Press Freedom Under Siege, Says IFJ

[george]

Press freedom under siege, says IFJ

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has today written to Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra calling on his government to stop political interference in the media, and reiterating a call to introduce new rules to prevent conflicts of interest over media ownership. The letter follows a spate of incidents threatening independent media in Thailand.

The IFJ, the Brussels-based global organisation of journalists representing over 500,000 professionals worldwide, is extremely concerned over recent events in Thailand, including the removal of the editor of the Bangkok Post, Veera Prateepchaikul, who is also chairman of the Thai Journalists’ Association (the TJA).

Veera was removed from his post on 22 February, an event widely seen as an attempt to stifle Bangkok Post criticisms of Thaksin and his government.

In addition, Jamjit Ravikul was removed from the post of news editor of iTV. The removal has been reported to be in response to a story critical of the prime minister’s approach to the bird flu problem. The prime minister’s family company, Shin Corp, holds a 50 per cent stake in iTV.

Similarly, the editor of Siamrath Weekly News, another media outlet owned by a politician, reportedly resigned last week after government pressure resulted in the recalling of 30,000 copies of the magazine critical of the government’s handling of the bird flu crisis.

SEAPA, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, which has protested over recent cases of political interference in media, also reports that the editor of a Thai language business daily was late last year “sidelined to an inactive position after the paper published a series of exposes” on the Prime Minister.

“Clearly press freedom is taking a battering at the hands of the political elite in Thailand,” said IFJ President Christopher Warren in his letter to the Thai prime minister today.

“The IFJ calls on your government to withdraw from interfering in the media - both overtly, through direct ownership, and covertly, through pressure and manipulation of media owners,” he wrote.

Last year, the IFJ called on the Thai prime minister to relinquish his family’s stake in iTV immediately, and to introduce media ownership laws to ban further conflicts of interest in the future.

--Agencies 2004-03-02

[snowleopard]

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has today written to Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra calling on his government to stop political interference in the media

“The IFJ calls on your government to withdraw from interfering in the media - both overtly, through direct ownership, and covertly, through pressure and manipulation of media owners,” he wrote.

Great news!

Now Toxin is gonna be real mad!

Snowleopard.

[george]

Thai PM steps up battle with feisty newspapers

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, accused of trying to manipulate Thailand's often feisty newspapers to subdue criticism of him, urged the media on Wednesday to put the country's interests first.

"I'd like to urge the media to think of the country," he said in a speech broadcast on state radio and television a day after an international press body called on him to halt "political interference" in the media.

"These days, when foreign countries criticise us, they quote media reports," said Thaksin, who has been under fire over bird flu and violence in the Muslim south as well as alleged attempts to skew reporting in his favour.

"Recent media reports, especially the print media, have been weirdly inaccurate, so I've chosen to talk to them less frequently," said Thaksin, who usually talks to reporters several times a day and faces a general election early next year.

Thaksin, chided by revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej in December for being overly sensitive to criticism and accused by some political foes of aspiring to dictatorship, has been under increasing pressure since the outbreak of bird flu.

His government, expected to increase its already substantial majority in parliament at the election, denies charges it covered up the outbreak for several weeks before announcing it in January.

Since then, seven Thai people have died of the disease and chicken exports have shrunk from more than $1 billion a year to almost nothing.

The government also denies interfering in the media.

PERSISTENT CHARGES

Such charges intensified last month when the editor of the English-language Bangkok Post was removed after the paper published a series of articles critical of government policies.

The newspaper said it was a routine move, but soon after an editor at ITV, a television station in which the company Thaksin founded has an interest, was shifted after it broadcast a programme critical of Thaksin's bird flu efforts.

The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said on its Web site www.ifg.org it had written to Thaksin calling for a halt to "political interference" in the media.

"Clearly press freedom is taking a battering at the hands of the political elite in Thailand," Christopher Warren, president of the federation that says it represents more than 500,000 journalists worldwide, was quoted as saying in the letter.

