Major Media Did Poorly In The Thai Protests

[webfact]

Phuket Perspective: Major media did poorly in the protests

PHUKET: -- While on holiday in Phuket two weeks ago, a Malaysian Sun Daily columnist was disappointed, if not disgusted, by the reports of respected international media covering the protests in Thailand.

In his column Down2Earth last week, he wrote about a spectacle that many Thais in Phuket and all over Thailand, including Bangkok itself, had been observing with indredulity for several weeks. The protests? Yes, but perhaps almost equally, in retrospect, the inflammatory coverage of those events by some of the world's most prestigious news organizations.

The organizations in question, though international in coverage, were primarily of a Western persuasion in terms of editorial stewardship. They painted a picture of an entire nation up in smoke, with the term "civil war" being used repeatedly, and with the heart-rending spectre of a "failed state" being invoked from time to time.

Whether wilful, inspired by genuine awe in the hearts of the foreign reporters on the scene, or borne of genuine ignorance of the culture and background facts in operation behind the protests, the result was the same. A painful chapter in Thai history was made worse.

Musing about his forthcoming column while here in Phuket, where there was a complete absence of any strife and an exceptional calm with the disappearance of tourists, Terence Fernandez conceded that the situation in Bangkok could have escalated out of control.

But he was also reminded of protests in his own country, from Reformasi to Hindraf, when international media repeated several times throughout the day the same "live" footage from "Malaysia", giving the impression that the country was in a constant state of war nationwide, while the confrontations were, in fact, only sporadic and very much confined to Kuala Lumpur.

"Sometimes, depending on the [international news] agency and those calling the shots and signing the cheques, news is exaggerated as it fulfils an agenda, but often [that happens] because it just makes good TV," Fernandez writes, adding that:

"In Baghdad, I witnessed the western propaganda machinery in action as there were "exclusive" press conferences for western media; even entertainment for selected news organisations, with the likes of CNN correspondents being feted like royalty by the Allied Forces."

Though his point is not easily lost, Fernandez hammers it home by noting that the media has "an obligation to tell the whole story, without sugar-coating or trimming it."

To which, mindul of some of the big-brand TV coverage of recent events in Bangkok, one has to add, "... and without sensationalising or otherwise destroying the credibility of it."

For now, many will feel that there were no winners emerging from the hellish consequences of the two-month spectacle in Bangkok. But for channel surfers in Thailand, the level-headed objectivity of Al Jazeera could not have failed to impress.

-- Phuket Gazette 2010-05-23

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[maccaroni man]

agree but at a point AJ seemed to turn a corner and become more anti govt which was quite a reversal from what i had seen earlier. no doubt that the other majors were like pawns spouting bleeding heart stories of the poor oppressed fighting the powerful elite, pathetic covereage at best.

[cpofc]

Here here! Buy that man a drink.

Ever since News became a business, they seem to like to make it, instead of just reporting it.

[dhrobertson]

BBC was hugely disappointing

No investigative journalism

Fell for the bleeding heart line every time.

Also, that woman with the crew cut. She frightens the kids. What happened to Kate Adie?

[edwardandtubs]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

[dhrobertson]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

Neither the BBC nor CNN reported evenly and nor did they get to the background.

I expect better from the BBC.

[cpofc]

mate you don't need anymore proof about Western Media and their attitudes, than to go back to when that Australian Shiela STOLE the bar mats from the pub in Phuket.

I followed the entire episode very closly in all forms of the Australian media. TV, Radio, Press and Internet. It was the most blatantly biased and supremely arrogant reporting since the Dingo ate Azaria.

My mother in Aust who is well into her 80s now, has been a frequent visitor to the LOS and Mother In Law to my Thai Wife was so incensed, for the first time in her entire life, rang the top rating radio station in Melbourne and gave them all a spray!

She refused to go on air though.

[dttk0009]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

How contradictory. BBC and CNN did nothing of the sort. In fact, their entire coverage of the events in Bangkok were exclusively presented in a good guys (poor, unarmed freedom fighting farmers) vs. bad guys (corrupt, abusive, human rights violating, malicious and murdering everyone in sight military). It is pretty clear that you are fond of this biased view as well. BBC was more one sided than the N. Korean Dear Leader channel and couldn't have been further from the truth that was happening around us.

They seem to have shockingly dropped this story off the map once:

1. They set the city on fire, endangering the lives of thousands of people who live here, completely ignoring the heroic effort of the fire brigade and medics working through the night to prevent a completely horrific disaster from spreading.

2. Numerous footage of red shirts with weapons of war firing into crowds and military surfaced.

3. A plethora of IED's, grenades, guns and ammunition were found hidden around the site.

4. Red shirt leaders were charged with terrorism.

5. Car bombs, stolen ID's and credit cards were discovered around the protest site.

I could go on, but the OP's article is spot on. I knew that BBC specifically pandered to bleeding heart liberals but I never would have thought that they would go this far. I can say with complete confidence that they are no where near a legitimate source of information.

