APRIL 19-20, 2001 CONTENTS 1 Thai journalists breathe air of reform and freedom, assume watchdog role Thai press improving by the day, former prime minister says 2 BOARD OF TRUSTEES 3 News media awarded good marks for coverage of milestone free election Charles L. Overby, chairman 4 Thai editors cheered by credibility gains and chief executive officer 4 Journalists association will get new Bangkok headquarters Peter S. Prichard, president 5 Deregulation of TV, radio hinges on public support Harry W. Brooks Jr. Executive shows latest in online news coverage Madelyn P. Jennings 6 Malcolm R. Kirschenbaum 7 Thais worry about their global image Bette Bao Lord Brian Mulroney 8 Forum in Bangkok spotlights emergence of a free press Jan Neuharth 9 Getting to know Cambodia Will Norton Jr. Josefina A. Salas-Porras John Seigenthaler Paul Simon Mark Trahant Flowering of Thai press coincides Judy Woodruff with emergence of democracy Allen H. Neuharth, founder EDITORIAL: Thailand is a country in transition. A bloody confrontation between Maurice R. Fliess soldiers and demonstrators in 1992 led to reforms that ended 60 years of Rod Sandeen DESIGN: military control of daily life, including access to information. Vibrant and Daniel Renero free print media have sprung up to meet the needs of a democratic Thai PHOTOS: society, but and radio remain tightly regulated by the government. Judy G. Rolfe MAP: Against that background made “a lot of progress” in Grant Jerding The Freedom Forum spon- moving beyond being part of sored the first of four 2001 the problem (accepting gifts THE FREEDOM FORUM WORLD CENTER international forums on “The and favors) and toward being 1101 Wilson Blvd. Media and Political Change.” part of the solution (exposing Arlington, VA 22209 USA The two-day Asia Media corrupt practices). But inves- Tel: 703/528-0800 Forum attracted 100-175 tigative reporting of corrup- Fax: 703/284-3529 journalists and journalism tion often lacks follow- E-mail: [email protected] educators to venues in through, he said, and free and Internet: www.freedomforum.org Bangkok, the Thai capital city independent broadcast media THE FREEDOM FORUM ASIAN CENTER that serves as the Southeast are “an impossible dream for Offices 1501-03, 15th Floor Asian hub for international the moment.” Shui On Centre, 6-8 Harbour Road news organizations. Chris Wells, senior vice Other program segments Wanchai, Hong Kong In a briefing for a president/international of analyzed news-media cover- Phone: 852-2596-0018 Freedom Forum delegation The Freedom Forum age of Thailand’s landmark Fax: 852-2598-8818 just before the forum, U.S. election last Jan. 6, overall E-mail: [email protected] Embassy officials said the news media have quality of Thai journalism, the prospect for ORDER PUBLICATIONS BY PHONE: become more prominent in Thai life and are deregulation of the airwaves, advances in The Freedom Forum makes available being relied upon as the eyes and ears of online news, and Thailand’s image as pro- single copies of a wide range of the citizenry. But average pay of $200 a jected by international news organizations. conference reports, studies, speeches month for reporters and $400 a month for “The forum highlighted the issues facing and other publications related to the editors is an impediment to greater effective- the media reporting on political change in news media and the First Amendment. To request a publications list call ness. A major challenge, U.S. Ambassador Thailand,” said Chris Wells, senior vice pres- 800/830-3733. Richard E. Hecklinger said, is to uncover ident/international of The Freedom Forum. corruption that taints Thai society. “It’s a “Whenever societies face political change, ONLINE: daunting battle, and it has to be waged not from the mildest to the most controversial, The Freedom Forum’s online news only by the media but in the media,” he the media have a crucial role to play,” she service is on the Internet at www.freedomforum.org. This service said. said. is a timely source of information Anand Panyarachun, a reform-minded The other three 2001 forums are sched- about the Newseum, the First former prime minister, said in a keynote uled for Croatia in June, Nicaragua in Amendment, newsroom diversity address that Thailand’s print media have September and Zambia in October. and international media issues. Thai journalists breathe air of reform and freedom, assume watchdog role “We have freedom of Reporting politics remains a dangerous business for the news the press in