Media is not there to be attacked or exploited

[webfact]

BURNING ISSUE
Media is not there to be attacked or exploited
KORNCHANOK RAKSASERI

BANGKOK: -- THERE IS no civil war in Bangkok. But some groups of people are behaving like they were in a war. Furthermore, they are dragging into their war the people supposed to be "fair" to both sides - the media.

They either try to get the media to take their point of view, or at times even physically attack media people, accusing them of supporting their opponents.

The reason behind the most recent attacks on female journalists was that the reporters were suspected of incorrectly reporting the crowd size, and that was seen as being unfair to the protesters. It would be interesting to find out what those who claim: "The media is biased. The media is taking sides. The media is not keeping a position in the middle [between the opposing sides]," really mean.

Have the speakers considered the true roles of the media? Is it true that many times opposing sides drag the media into being involved in their conflicts or their "fight"? Sometimes, through such actions they push the media to the opposing side.

Many times their allegations mean: "The media is not taking our side, therefore, it is taking the other side," or "The media is not keeping its position right in the middle."

What is "fair" reporting? Reporting the facts that happen on each side equally - even if there is lopsided information from each side - or reporting just the way it happened? At least, all should agree that reporting the facts objectively and in a well-rounded way is fair.

Have the speakers considered that praising reporting which benefited their side on a rally stage can also be an accusation the media was taking sides, although it did its work honestly in a way that was true to their profession? That is a way of trying to drag the media into being one side's supporters.

Did the critics really fairly consider their real expectations of the media? Did they consider the media's neutral stance and objective reporting?

Have they considered that eventually their attack against the media could backfire on their group as well as society as a whole?

When the media cannot do its job properly, people must depend only on rumours and let mob sentiment mastermind the way they act - often in a destructive way.

Nation Channel's Satien Viriyaphanpongsa posted on his Facebook page, "I'd like to tell the public that most journalists have stopped reporting the number of protesters for a long time as there is high risk of inaccuracy and high risk of facing mob sentiment. For the mob that attacked journalists, I wish they could hear for themselves what the reporters really said. Please don't just take others' words and then join in attacking journalists.

"I have covered many rallies, of many colour-coded groups. I noticed that field journalists only reported what they saw. They were sometimes criticised as giving too little information.

"Some protesters might have been angry that free TV gave too little air-time for coverage of their rally or exposure of the country's problems. That's true somewhat. The media is much under the influence of capital. But you cannot universalise and express your anger on field journalists. Their duty is to report. They do not have any say in allocation of airtime. Even if you killed them [field journalists] all, that wouldn't help," Satien wrote.

A free-TV field journalist, whose name I am not disclosing here, posted on his Facebook page, "We have checked and found no part of the reporting by the [attacked] journalists [to be a] distortion [of the facts]. You can re-check. When you want us to work freely, why are you limiting our freedom?

"The media in the field is also human. More importantly, it did nothing wrong. It went into the field to report what you wanted the public to see," he posted.

After what happened on Sunday, some protest leaders were discussing preventive measures with representatives from the Thai Journalists Association and the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association. They agreed that the protest organisers would work more closely with their guards and gain a clearer understanding with the protesters, should other attacks occur.

Journalists with a badge issued by the Election Commission were attacked on the misunderstanding that they were EC officials.

In fact, no one has the right to hurt other people, whether they are journalists or not.

And no one deserves to be exploited.


-- The Nation 2013-12-24

[chooka]

"The media is not taking our side, therefore, it is taking the other side,"

That is probably it. As Suthep has said, if you are not 100% with us then you are against us.

[Halion]

"No one deserves to be exploited" Is this not the very crux behind this current protest.

[noitom]

The problem is that the Thai media doesn't report facts or do investigative journalism. The Thai press lives off sound bites from selective politicians, military, police, and bureaucrats.

[Nibbles48]

they are dragging into their war the people supposed to be "fair" to both sides - the media.

If the media did report fairly, then they would be accepted and even encouraged by the protestors. Alas, they have proven time and again that they are not free and fair. So don't whine when you get the backlash you lot deserve.

If you want fair treatment, clean up the bias in the media.

[WilliamCave]

The problem is that the Thai media doesn't report facts or do investigative journalism. The Thai press lives off sound bites from selective politicians, military, police, and bureaucrats.

I think you hit the nail on the head with that statements ,

Couldn't agree more

[rebelplatoon]

I was at a local food shop yesterday. It's Chiang Mai so they are red shirts. They had the UDD channel on. Only RED news.These kind of channels might be the cause that some people are thinking there's a media war on. The information was nearly funny. My 9 year old son even nearly choked on his food as he understood the complete lies being thrown into the ether. It might get people to thinking that channels that at least try to be impartial, must be partial as the information is quite different. Mind you, I left quickly as the character bashing was so over-done, it was just BORING. Food was great though.

[craigt3365]

they are dragging into their war the people supposed to be "fair" to both sides - the media.