"The IFJ is calling on the Thai government to stop interfering in the media -- both overtly, through direct ownership, and covertly, through pressure and manipulation of media owners," it said.

Some journalists at Thai newspapers say self-censorship is at work to prevent the loss of advertisements from state firms or companies in the telecommunications business in which Thaksin made his fortune.

Media watchdogs said several news organisations had opted to avoid negative reports or to move critical editors.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance, a Bangkok-based press advocacy group, said the removal of the Bangkok Post editor was "part of what is widely seen as the government and big business's scheme to muffle, if not muzzle, Thailand's independent media."

The government said it was not involved.

"It is purely an internal decision of a news organisation," chief government spokesman Jakrapob Penkair said. "We have never told any newspaper to do so. The worst things we have said were we did not like some reports and we would seek to clarify."

--Reuters 2004-03-03

[george]

State media also under the thumb

BANGKOK: Just as Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was complaining about lies, halftruths and distortion in the Thai press, damning evidence emerged yesterday that staterun media is no better off.

The Nation yesterday received a copy of an official letter, sent from the Public Relations Division of National Police Headquarters to a supervisor of a police radio station.

The recipient was clearly instructed to make sure that an evening news discussion programme excluded any criticism against the government’s controversial plan to privatise major state enterprises.

The letter, signed by Captain Ketnipa Phetwan, said the Public Relations Division wanted a taped copy of the programme hosted by journalist and political activist Samarn Sringarm everyday.

The station supervisor was instructed to “keep monitoring the programme to ensure that opposition to privatisation of state enterprises is not allowed to be broadcast”.

It went on to say the programme shall not “include personal opinions that criticise or are sarcastic about the government and state officials or create divisiveness in the country”.

The letter was dated February 13, a few days before opposition to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand’s privatisation scheme erupted into a major labour uprising against the Thaksin administration.

Samarn’s “For the People” programme on AM 1179 kHz (known as the Siang Samyod station and run by crime suppression police) was pulled off the air yesterday.

“My programme has been strictly neutral and the hosts or guests have never been sarcastic or satirical,” he said. “We did criticise policies, but we were simply exercising our constitutional rights as Thai citizens.”

The Human Rights Commission has got hold of a copy of the letter and has demanded an explanation from police chief Sant Sarutanond.

Samarn said Captain Ketnipa had tearfully told him that her boss instructed her to wrote the letter to the station supervisor.

“She now is so afraid that the leak of the letter to the public will cause her big problems,” he said.

Before yesterday’s ban, Samarn was told by Smart Bomb, a company that leases the airtime, that the programme must not include content about the government’s privatisation policy.

Last Friday, Samarn was informed he could no longer host the programme live.

“I had to tape my programme and send a copy to the censor before 6pm everyday,” he said.

His programme was broadcast between 6pm and 7pm.

Thaksin kept up his attack on privately run media yesterday, labelling it unreliable.

“Reporters must look back to the days when we had an economic crisis, which put journalists out of their jobs and drained advertising money,” he said.

“Today the economy is good and advertising money is pouring in, so it’s time to think about the nation.”

Over the past few days, Thaksin has accused certain media outlets of distorting information about the Egat controversy.

Yesterday he criticised the Bangkok Post, which reported in its frontpage lead story that an unnamed minister claimed the leader’s “CEO” style was a big part of the problem.

“They put an opinion on the front page, saying the whole problem is failure of the CEO system,” Thaksin said.

The Bangkok Post recently removed Veera Prateepchaikul as editor in what was widely seen as blatant government interference in one of Thailand’s oldest newspapers.

--The Nation 2004-03-04

[marquess]

This morning when listening to the BBC, they were interviewing some member of the press corps or whatever. About the polictical interference in the media. Just as this peice was about to start, there was some kind of interference. I thought here we go again. Fortunately it came back after about a 5 second delay. Now I wonder?????

[ChiangMaiThai]

Today Dear Leader said that only 7,000 people protested the egat privitisation. Yesterday The Nation or Bangkok Post reported that 50,000 people protested. So which one is it? Who is lying? Anyone with first hand knowledge?