The 'Knowledge' That We Learn From Thai Talk Shows

[bigbamboo]

Sometimes if I want to annoy the hellcat, I'll count the number of times the mandatory pretty lady says ka in a given minute.

I do it out loud. Record so far was 6. And when the kas run on it sums up the quality of most Thai talk shows.

Funny! I do exactly the same on one of the Thai news channels, the token lady "newsreader" does little else but say Ka to her male co-host.

In most cases if the pretty girl actually said something then it would likely turn into a comedy and you can't have one of those without a katoey.

[TackyToo]

have you also counted the "oh-hohs!!" on the sport coverage? That's equally entertaining.

Yep, sounds like they are doing Jimmy Tarbuck impressions.

And how about these extreme stupid sound effects like: boing, tweet, zaaack? Spike Jones at least did it in an entertaining way on stage and not in what they believe to be "informative" shows!

[Reasonableman]

have you also counted the "oh-hohs!!" on the sport coverage? That's equally entertaining.

Yep, sounds like they are doing Jimmy Tarbuck impressions.

And how about these extreme stupid sound effects like: boing, tweet, zaaack? Spike Jones at least did it in an entertaining way on stage and not in what they believe to be "informative" shows!

Even children find that stuff infantile. It must appeal to someone I guess, but they are unlikely to be University professors or brain surgeons... and then again.... I could be wrong...

[blows]

Sometimes if I want to annoy the hellcat, I'll count the number of times the mandatory pretty lady says ka in a given minute.

I do it out loud. Record so far was 6. And when the kas run on it sums up the quality of most Thai talk shows.

Funny! I do exactly the same on one of the Thai news channels, the token lady "newsreader" does little else but say Ka to her male co-host.

In most cases if the pretty girl actually said something then it would likely turn into a comedy and you can't have one of those without a katoey.

They aren't katoeys?

[bigbamboo]

Sometimes if I want to annoy the hellcat, I'll count the number of times the mandatory pretty lady says ka in a given minute.

I do it out loud. Record so far was 6. And when the kas run on it sums up the quality of most Thai talk shows.

Funny! I do exactly the same on one of the Thai news channels, the token lady "newsreader" does little else but say Ka to her male co-host.

In most cases if the pretty girl actually said something then it would likely turn into a comedy and you can't have one of those without a katoey.

They aren't katoeys?

No, the katoeys are more attractive...... until they speak.

[unanimosity]

I find Talk Shows to be dangerous to many people in the population. It is kind of like that mentality people use to have that if they read something in a book, it must be true. These talk show hosts that talk about news and current events should all be dressed like clowns to remind people they are nothing but clowns expressing their opinions and views often based on, at best, partial facts of real news. They are no different that they folks sitting outside the local 7/11 after midnight discussing politics but people actually believe what they hear because they either think it is real news or simply because it is coming from people on TV.

The only US news I get on my cable in Bangkok is FoxNews and they have got this down to a science in terms of coming off as a 24-hour news channel where 90% of their content is actually biased opinion pieces based on either completely false facts or partial facts. I don't think FoxNews even has any reporters at all out in the field ... they just pick up news from other sources and edit the info to reflect their agenda and then comment on it all day.

But being that Fox is the number 1 cable news outlet, how can you blame other for wanting copy this type of format of making big money promoting your own personal agenda.

In earlier days, news agencies prided themselves on their ability to remain objective. However, times change. Standards have dropped, the media are highly commercialized, popularized to the lowest and least expensive common denominator (game shows, FGS), and highly politicized. BBC News, CNN, The Nation--in fact probably all the news media (TV, radio, print, etc.) contribute to the propaganda array of multiple "causes" or "agendas", be they national, personal, political, religious, cultural, racial, or whatever. Yes, it is often difficult to know what to believe and what is tripe, what filters to use to minimize bias, and how to conduct your own critical analysis. That is why education is so importan

Not sure how you lump game shows in with news programming, but in the free world all broadcasts are ratings driven, which has de-objectified news programming to a lower level of pandering and titillating content. Thailand media and laws in general, combined with central governance of broadcast media, ensure that nothing substantially divergent from the company line gets aired. Web site blocking attests to this censorship.

[osiboy]

I find Talk Shows to be dangerous to many people in the population. It is kind of like that mentality people use to have that if they read something in a book, it must be true. These talk show hosts that talk about news and current events should all be dressed like clowns to remind people they are nothing but clowns expressing their opinions and views often based on, at best, partial facts of real news. They are no different that they folks sitting outside the local 7/11 after midnight discussing politics but people actually believe what they hear because they either think it is real news or simply because it is coming from people on TV.