Thailand, media in Thailand. but nobody in the news In a single decade, working conditions have evolved from dictatori- al suppression to conditions so free that Thailand now is associated media believes it yet.” with the Philippines and India as having the freest press in Asia. Yet — Sorajak Kasemsuvan, the rules of the game have not been defined. Mass Communication Organization of Thailand “The legacy of decades of military and government con- trol, as well as the power of others in exchange for favors or gifts. big business groups and indi- As Thailand’s news media have moved vidual politicians, means that beyond this tradition over the past decade, the Thai media [are] still reform has become a powerful aroma in struggling to establish a new the Thai air. balance between the demands In March, the Thai Journalists of commercialism and the Association presented its annual story-of- responsibility of a free the-year award to The Prachachart Business, a [press],” Kavi Chongkittavorn, newspaper published by the Matichon managing editor of The Group, for its exposé last September of Nation in Bangkok, wrote in Arnold Zeitlin, director of Susan Bennett, director/Asian alleged attempts by then-candidate “Losing Control,” a book The Freedom Forum Asian and European programs of Thaksin to hide his wealth by assigning published last year in Center The Freedom Forum shares in his corporations to his domestic Australia. He also is president servants, drivers and security guards. of the Thai Journalists Association and director general of the Mass Communi- Thaksin now faces charges before chairman of the Southeast Asian Press cation Organization of Thailand, which Thailand’s Constitutional Court that could Alliance. controls television and radio stations as cost him his high office. As recently as Feb. 7 of this year, 23 well as a cable television network. “We Prasong Lertratanawisute, executive journalists and production staff of ITV — have freedom of the press in Thailand, but editor of The Prachachart Business, said the started in 1996 as the first and only inde- nobody in the news media believes it yet,” stories evolved from a routine public pendent television station in Thailand — he said. “They feel they still are victims.” statement by Thaksin notifying the were fired one day after they complained Press freedom is young and fragile — Securities Exchange Commission of a about the station’s news stance on political and old practices have deep roots. From change in his corporation’s shareholding coverage during the campaign leading up the mid-1970s through the 1980s, the structure. Prasong's editorial staff used the to the Jan. 6 national election. The over- military held over the heads of the news government’s Commerce Ministry Web site whelming winner in that election was the media a notorious Decree 42 that allowed to trace Thaksin’s shares. of new Prime Minister arbitrary closing of the press and required Dangers to the media in Thailand are . His Shin Corp. licensing of printers, publishers, editors exemplified by Amnat Jongyoting, editor bought a controlling interest in ITV last and newspaper owners. By 1990 the of Phaknua, a daily in Chiang Mai, May before the election campaign started, decree had been abolished. Thailand’s second-largest city. He was shot essentially ending Thailand’s experiment Journalists such as , in April 2000 by soldiers allegedly in the with independent TV. All other television co-founder and former managing editor pay of a local politician who opposed the stations are controlled by either the mili- of , now consider journalists to editor’s reporting. Amnat spent a month in tary or the government or are operated pri- be watchdogs. He titled a collection of the hospital. vately under government concession. his Thai-language newspaper columns Amnat vows to stay on the job, or, as Management of ITV defended its “Ma Fao Ban,” which translates as his daughter Micky said, “He will go on action, saying some employees were fired Watchdog. fighting, even if his life is not safe. At because they showed a “hostile” attitude. The watchdog role represents a dra- present, he only stays in his office. He is a Others were said to have been fired for matic departure for the Thai press, which little bird in the cage, always demanding economic reasons. over the years has been associated with freedom. He hopes one day the ‘mafias’ No surprise, said Sorajak Kasemsuvan, playing favorites among politicians and will be gone from his lovely fatherland.”