[hammered]

Not the Nation ridicules western reporting in an article "Journalists Continue To Parachute Into Bangkok"

Not sure if we can link to it so wont.

[dhrobertson]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

How contradictory. BBC and CNN did nothing of the sort. In fact, their entire coverage of the events in Bangkok were exclusively presented in a good guys (poor, unarmed freedom fighting farmers) vs. bad guys (corrupt, abusive, human rights violating, malicious and murdering everyone in sight military). It is pretty clear that you are fond of this biased view as well. BBC was more one sided than the N. Korean Dear Leader channel and couldn't have been further from the truth that was happening around us.

They seem to have shockingly dropped this story off the map once:

1. They set the city on fire, endangering the lives of thousands of people who live here, completely ignoring the heroic effort of the fire brigade and medics working through the night to prevent a completely horrific disaster from spreading.

2. Numerous footage of red shirts with weapons of war firing into crowds and military surfaced.

3. A plethora of IED's, grenades, guns and ammunition were found hidden around the site.

4. Red shirt leaders were charged with terrorism.

5. Car bombs, stolen ID's and credit cards were discovered around the protest site.

I could go on, but the OP's article is spot on. I knew that BBC specifically pandered to bleeding heart liberals but I never would have thought that they would go this far. I can say with complete confidence that they are no where near a legitimate source of information.

Well said Sir!

[Jimi007]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

Oh my... The coverage by the BBC was pathetic! CNN wasn't much better, ah the poor Reds. Give me a break! No mention of the ties and provocation by ex PM Thaksin. Al Jazeera was the only balanced reporting I saw on television, in english.;-)

[ramdom]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

I think that Western media can be more rigourous but they are far more sensationalistic and try to make every single event appear more "newsworthy" than it is. It definitely seems more and more of a salesmanship job, and reportors are like salespeople trying push a product.

[intothefuture]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

Sorry "edwardandtubs"...but I have to respectfully disagree with you.

CNN and BBC, in the opinion of many, began their coverage of the protests, with a preconceived image of "poor rural Thais fighting for democracy against the military and elitist backed government"....and their stories all seemed to promote this view. Dan Rivers and Sarah Snyder provided a very one sided look for most western viewers. If not for Thai TV and Thai Facebook bloggers....and in fact, here in Thai forum...CNN and BBC might have continued this. But there was an enormous reaction to the news being put out by these two mega giants of media, CNN and BBC. They had completely missed the point that Thaksin started these demonstrations to recapture his money and power and that he was funding the Red Shirt movement. They also downplayed the existence of guns, grenades and snipers amongst the Red Shirts. It felt like Dan and Sarah were trying for awards like those won by other journalists covering past battles of the repressed against their dictator run governments.

Enough of my opinion... for those that really do care about the media coverage of the Red Shirt demonstrations...and want to see a professional letter sent to CNN that actually tipped the scale, made Dan Rivers have to explain himself to his bosses...and caused a course correction by both CNN and BBC such that more balanced coverage began....see this link:

http://www.thailandqa.com/forum/showthread.php?p=215387.

The Letter includes a long list of references to other accurate news reports, and many links to video clips showing what was actually happening.

If you go to the link you will also find in the comments under it a very insightful letter from Somtow Sucharitkul, a world acclaimed Thai musician and author.

[Slip]

^^ As evidenced by their lack of coverage of the various video that was damaging to the reds, i.e. evidence of violent military style attacks with war weapons. Those of us us who shun these 'balanced reporters' EdwardAndTubs, viewed these videos when they spread virally because we take into account many sources of information. It's good to see the BBC getting pulled up for this- I'll never trust them as a worthy source again.

[ROBJSThailand]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

Oh my... The coverage by the BBC was pathetic! CNN wasn't much better, ah the poor Reds. Give me a break! No mention of the ties and provocation by ex PM Thaksin. Al Jazeera was the only balanced reporting I saw on television, in english.;-)

Totally agree. CNN were absolutely disgusting in their biased, sensationalist, irresponsible reporting, and the BBC not much better. They are receiving some very bad press themselves now and well deserved!!

[jitenshaman]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

actually, as a Bangkok resident, Al Jazeera aside, I thought the Nation was far more credible and at least giving reports with some trace of reality compared to most of the overseas networks...to say that one is reporting from the ground and that the protesters had no weapons and were just sitting peacefully while the big bad military dictatorship went in and slaughtered them makes me wonder where exactly that ground was? Perhaps a bar stool somewhere in the top of a high end hotel?

[intothefuture]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

Sorry "edwardandtubs"...but I have to respectfully disagree with you.