The only US news I get on my cable in Bangkok is FoxNews and they have got this down to a science in terms of coming off as a 24-hour news channel where 90% of their content is actually biased opinion pieces based on either completely false facts or partial facts. I don't think FoxNews even has any reporters at all out in the field ... they just pick up news from other sources and edit the info to reflect their agenda and then comment on it all day.

But being that Fox is the number 1 cable news outlet, how can you blame other for wanting copy this type of format of making big money promoting your own personal agenda.

In earlier days, news agencies prided themselves on their ability to remain objective. However, times change. Standards have dropped, the media are highly commercialized, popularized to the lowest and least expensive common denominator (game shows, FGS), and highly politicized. BBC News, CNN, The Nation--in fact probably all the news media (TV, radio, print, etc.) contribute to the propaganda array of multiple "causes" or "agendas", be they national, personal, political, religious, cultural, racial, or whatever. Yes, it is often difficult to know what to believe and what is tripe, what filters to use to minimize bias, and how to conduct your own critical analysis. That is why education is so important.

nice post , but i have to say ...the beeb & al jazeera are the most "reasonably" honest services imho, and the US has CNN to convince them that aliens will not be invading in the near future ,....... if you've ever seen Paxman "on form" then surely thats enough to convince you the beeb does have some integrity at least , and has no , or very little leaning either way , ............in thailand its difficult for me with language barrier to understand their '' slant'' on anything, ...the main thing here regarding international news is not what they say , its more to do with if its mentioned at all , .......imho i think the bbc is the best channel on the planet and dont believe the govt manipulate it , ...i know very little about thai tv apart from that its VERY poor quality , and i suspect all the channels are privately owned with strict govt guide lines ?? i "dont have a danny " about that , its just a guess .....but world wide the beeb has always been a trusted source , if you can sugest a better 'neutral'' source i'm all ears !

Edited February 20, 2012 by osiboy

[Reasonableman]

I agree that the BBC attempts to maintain higher standards than most. However, cultural mores and socio-economic-geographic-political environments do imbue everyone's view of the world and how they interpret it. What I'm saying is don't take all you hear/see on any news media as gospel. Seek out a variety of information sources, be aware of bias, prejudice, agendas, and dialectic, and analyze the information and opinion presented. The same goes for contributions to TVF.

I find Talk Shows to be dangerous to many people in the population. It is kind of like that mentality people use to have that if they read something in a book, it must be true. These talk show hosts that talk about news and current events should all be dressed like clowns to remind people they are nothing but clowns expressing their opinions and views often based on, at best, partial facts of real news. They are no different that they folks sitting outside the local 7/11 after midnight discussing politics but people actually believe what they hear because they either think it is real news or simply because it is coming from people on TV.

The only US news I get on my cable in Bangkok is FoxNews and they have got this down to a science in terms of coming off as a 24-hour news channel where 90% of their content is actually biased opinion pieces based on either completely false facts or partial facts. I don't think FoxNews even has any reporters at all out in the field ... they just pick up news from other sources and edit the info to reflect their agenda and then comment on it all day.

But being that Fox is the number 1 cable news outlet, how can you blame other for wanting copy this type of format of making big money promoting your own personal agenda.

In earlier days, news agencies prided themselves on their ability to remain objective. However, times change. Standards have dropped, the media are highly commercialized, popularized to the lowest and least expensive common denominator (game shows, FGS), and highly politicized. BBC News, CNN, The Nation--in fact probably all the news media (TV, radio, print, etc.) contribute to the propaganda array of multiple "causes" or "agendas", be they national, personal, political, religious, cultural, racial, or whatever. Yes, it is often difficult to know what to believe and what is tripe, what filters to use to minimize bias, and how to conduct your own critical analysis. That is why education is so important.

nice post , but i have to say ...the beeb & al jazeera are the most "reasonably" honest services imho, and the US has CNN to convince them that aliens will not be invading in the near future ,....... if you've ever seen Paxman "on form" then surely thats enough to convince you the beeb does have some integrity at least , and has no , or very little leaning either way , ............in thailand its difficult for me with language barrier to understand their '' slant'' on anything, ...the main thing here regarding international news is not what they say , its more to do with if its mentioned at all , .......imho i think the bbc is the best channel on the planet and dont believe the govt manipulate it , ...i know very little about thai tv apart from that its VERY poor quality , and i suspect all the channels are privately owned with strict govt guide lines ?? i "dont have a danny " about that , its just a guess .....but world wide the beeb has always been a trusted source , if you can sugest a better 'neutral'' source i'm all ears !

[blows]

What the HELL, they admit they are a lying biased rag, no need to defend them.

[Mark Thompson, Director-General of the BBC, admitted the organisation has been biased "towards the left". He said, "In the BBC I joined 30 years ago, there was, in much of current affairs, in terms of people's personal politics, which were quite vocal, a massive bias to the left".]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_News