THE Media AND Political Change ASIA 1 Thai press improving by the day, former prime minister says

Former prime minister Anand Panyarachun said the press in Thailand had made great strides over the past decade and is positioned for further improvements in the years ahead. Known in the region as a champion of he said, is in following through. “We need press freedom, Anand said Thai journalists investigative reporting that can be sustained “have made a lot of progress” in moving up to the point of conclusion, one way or beyond a history of accepting gifts from the other,” he said. news sources and other business acquain- Allowing an investigative project to fiz- tances. zle out “has a lot to do with [journalists’] Anand Panyarachun “There’s a group of young journalists stamina, with the guts and with the dedica- and reporters who are very dedicated, and tion to seek truth for the sake of truth,” he the Thai people, conservative by nature, said. Journalists are “still on a learning were turned off by the excesses of the curve. Let’s hope the learning curve Western press. “There is a hunger for truth. doesn’t take too many decades.” Thailand’s press also can “fall prey to Anand said the stagnation of sensationalism or news of some gossipy ... There is a hunger for investigative reporting also reflects nature,” he said. Sometimes the news media openness in our society. newspapers’ recognition that the Thai “even slander or … even tell lies.” News people have short memories and want and opinion can be found “within the same [But] that kind of hunger exciting new news every day. paragraph, within the same column.” “There is a hunger for truth. ... But Anand said he believes journalistic still applies to a minority There is a hunger for openness in our performance in his country is improving society. [But] that kind of hunger still from day to day. He urged owners of news of the reading public.” applies to a minority of the reading organizations to accelerate efforts “to veer public,” he said. toward objectivity, independence and — Anand Panyarachun, “The openness of society is predi- impartiality,” and he reminded journalists former prime minister cated on freedom of the media. They “that in presenting the truth you have to do have to go together. One cannot it with fairness, you have to do it with not only dedicated to their profession but move away from the other. They have to objectivity and you have to be responsible.” also are prepared to sacrifice some of the move in parallel lines.” During his two brief periods as prime (financial) gains [journalists] have made in Although media observers regard the minister in 1991 and 1992, Anand began a the past in order to preserve the principles Thai press as among the freest in Southeast process of reforming the government’s tight of independence and objectivity.” Asia, the degree of freedom falls short of regulation of the broadcast media. Later he But aspects of the “you-scratch-my- that in the United States, Australia and led the campaign that produced Thailand’s back-I’ll-scratch-yours” system persist, he much of Europe, Anand said. But he said new constitution that, among other things, said, “and I think it’s going to mandates privatization of take another generation” before the airwaves. But that goal they can be fully overcome. remains elusive, he said, as Anand, the keynote speaker an “unholy alliance between for the two-day forum, spoke business interests and the before about 175 journalists power [structure]” is stub- and others at a Bangkok hotel. bornly resisting change to Answering questions first the status quo. from moderator Bernard Kalb Free and independent of CNN’s “Reliable Sources” broadcast media are “an and then from the audience, impossible dream for the Anand said Thailand’s print moment, but still a dream news media had shown they that has to be pursued,” can investigate and expose cor- Anand said. “One day, hope- rupt practices in the country. fully not too far away, we’ll Where they have fallen short, Anand fields questions from CNN’s Bernard Kalb. get there.”

2 THE Media AND Political Change ASIA News media awarded good marks for coverage of milestone free election

Three Thai journalists and a media watcher engaged in a favorite American press pastime: They looked back at the coverage of an election and assessed the performance of the press and the role pollsters played in the reporting.