CNN and BBC, in the opinion of many, began their coverage of the protests, with a preconceived image of "poor rural Thais fighting for democracy against the military and elitist backed government"....and their stories all seemed to promote this view. Dan Rivers and Sarah Snyder provided a very one sided look for most western viewers. If not for Thai TV and Thai Facebook bloggers....and in fact, here in Thai forum...CNN and BBC might have continued this. But there was an enormous reaction to the news being put out by these two mega giants of media, CNN and BBC. They had completely missed the point that Thaksin started these demonstrations to recapture his money and power and that he was funding the Red Shirt movement. They also downplayed the existence of guns, grenades and snipers amongst the Red Shirts. It felt like Dan and Sarah were trying for awards like those won by other journalists covering past battles of the repressed against their dictator run governments.

Enough of my opinion... for those that really do care about the media coverage of the Red Shirt demonstrations...and want to see a professional letter sent to CNN that actually tipped the scale, made Dan Rivers have to explain himself to his bosses...and caused a course correction by both CNN and BBC such that more balanced coverage began....see this link:

http://www.thailandqa.com/forum/showthread.php?p=215387.

The Letter includes a long list of references to other accurate news reports, and many links to video clips showing what was actually happening.

If you go to the link you will also find in the comments under it a very insightful letter from Somtow Sucharitkul, a world acclaimed Thai musician and author.

[hammered]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

I think that Western media can be more rigourous but they are far more sensationalistic and try to make every single event appear more "newsworthy" than it is. It definitely seems more and more of a salesmanship job, and reportors are like salespeople trying push a product.

Yes plus dont forget that it is entertainment as well and the editors and journos know what entertainment their veiwers want and it is a numbers game for viewers and every story is decided before it is investigated and the facts have to fit the decided on story. Cant have viewing figures dropping by trying to tell the truth and have people confused or not likng what they see.

Example here is that colour coded demonstrations equals good demonstrators and bad authorites and governments. We saw it in Georgia and Ukraine and look what happened to those. One produced one of the most corrupt governments ever that got tossed for the old authorities and who at one point tried to not accept election results and the other gave birth to a dictator who started a war with Russia when his popularity plummetted due to corruption and authoritarianism. Oh and Thakisn is good at media and knows all of this and how to play it while the Thai government are quite uselss although imroving slowly. Anyway point is that all thewse things are shades of grey but TV news package them as black and white. I am surprised that people are surprised at this tbh

What is the movie where the editor picks up his newspaper or turns on TV news and says lets see what lies they are telling us today?

[NanaFoods]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

How contradictory. BBC and CNN did nothing of the sort. In fact, their entire coverage of the events in Bangkok were exclusively presented in a good guys (poor, unarmed freedom fighting farmers) vs. bad guys (corrupt, abusive, human rights violating, malicious and murdering everyone in sight military). It is pretty clear that you are fond of this biased view as well. BBC was more one sided than the N. Korean Dear Leader channel and couldn't have been further from the truth that was happening around us.

They seem to have shockingly dropped this story off the map once:

1. They set the city on fire, endangering the lives of thousands of people who live here, completely ignoring the heroic effort of the fire brigade and medics working through the night to prevent a completely horrific disaster from spreading.

2. Numerous footage of red shirts with weapons of war firing into crowds and military surfaced.

3. A plethora of IED's, grenades, guns and ammunition were found hidden around the site.

4. Red shirt leaders were charged with terrorism.

5. Car bombs, stolen ID's and credit cards were discovered around the protest site.

I could go on, but the OP's article is spot on. I knew that BBC specifically pandered to bleeding heart liberals but I never would have thought that they would go this far. I can say with complete confidence that they are no where near a legitimate source of information.

Agree. Well put.

CNN and BBC are nothing more than propaganda machines.

I changed cable plans to remove them both, as their News got so slanted, it was just too disgusting to watch.

Been that way for at least a decade.

BBC news used to be quite good some time ago, I recall, but something happened to them.

Something serious. Now they spout one-sided opinions as if they were facts.

Ironically, it seems Russia Today and Al Jazeera are far more balanced than CNN or BBC.

Edited May 23, 2010 by ChefHeat

[way2muchcoffee]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

I guess you missed the part about the complaints that people had. It was the inability to tell the full story, understand the cultural nuance, laziness for not researching the history, and the reliance on sexy soundbites amongst foreign reporters that irked people. CNN and BBC were especially poor in their reporting. Al Jazeera and NY Times did a much more fair and balanced job. Even the Wall Street Journal did better than either CNN or BBC.

Edited May 23, 2010 by way2muchcoffee

[dhrobertson]

I grew up with the BBC ("Auntie" as it is affectionately called in the UK)

I can't tell you how disapppointed I am to see them go down so fast.

Of course it's all about viewing figures, advertising and money.

I'm really shocked. In fact about as bad as finding out that your aunty is a hooker!

