH RUJIVANAROM 
THE NATION 

 

 

THAI JOURNALISTS need to improve their working standards and learn to respect professional ethics, media experts said yesterday after many outlets were criticised for their “unethical” news coverage of the Tham Luang rescue operation.

 

At a seminar entitled “Lessons to Learn from Media Coverage at Tham Luang Cave”, arranged by the Thai Journalists Association, journalists were urged to focus on accuracy and credible reporting with proper |ethical guidelines and a code of |conduct in covering emergency situations.

 

Speakers suggested that media associations and related agencies should play a more progressive role in regulating the media, as some outlets not only did not accept and apologise for their unethical reporting, but kept repeating their wrongdoings.

 

Warat Karuchit, mass media and communications academic at the National Institute of Development Administration, said the public backlash against media coverage on the mission to save 13 trapped footballers from the flooded cave in Chiang Rai was something journalists should learn from to improve their reporting and adapt to the changing media landscape.

 

“Despite the challenges of reporting on the rescue operation at the Tham Luang cave, Thai journalists did a good job and played an important role in supporting the mission until all the trapped survivors were safely rescued,” Warat said. “But it cannot be denied that they also failed in many aspects of reporting news with responsibility and ethics.”

 

 

He said that after closely observing coverage during the 17 days of the rescue operation, it was obvious that Thai media still has problems. Some do not respect journalistic ethics, do not report news constructively, ignore their mistakes and have an inefficient regulation mechanism, he said.

 

He urged media outlets to improve their news reporting policy, from prioritising breaking news and reporting emotional news to earn higher ratings to concentrating on accurate and informative news.

 

“The recent public criticisms over unethical and harmful reporting indicate that people now have more awareness about news consumption and the habits of news audiences are changing. Reporters can no longer keep their old habits of getting and reporting news anymore,” he emphasised.

 

He also suggested that there should be a regulating body such as a media ombudsman to ensure that journalists will have a clear code of conduct and ethical guidelines to ensure professional reporting.

 

Korkhet Chantalertluk, news department director at Thai PBS, said one of the lessons learned from the Tham Luang rescue operation was the need for reporters to show sensitivity during emergency situations. 

 

He said this is essential to ensure that reporters in the field perform their duties properly and do not harm the operation or news sources. 

 

“We have learned from working on reporting rescue operations |that cooperation and good understanding between officers and journalists is important for news coverage in emergency situations,” Korkhet said.

 

“We have learned that sometimes aggressive questioning by journalists can demoralise the officers, while the policy to keep reporters away from the operation area and brief them only at official press conferences made their jobs more difficult,” Korkhet added.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30349874

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-07-12

[AsianAtHeart]

Reporters are supposed to report the news, not become the news, nor insert themselves into it.  If they are merely reporting the news from a public venue or perspective, as opposed to invading someone's personal space or private life to get the "scoop," there should generally be no need to bar reporters, nor inhibit their access to information.  Honest reporting, however, takes work.  It requires confirming details to ensure they are published accurately--before releasing them.  But the public's demands for the "latest" creates an inherent conflict of interest here, as reporters will often rush to publish something first to meet this demand.  Given that the public creates this demand, it seems unfair to criticize the media for not conforming to the wishes of the public, as if the public were more honest in its demands of the media than the reporters themselves have been in meeting them.

 

It should also be noted that the media played an important role in this rescue operation.  Without the publication of events in the cave, many of the rescue team would not have been made aware of the needs.  One case in point is that of the publication of the incident with the former Navy SEAL who passed away in the effort.  Once published, it came to the attention of the expert medical doctor on the other side of the planet who immediately recognized a potential problem with air quality in the cave, and who subsequently made recommendations for reducing the CO2 levels and increasing the oxygen levels.  This may have saved lives, as the rescue operation was triggered earlier when this came to light.

[Bob12345]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Some do not respect journalistic ethics, do not report news constructively, ignore their mistakes and have an inefficient regulation mechanism, he said

Welcome to the country where barely anybody has any ethics, most are not constructive, everybody ignores and denies their own mistakes, and inefficient regulation is widespread on every level.

 

The quality of journalism reflects the country and its leaders. With most of the country uneducated there is no need for depth in stories, and if you dig too deep and find a real scoop you will be sued for making someone lose face, no matter if its the truth.

 

Government and people in power, if you want quality press they will scrutinize you. Better keep quality low.

[ZeVonderBearz]

Reporters should take a leaf out of the PM's Friday Night Show and report only cold hard facts without any BS or lies. 

[Dexlowe]

Once upon a time, newspaper owners had "ink in the blood". Today, news outlets are owned by the likes of uppity grocers and investment bankers and so on who think anyone can be a media mogul. Consequently, proper training of journalists is practically non-existent, and few of those in the media madhouse ever delve into the question of ethics anymore.