For Thailand, the Jan. 6 general of his reporters to the new transparency of election was the first since a reformist the election process. constitution was adopted in 1997. The audience of 150 or so, mostly “It was the first one in which people journalists, was not so eager to accept the Professor Wandee Thong-ngok comments voted on issues and the policies of the editors’ appraisal. Laurent Malespine, a from the floor on journalists’ blending of fact and opinion. political parties,” said Thepchai Yong, reporter for Dow Jones news wires, group editor of The Nation Multimedia described scenes in which reporters from Wandee Thong-ngok, an assistant Group. “People have a feeling that they are competing news organizations would professor in the Department of Mass part of the democratic process.” collaborate on a story and then each send Communication at Chiang Mai University, Though the constitution failed to the same copy to his or her editor. “You asserted that the news media report facts accomplish one of its goals — eradicate would have to see it to believe it,” he said. mixed with opinion. “People don’t vote buying — it succeeded in reducing Thepchai acknowledged situations in understand if just the facts are being the number of political parties and which reporters covering the same ministry reported on or if the reporter’s emotions” encouraging candidates to campaign on would anoint one to remain on duty are mixed in, she said. issues. The candidate who was elected “while the others went shopping.” Thepchai saw progress in the fact that prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, talked “This is something bad; this should people can figure out if a newspaper is in about fraud and the national debt. never happen. Reporters in the new era bed with a politician. “It shows that the “Our reporters did a good job on the should not be influenced by the political media cannot deceive the public anymore.” coverage,” Thepchai said. parties,” he said. “Good competition would The question of polling surfaced Sommai Paritchart, managing editor of be good for our press.” throughout the discussion, mostly when Matichon Daily, said the new political Thepchai said it may take time, “but Sukhum Chaleysub, vice president of situation relieved the boredom of past the professionalism will be high in our Rajabhat Institute Suan Dusit, had a elections and got the people and the news reporters.” chance to speak. The Suan Dusit survey media interested. But he said news-media Another member of the audience, was described by Susan Bennett, panel performance still lacked moderator and Freedom Forum director of in some areas, Asian programs, as the most widely quoted specifically in in-depth poll in Thailand. coverage of the Competition among the media has led candidates and in a to new ways of presenting the news so failure to raise the issue people don’t get bored, Sukhum said, of press freedom during adding that reporting poll results helped the campaign. the media become “more colorful.” At Thailand’s largest But he said that the polls should have newspaper, Thai Rath, covered issues and not just who was likely which circulates about to be elected. He also cautioned about the 1 million copies a day accuracy of polls. nationwide, reporters Finally, he said, media outlets need to worked harder than know the sources of polls. “The media can they had on past choose to report or not report poll results. elections, according to If they choose to report, then they Senior Editor Manich become a tool of the poll conductor. Poll Sooksomchitra. He Thepchai Yong says The ’s reporters conductors can be troublemakers. The credited the excitement did a good job on election coverage. media have to look at polls carefully.”

THE Media AND Political Change ASIA 3 Thai editors cheered by credibility gains

Editors at three major Thai newspapers see progress in the quality and role of journalism after political reforms were instituted in the country in 1997. “The credibility of our newspapers is” Mass Communication at increasingly accepted, said Kavi Chulalongkorn University, for a discus- Chongkittavorn, managing editor of The sion about whether the news media are Nation and president of the Thai Journalists keeping up with political change in Association. He also said “the media can crit- Thailand. icize the government in moderation. This is The constitution adopted in 1997 done on a daily basis.” sought to clean up the election Pichai Chuensuksawadi of the urges Kavi was joined by Pichai process by eliminating vote-buying people in the news business to heed criticism. Chuensuksawadi, editor of the Bangkok Post, and requiring bureaucrats and politi- Prasong Lertratanawisute, executive editor of cians to be accountable for their actions. won the Thai Journalists Association story- The Prachachart Business, and Ubonrat Ubonrat, the journalism educator, said politi- of-the-year award for reports of alleged Siriyuvasak, head of the Department of cal reforms “were moving ahead quite well” attempts by candidate Thaksin Shinawatra to but questioned whether hide his wealth. Thaksin is now prime min- the news media — ister. which she said were Pichai agreed that the press “must keep a trying to conduct their close watch on political parties and politi- own reforms — could cians.” But he said the most important role keep up. of the press is to provide a voice for the Prasong said jour- people. “The situation is much better than in nalists have a duty to the past when we could not talk openly study the constitution about anything,” he said. and the law. “If you Many people regard the quality of the don’t understand the news media as low, Pichai said. But, he said, law,” Prasong said, editors know where their strengths and “then you don’t have weaknesses lie. “We need to improve our the ability to scrutinize quality,” he said. “We have to listen to our politicians efficiently critics, like it or not.” and effectively.” Pichai’s closing comment drew a round Kavi Chongkittavorn says the news media “can criticize the Earlier this year, of applause from many of the 150 people, government in moderation.” Prasong’s newspaper mostly Thai journalists, in attendance.