If the media did report fairly, then they would be accepted and even encouraged by the protestors. Alas, they have proven time and again that they are not free and fair. So don't whine when you get the backlash you lot deserve.

If you want fair treatment, clean up the bias in the media.

Hard for the media not to be biased when the major outlets are either owned by the government or the army!

[Spare]

"The reason behind the most recent attacks on female journalists was that the reporters were suspected of incorrectly reporting the crowd size"

I think the deduction is wrong. To be honest, I think reason behind the beating up of these female journalists was because they were weak and cannot fight back. See how many would dare to touch male journalist built like Arnold Schwarzenegger?

[toybits]

Blue sky TV, ASTV - same same - no different.

[Costas2008]

"Media is not there to be attacked or exploited"

What about "criticized"....are we allowed?

[moonao]

The yellow mob have a Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde personality.

Unless you are 100% with them, you must be against them, and if you are against them they turn into blathering neo-facists willing to attack, destroy, bully, intimidate and murder.

[timewilltell]

The yellow mob have a Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde personality.

Unless you are 100% with them, you must be against them, and if you are against them they turn into blathering neo-facists willing to attack, destroy, bully, intimidate and murder.

They sound like a toned down version of the Red Shirts then!

It is a shame that there are not some more nature people in politics. They all seem to db like spoiled out of control children and their policies are about as intellectual as their behaviour.

[siampolee]

So if the image is the guideline the media has already attacked and exploited.

http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2005/08/25/image795693x.jpg

[tingtongteesood]

I was at a local food shop yesterday. It's Chiang Mai so they are red shirts. They had the UDD channel on. Only RED news.These kind of channels might be the cause that some people are thinking there's a media war on. The information was nearly funny. My 9 year old son even nearly choked on his food as he understood the complete lies being thrown into the ether. It might get people to thinking that channels that at least try to be impartial, must be partial as the information is quite different. Mind you, I left quickly as the character bashing was so over-done, it was just BORING. Food was great though. alt=clap2.gif pagespeed_url_hash=892957568 width=31 height=25> alt=cheesy.gif pagespeed_url_hash=3951237149 width=32 height=20>

Absolutely right, they never use clips of anyone against them, they use quotes of what they want the reds to think they said and constantly attack people with partial truths and lies and use scary music and graphics like they are making trailers for horror movies. It is shocking and absolutely 100% biased and one of the big reasons for the division here. Between this and the crap their 'leaders' spout out of their mouths it is no wonder we have problems here.

Blue sky TV, ASTV - same same - no different.

You are a complete fool if you really believe this to be true...

[fab4]

they are dragging into their war the people supposed to be "fair" to both sides - the media.

If the media did report fairly, then they would be accepted and even encouraged by the protestors. Alas, they have proven time and again that they are not free and fair. So don't whine when you get the backlash you lot deserve.

If you want fair treatment, clean up the bias in the media.

Hard for the media not to be biased when the major outlets are either owned by the government or the army!

Would you include "The Nation" in that statement?

[xminator]

Fair? Its not for the media to be fair to everyone. If a person or groups views are totally <deleted> up, its the medias role to give correction - not to be fair.

Journalists in Thailand should think a little bit ahead. What happens to the media in facists countries? Moving toward freedom of expression? The Way of Suthep is cencorship. Think about the difference between 2010 and 2013. Fully armed soldiers in the streets compared to a low number of police without firearms (unlinke when stuff is "normal" and every police is armed...)

[craigt3365]

they are dragging into their war the people supposed to be "fair" to both sides - the media.

If the media did report fairly, then they would be accepted and even encouraged by the protestors. Alas, they have proven time and again that they are not free and fair. So don't whine when you get the backlash you lot deserve.

If you want fair treatment, clean up the bias in the media.

Hard for the media not to be biased when the major outlets are either owned by the government or the army!

Would you include "The Nation" in that statement?

The Nation is not owned by the government nor the army. Huge difference, but pretty much every source of news has a bias...sad, but true. Here's a good description of the paper, which is independently owned and operated:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nation_%28Thailand%29

The Nation and the Bangkok Post are similar in their coverage of international news and address mainly the Thai upper and upper-middle classes who've gained access to English language education (often international education). The Nation tends to be somewhat more favourable of pro-royalist and pro-elitist governments in its editorials and is a bit more nationalist than the Post in its daily reportage, which often has a more "mainstream" or Western perspective. Though again it must be stressed the majority target audience of both publications are Thais who can read English - with "farangs" as a minority.

After Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was elected in 2001, several companies associated with him ceased to advertise in The Nation. The newspaper reported on the advertising cuts and adopted a vehemently anti-Thaksin editorial line.^[2]

[Emdog]

The media makes Fox News look "fair and balanced" by comparison! Given the ease of doing defamation suits here (doesn't matter if TRUTH if it damages someone's reputation) I understand why no investigative journalism is done: good way to be sued if you are not just murdered first.....

