Media Freedom And Reform Should Be Top Priority

[Jai Dee]

Media freedom and reform should be top priority

It's understandable why Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and his government will be putting a considerable amount of energy into restoring Thailand's shattered image as a democracy.

With several Western countries, especially in the European Union, still semi-boycotting the administration installed by the military after it overthrew the democratically-elected Thaksin government on September 19, the world needs to be convinced that the coup-makers are sincere about following their self-imposed road map to return the country to democracy.

Lifting of martial law and restoration of basic democratic rights are among the benchmarks that some major Western countries have set for normalising relations with Thailand. And of course, holding a democratic election is the final benchmark.

But talking to the world is the easy part. The harder and more challenging task for Gen Surayud and the generals sitting on the all-powerful Council for National Security (CNS) is how to justify to their fellow countrymen the claim that democracy needed to be destroyed in order to be saved.

One of the early tests is the way they handle the media. While the mainstream media in general have been spared the harsh treatment that normally follows a military takeover, it doesn't mean that the generals are in any way kinder than the man they deposed when it comes to the question of press freedom. Military personnel are still guarding TV stations (though in a less visible and intimidating manner than in the days following the coup) and broadcasters still practise self-censorship. Some news websites critical of the coup, notably the widely accessed "Midnight University", remain blocked and hundreds of community radio stations are still unable to broadcast.

And while the CNS has made no attempt to interfere with the print media, it has let it be known that the broadcast media, especially television, should toe the line. With martial law still in force, it's not difficult to imagine what the military could do to uncooperative broadcasters.

Controlling and manipulating the media was one of Thaksin's greatest political sins that the generals themselves are being accused of committing more or less - either knowingly or unknowingly.

With several international media organisations still crying foul over what they see as the coup-makers' continued censorship of the media, Prime Minister Surayud and his government may find it hard to convince the international community that Thailand is taking the necessary steps to return the country to democracy.

The reason Thaksin - and his predecessors for that matter - was able to turn the state-owned broadcast networks into a political PR machine is because the broadcast media's structure works in favour of those in power. The state has a complete monopoly of the airwaves and that is not likely to change soon - unless the Surayud government considers giving the long-stalled media reform a serious push.

Under Thaksin, the much-touted broadcast media reform was as good as dead. The deliberate stalling of the media liberalisation required by the now-defunct reformist constitution of 1997 ensured that politicians continued to have total control of the airwaves - and by extension, control of public opinion. The selection of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) was so fraught with conflicts of interest that it was eventually declared null and void by the Administrative Court.

Army commander-in-chief and coup leader Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin cannot deny the fact that the Army itself was a major culprit. It made every possible effort to dilute the media reform in order to protect its vast broadcast-business empire, which includes the lucrative TV Channel 5 and dozens of radio stations. For the record, the generals and Army personnel who run these media outlets simply made no attempt to challenge interference by Thaksin and his political cohorts during their five years in power.

Thirapat Serirangsan, the PM's Office Minister in charge of state media, is facing an uphill task trying to put media reform back on track. With the military now wielding supreme power, there is little likelihood that they will yield to demands that they relinquish their broadcast monopoly as part of the media reform. Then he has the Public Relations Department and the Mass Communications Organisation of Thailand (Mcot), two other major broadcast monopolies, to deal with. The two organisations have been very resistant to any suggestion that they will have to make sacrifices to make the reform possible.

The Surayud government cannot expect to move toward restoring democracy and getting a nod from the international community without seriously addressing the questions about press freedom and broadcast media reform.

In the absence of constitutional check-and-balance mechanisms, the media remains the only institution capable to holding those in power accountable. And to be able to do that, the media - whether privately owned print media or government-owned broadcast media - have to be free from political interference.

More importantly, the structure of the broadcast media needs to be overhauled before it can be abused again by future political leaders or governments. And the Surayud government needs strong political will to be able to arm-twist both the armed forces and other broadcast monopolies into buying the idea.

Convincing military leaders that they too have a role in paving the way for a return to democracy by supporting media reform may prove to be a much tougher job for Surayud than trying to sweet-talk the international community.

Source: The Nation - 17 October 2006