Journalists association will get new Bangkok headquarters

To further strengthen Thailand’s burgeoning free press, The Freedom Forum will contribute $50,000 for a Bangkok headquarters of the Thai Journalists Association, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Charles L. Overby announced. Overby said that the headquarters would serve as “a center where Thai journalists can gather to enhance their skill,” and that a number of other journalistic organizations also will be located there, including the Press Council of Thailand, the Press Development Institute of Thailand, the Confederation of Thai Journalists and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance. The Freedom Forum grant will be matched by funds from the Thai newspaper industry, he said. “No country’s media have moved so swiftly toward free expression as the Thai press,” Overby said in opening the Asia Media Forum. “Because of that accomplishment, the Charles L. Overby Thai press can serve as a model for the rest of Asia.”

4 THE Media AND Political Change ASIA Deregulation of TV, radio “The question that should be asked is, ‘Who hinges on public support are you working for?’ The answer is, we work Thailand’s state-dominated broadcasting industry will be successfully for the people.” deregulated only if the news media give people reason to believe that — Joompol Rodcumdee, over-the-air television and radio will help them to improve their lives, a Chulalongkorn University Thai news executive said.

Suthichai Yoon said public support for Thailand emerged as a tender but potentially “I don’t feel really good about the selec- broadcast deregulation could be mobilized if strong democracy. Now, in the first decade tion process. … It seems it’s going to be big the media successfully made the case that of the 21st century, all eyes are on the businessmen and big politicians and big for- independently owned stations would offer process by which the institutions of its dem- mer government officials.” “relevant” news, not “rubbish.” He noted that the Suthichai, group editor in chief of the process now unfolding Bangkok-based Nation Multimedia Group, will determine the path said he based that conviction on the experi- Thai television and radio ence of his company’s National Channel, must follow for at least which provides around-the-clock news pro- 10 or 20 years. gramming to households that can receive Another panelist, and afford cable television. Sorajak Kasemsuvan, The National Channel was established in director general of the June 2000 shortly after the Shin Corp., a Mass Communication telecommunications giant owned by the Organization of politically ambitious Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand, said the press acquired a controlling interest in Thailand’s could assure its freedom first independent television station, ITV. from political influence Suthichai Yoon says the public wants “quality news.” Listening Early this year Thaksin was elected prime is moderator Adam Clayton Powell III of The Freedom Forum. only through enactment minister of Thailand. His wife and son have of laws “to guarantee assumed ownership of the Shin Corp. ocratic society are developed. the freedom specified by the constitution.” At a panel discussion on “The Future of In the case of television and radio, the The organization, which was formed in Free Broadcast News,” Suthichai recalled process is beginning with the selection of 1977 with the help of government seed that Thais of modest means used to say, “We individuals for a National Broadcasting money, operates two television stations, a do not want news. News is too serious, news Commission that will decide how frequen- cable-TV channel and more than 50 radio is too political for us. We don’t understand cies are allocated. Thailand’s new constitu- stations. news.” tion, adopted in 1997 as the centerpiece of Direct intervention from the government Because the National Channel has “tried a wide-ranging reform movement, mandated to cover or not cover a certain news story in our own way to popularize news and to that the frequencies be assigned by an inde- has not occurred, Sorajak said, but it could make news something that is really relevant pendent, public regulatory body — not by happen unless “we … have a mechanism to to their daily lives,” people have come to the government and the military. prevent it.” appreciate “quality news and political news. Suthichai and fellow panelist Joompol For example, he said, if a news organi- They do not want rubbish. They know the Rodcumdee, dean of the Faculty of zation goes to court over a perceived difference now.” Communication Arts at Chulalongkorn infringement of press freedom, it might have The ability of people to draw the dis- University, said they had not been heartened to wait three years for a verdict and be will- tinction between news of high quality and by the names that had surfaced. ing to accept the possibility of very little news of dubious value, Suthichai said, “is a “We have some problems with the indi- punishment for the offender. A freedom-of- most encouraging sign,” because public viduals being considered,” Joompol said. The the-press statute could remedy that situation awareness of the advantages of independent commission, he said, should be built around by requiring swift disposition of, and specif- journalism can foster an atmosphere in those who support “a working environment ic penalties for, such a case, he added. which it is nurtured. A disappointing fact of free from intervention by the owners or Joompol said what is needed are not Thai history is that at certain times that kind political parties or businessmen.” more laws but news media that act responsi- of public support could have been crucial Suthichai put it this way: “We don’t want bly and in the public’s best interests. “The but was lacking, he said. the power of the state to control the media. question that should be asked,” he said, “is, In the 1990s, after several decades of At the same time, we don’t want the power ‘Who are you working for?’ The answer is, military control and multiple coups d’etat, of money to control the media, either.” we work for the people.”

