New Media Changing The Way People Get News: Thailand

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New media changing the way people get news

Pratch Rujivanarom

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Thai Broadcast Journalists Association recently held a seminar on "New Media, New Trend, New Generation" to discuss developments in new media and the impact this channel is having on old-fashioned media.

The first half of the seminar focused on the new generation and its power to change the world of journalism. At the forum, Adisak Limprungpatanakij, president of Nation Broadcasting Corporation, explained that young people relied on the Internet and other kinds of new technology for instant access to information and data.

He also said that young people nowadays had the ability to create their own media and spread them across the world through websites like YouTube.

"It is the young generation that will push new media to a bright future," Adisak said.

However, Daew Worathangtrakul, managing director of GMM Broadcasting, warned that fast-growing new media such as social-networking websites, online broadcasting and even satellite television were killing old-fashioned media.

"Old-fashioned media outlets will have to move fast to catch up or they will be left behind," Daew warned.

Ariya Panomyong, country business manager for Google Thailand, noted that most new-media consumers were between the ages of 15 and 50, with many owning a smart phone and nearly all of them having at least one computer at home.

He added that most of these people only spent 10 hours a week watching television but spent 17 hours a week on the Internet.

"Even television does not provide fast and reliable information to the public, so they seek real-time updates on the Internet, where they can access news from several different providers and decide on which is most reliable," Ariya said.

During the second half of the seminar, Supinya Klangnarong, from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, explained how the media watchdog monitored the operations of telecommunications companies to ensure that there is fair competition.

However, she said censoring of information on the Internet was up to the Information and Communications Technology Ministry.

"Still, users should be mindful of what they read or see on the World Wide Web," she advised.

-- The Nation 2012-04-24