[edwardandtubs]

The open letter concerning alleged bias was totally debunked in the following article:

http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/bangkok-p...e-really-biased

Some of the posters here seem to think that the international news media should just parrot the Thai government in the same way that the Thai media does.

[rabo]

Articles like this are written by those who don't really understand the basics of good journalism. A lot of Thais live in a fantasy world where what you see on television represents an absolute truth. All CNN, BBC and other news organisations did is report from the ground and present both sides of the argument. Because this balanced approach conflicts with simplistic absolute truth of good guys vs terrorists presented by the Thai media, a lot of Thais believe "The Truth" can be found on their little Thai television programmes and "Lies" is found on the "foreigner television".

The direct opposite was true. The major international news media portrayed a purely imported Cinderella story of the downtrodden masses long oppressed by the evil ruling elite. Then maybe a nationwide revolt, if that didn't work then maybe a country entering civil war and when it was all over, the beginnings of an armed underground to destroy tourism. Devoid of facts, analysis, and understanding of Thai society.

In contrast, average Thais in many walks of life had a fairly clear and balanced sense of what was going on, regardless of what side they favored, if any. Of course, these Thais were not reading the international media.

[ROBJSThailand]

The open letter concerning alleged bias was totally debunked in the following article:

http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/bangkok-p...e-really-biased

Some of the posters here seem to think that the international news media should just parrot the Thai government in the same way that the Thai media does.

I think most of us think that honest, unbiased, reporting would be fairer to all sides. That wasn't what happened unfortunately.

[dhrobertson]

The open letter concerning alleged bias was totally debunked in the following article:

http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/bangkok-p...e-really-biased

Some of the posters here seem to think that the international news media should just parrot the Thai government in the same way that the Thai media does.

Debunked? Not really. Different view maybe.

I will say that The Nation does appear somewhat biased.

I recall one piece of BBC video footage where some old red shirt biddy was quoted as saying " all we want is democracy". Next time it was translated as "we know what's happening"

Sorry, but I just do not trust the BEEB anymore

[hammered]

The open letter concerning alleged bias was totally debunked in the following article:

http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/bangkok-p...e-really-biased

Some of the posters here seem to think that the international news media should just parrot the Thai government in the same way that the Thai media does.

Debunking an emotive letter to a news organization does not mean the news organization is doing a good job. I wonder if B Pundit will debunk the Not the Nation article.

Virtually every letter to the BKK Post or Nation or anywhere else for that matter could be simlarlly debunked if that idea suited your own poltical bias. In fact I dont see what the point is in debunking the letter which is a tad disingenous as it implies CNN reporting is balanced withgout testing that hypothesis but simply by attacking a letter. I would suggest B Pundit do a full content analysis of CNN's reporting or even his own if he is interested in seeing balanced media reporting rather than setting up some strawman defence of a news organisation.

[oldgeezer]

Having followed Thai politics, read the history and lived here for many years I have my own opinions in this regard. I have never criticized government authorities either, chosing to leave opinions to my Thai wife.

In this case however, I will make an educated prediction on the fate of the redshirt leaders and their facilitators.

After several weeks, the door to their rooms/cells will be left open, they will receive a pardon, an obscure law will be called upon or they will get bailed and they will disappear. After much hand wringing and accusations, the new government will declare amnesty in the interest of unification of the country and life will go on, and on, and on. Theirs will be a much richer life however.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Edited May 23, 2010 by oldgeezer

[citizen33]

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! The section of the media that came out of this mess looking worst is the Thai media.

[Crushdepth]

The Australian ABC News is one of those that should be embarrassed. Their SE Asian correspondent is either appallingly ignorant or too lazy to do any research. Unfortunately many journalists are happy to pick up whatever propaganda is on offer and use it as their tabloid headlines.

I also noticed one foreign reporter tweeting blue murder about people dying around him, while his Asian colleagues in the same location were tweeting "we're ok" at the same time. Guess who got all the coverage.

[Insight]

I grew up with the BBC ("Auntie" as it is affectionately called in the UK)

I can't tell you how disapppointed I am to see them go down so fast.

Of course it's all about viewing figures, advertising and money.

I'm really shocked. In fact about as bad as finding out that your aunty is a hooker!

I feel the same way - thought BBC was an icon of journalistic integrity. Doubt they've been "paid off" to any degree, but they've certainly been duped. This article gives some very good points on how it happened (although it is a bit of a read).

How silly that banner above the stage looked after they had fled. Believe this photo was taken as CTW burnt, people attempting to put out the fire came under attack from snipers and several hundred protesters were stuck at the local temple caught in between a gun battle between armed protesters and the army (appears many of the protesters were under instructions from somebody to head there rather than the public transport provided - straight into the trap). Hopefully around this point the BBC and CNN were reviewing its strategy.