[Scamper]

This article makes some very salient points. But it opens up a much broader topic, and that is just how free the press is in this country in reporting the political events that are that so important for the people to receive. In the United States, the reporters have a very hard reputation. They don't care if they're addressing a question to the president - they will ask very pointed, blunt, sometimes very embarrassing questions. And if they're not satisfied with the answer, they go for the jugular. Over here - well - let's just say they don't do that ! Perhaps it's considered unseemly, perhaps even rude. Perhaps they think it's beyond their status. But whatever the reason, the really hard questions and follow-ups don't get asked. Instead, we have continual TV images of fields of reporters, studiously and passively and studiously being scribes, writing down with fervour everything that is being said by any elected official. Can you imagine, for example, if a reporter actually had the gumption to ask : " Mr. Chalerm. I was just wondering. I view of your recent ultimatums to the police department to arrest Mr. Suthep. I was just wondering. Well. What are you now exactly going to do about it, now that your ultimatum has not been met ? " I can tell you what would happen. That reporter would be looking for another job the next morning ! And therein lies the problem.

[chooka]

I was at a local food shop yesterday. It's Chiang Mai so they are red shirts. They had the UDD channel on. Only RED news.These kind of channels might be the cause that some people are thinking there's a media war on. The information was nearly funny. My 9 year old son even nearly choked on his food as he understood the complete lies being thrown into the ether. It might get people to thinking that channels that at least try to be impartial, must be partial as the information is quite different. Mind you, I left quickly as the character bashing was so over-done, it was just BORING. Food was great though. alt=clap2.gif pagespeed_url_hash=892957568 width=31 height=25> alt=cheesy.gif pagespeed_url_hash=3951237149 width=32 height=20>

Absolutely right, they never use clips of anyone against them, they use quotes of what they want the reds to think they said and constantly attack people with partial truths and lies and use scary music and graphics like they are making trailers for horror movies. It is shocking and absolutely 100% biased and one of the big reasons for the division here. Between this and the crap their 'leaders' spout out of their mouths it is no wonder we have problems here.

Blue sky TV, ASTV - same same - no different.

You are a complete fool if you really believe this to be true...

I agree the crap that is being spewed out of Suthep's mouth, what can you say apart from the fact he is totally looney tunes, a complete nutcase and psychopath. The biggest idiot on the face of the planet.

[fab4]

Hard for the media not to be biased when the major outlets are either owned by the government or the army!

Would you include "The Nation" in that statement?

The Nation is not owned by the government nor the army. Huge difference, but pretty much every source of news has a bias...sad, but true. Here's a good description of the paper, which is independently owned and operated:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nation_%28Thailand%29

The Nation and the Bangkok Post are similar in their coverage of international news and address mainly the Thai upper and upper-middle classes who've gained access to English language education (often international education). The Nation tends to be somewhat more favourable of pro-royalist and pro-elitist governments in its editorials and is a bit more nationalist than the Post in its daily reportage, which often has a more "mainstream" or Western perspective. Though again it must be stressed the majority target audience of both publications are Thais who can read English - with "farangs" as a minority.

After Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was elected in 2001, several companies associated with him ceased to advertise in The Nation. The newspaper reported on the advertising cuts and adopted a vehemently anti-Thaksin editorial line.^[2]

I'm well aware of the ownership of The Nation - which was why I singled it out. Your post implied that only media run by the government or the army was biased.

Not only is The Nation biased against the existing government whether in its caretaker form or previously but it is also a major source of articles on this forum which of course everybody is aware. The wikipedia description is extremely restrained in its portrayal of The Nation:

"The Nation tends to be somewhat more favourable of pro-royalist and pro-elitist governments in its editorials"

Somewhat ! and only in its editorials - Come on, who wrote that, The Editor?

[Ulic]

I was at a local food shop yesterday. It's Chiang Mai so they are red shirts. They had the UDD channel on. Only RED news.These kind of channels might be the cause that some people are thinking there's a media war on. The information was nearly funny. My 9 year old son even nearly choked on his food as he understood the complete lies being thrown into the ether. It might get people to thinking that channels that at least try to be impartial, must be partial as the information is quite different. Mind you, I left quickly as the character bashing was so over-done, it was just BORING. Food was great though. alt=clap2.gif pagespeed_url_hash=892957568 width=31 height=25> alt=cheesy.gif pagespeed_url_hash=3951237149 width=32 height=20>

Absolutely right, they never use clips of anyone against them, they use quotes of what they want the reds to think they said and constantly attack people with partial truths and lies and use scary music and graphics like they are making trailers for horror movies. It is shocking and absolutely 100% biased and one of the big reasons for the division here. Between this and the crap their 'leaders' spout out of their mouths it is no wonder we have problems here.

Blue sky TV, ASTV - same same - no different.

You are a complete fool if you really believe this to be true...

Same as Fox news, just call yourself fair and balanced and report with as much bias as you want.

Most news channels are the same. They are actually commentary programs not news shows.