THE Media AND Political Change ASIA 5 Executive shows latest in online news coverage

The executive news producer of MSNBC.com took a group of Thai journalists on an Internet tour of high-end, state-of-the-art multimedia news presentations. Robert Aglow used terms such as layer- and describe his emotions. ing and choices and interactivity as he “Television is passive,” Aglow said. “You demonstrated new storytelling techniques sit back and watch. The Internet lets you be made possible by Internet technology. active. You decide what you want and how Robert Aglow says MSNBC.com attracts “The idea is to give people choices,” he long you want to spend with it.” 3 million visitors a day. said. Users with a high-speed Internet con- The purpose of the program, titled “The nection can click on a MSNBC.com news Future of Online News,” was to expose the ries were layered with text, photos, video, story and read text and/or choose among a Thais to advances in Internet journalism, to audio, maps, informational graphics and chat single still photo and caption, a series of encourage them to develop their sites with rooms. Users could click on various buttons photos, a video and an audio interview with the user in mind and to be creative. to follow the story in the direction they the photographer. Users can access a map Internet usage in Thailand is low. Fewer chose. and animated informational graphics that than 4% of Thais have home computers, “People can drill down into these stories illustrate the event. They also can enter a according to session moderator Adam as deep as they like,” he said. chat room to talk about the news or perhaps Clayton Powell III, Freedom Forum vice Aglow worked at ABC News for 18 register a vote on a news-related issue. president for technology and programs. A years before moving to MSNBC.com as Aglow showed many examples, includ- smaller percentage has a home Internet con- executive news producer. At ABC, he helped ing his company’s coverage of a 12-year-old nection. The relatively high costs of PCs launch ABCNEWS.com. MSNBC.com has Palestinian boy who died in crossfire during and Internet connections have discouraged more than 3 million daily readers, making it violence in the Mideast. As he worked his online usage, although the secretary general the number one news site, Aglow said. He computer mouse around the Internet site, of the Thai Journalists Association, said the site, which has been operating for Aglow clicked on the choices: the com- Chavarong Limpattamapanee, said connec- five years, prides itself on original reporting. pelling photo of the father protecting the tivity costs were dropping. It has 200 employees worldwide and part- child, a series of photos ending with the Aglow didn’t pretend to have all the nerships with key news operations such as boy’s death and a video of the entire answers. “We’re still experimenting,” he told The Washington Post and Newsweek. It shares sequence shot by a Dutch journalist. The the more than 100 Thai journalists who material with The Associated Press and visitor to the site could read text about the turned out for the two-hour discussion at the Reuters and frequently gets plugs from NBC incident and the escalating violence. office of Internet Thailand in Bangkok. News, Aglow said. In some examples, a click of the mouse “We’re looking for different ways to tell sto- Aglow’s demonstration of the capabili- would start an audio interview with the ries.” ties of MSNBC.com generated a high wow photographer, who would set the scene Aglow clicked quickly through several factor among the Thai journalists, most of major stories covered by whom belonged to the Information MSNBC.com, including the Technology Press Club and worked on their Chechen war, the Russian news outlets’ Web sites. Several asked what economy, the 2000 it cost MSNBC.com to produce such com- Olympics, the nominating prehensive coverage. conventions and the inaugu- Aglow said he could not itemize the costs ration of President Bush. but suggested that the coverage itself was not He peeled back the dot- expensive. The expense comes from running com’s coverage of several an operation 24 hours a day, seven days a enterprise stories, such as week, and needing “thousands of servers” to the rising use of metham- handle 3 million visitors a day, he said. phetamines in the United Chavarong, who runs the Web site for States and the present Thailand’s largest daily newspaper, Thai deployment of U.S. forces Rath, said he was stimulated to improve Thai around the world. Rath’s online operation. “I think most people In almost every case, in the room were inspired to do a better Journalists watch presentation at Internet Thailand in Bangkok. Aglow showed how the sto- job,” he said.

