Local and international media film army detainees near Sarasin intersection in Bangkok on May 19, 2010. Photo: Coconuts Bangkok
As the most recent of seemingly seasonal political crises either simmers or subsides, it’s time for another round of media navel-gazing.
A Thai media reform group is sponsoring a panel discussion at 7pm tonight at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.
Organized by the Media Inside Out Group, news professionals will discuss solutions to improve the quality of coverage during politically strained times.
“As the main channel for information exchange in Thai society the media should be providing the public with the information it needs to take part in meaningful discourse toward finding solutions to the ongoing political conflicts,” said the MIO announcement. “Instead, the media’s level of professionalism seems to deteriorate with each new chapter of street protests and changes in government often fueling as opposed to suppressing the flames. The public is now left the enormous task of sourcing and verifying information by themselves while sifting through an ongoing flow of misinformation and propaganda.”
“Thai media in times of political crisis” will feature:
· Pirongrong Ramasoota Rananand, associate professor and head of the department of Journalism and Information, Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University.
· Pravit Rojanaphruk, senior political reporter for The Nation.
· Gayathry Venkiteswaran, executive director of the media rights organization, Southeast Asian Press Alliance.
· Pipob Udomittipong, Media Inside Out committee member and contributing MIO writer.
· Sumeth Somkanae, a Thai Rath political reporter and member of Thai Journalists Association (TJA) Press Freedom Committee and president of National Union of Journalists Thailand.
· Moderator Naulnoi Thammasathein, a former reporter and producer of BBC World Service’s Thai language programming in London and a cofounder of Media Inside Out Group.
For more information, contact mediainsideout.mio@gmail.com.