6 THE Media AND Political Change ASIA Thais worry about their global image

A discussion about Thailand’s image as projected by the international news media detoured into an examination of how the Thai press portrayed the United States in the recent military flare-up with . Both images, it seems, need work. Kiatichai Pongpanich, senior editor and These characteristics are “main- foreign-affairs columnist of Bangkok’s Khao ly overlooked by the foreign Sod Daily, complained that international press press,” he said, but not because reports about Thailand were almost always Thailand is being picked on. negative, focusing on corruption, prostitution Tasker cited the news media’s International journalists should convey the “real and other societal ills. “natural tendency worldwide ... to image of Thailand,” says Kiatichai Pongpanich of Khao With 340 journalists — representing play up the negative aspects of Sod Daily. 128 international news organizations — society.” based in Bangkok, the city of 10 million Robert Horn, who reports for Time from complained that the Thai-language press had people serves as “the hub of the media in Bangkok, said it is difficult for a country like “weighed in, to put it bluntly, on the side of the region,” Kiatichai said. “Even with all Thailand to compete with major powers like China” after a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese these foreign correspondents here, I still China, Russia and Western Europe for the fighter jet collided April 1 over the South have the impression that the coverage of our news media’s attention except when things China Sea. “One missed seeing any editorial country is not that accurate.” go badly, as happened in 1997 when the comment, any news comment [that said to As they write about Thailand, China], ‘Look, ... you’re holding the reporters should be guided by one (U.S.) crew. The longer you hold principle, he said: “Adhere to the them, they become hostages and facts, the accuracy of the informa- prisoners, so release them.’ ” tion, [and] provide the real image of The newspapers depicted China Thailand.” as victim despite Thailand’s “great Kiatichai was joined by three alliance with the United States,” foreign correspondents as panelists Metha noted. Thailand supported in the forum’s final segment. the United States during the war in Rodney Tasker, Bangkok corre- , sending troops into combat spondent for the Far Eastern Economic and permitting U.S. military installa- Review of Hong Kong and president tions on Thai soil. Today the two of the Foreign Correspondents Club countries are major trading partners. of Thailand, disagreed with Time’s Horn suggested a reason Kiatichai’s critical assessment of the that the newspapers might have work of the Bangkok press corps. Bangkok-based Time reporter Robert Horn meets the press slanted their coverage in China’s “In fact,” Tasker said, “the image is after the forum concludes. favor: Many are owned by Thai- fairly good by comparison to other Chinese businesspeople. countries in the region.” Thailand is seen as Thai economy went into a free fall. Kiatichai said some Thai columnists, “an oasis of stability and tranquility.” By virtue of being a more mature, including him, were restrained in their He acknowledged, though, that the peaceful society, “Thailand has kept itself reporting and analysis because the circum- country “has had a bad press in many ways,” out of the headlines,” Horn said. stances of the collision were murky. especially when journalists fly in for a look Thailand’s concern about its global Kiatichai, who studied at Bangkok’s around and leave before gaining context and image can go too far, Horn said. Several Chulalongkorn University and at Stanford depth of knowledge. “The ones coming in years ago, for example, a Bangkok television University in the United States, also said that for quick visits tend to accentuate the nega- station refused to share videotape of an ugly in the past he had written about the poten- tive,” Tasker said. “Those based here look for incident with Western news media. “I don’t tial dangers of China’s growing military more positive stories.” think that’s the role of a local television might. And there are plenty of positive stories news organization — to decide what to let “We are concerned about what might to write about, he said: tolerance, “supreme out to the outside world,” he said. happen next,” he said of the recent military politeness” and racial harmony among the The detour into discussion about the and diplomatic confrontation between the Thai people, and the country’s emergence image of the United States in Thailand came superpowers. “We have to be careful. ... We over the past decade as “a bastion of democ- when Harish Metha, Bangkok correspon- have to keep good relations with China and racy and of a free press” in Southeast Asia. dent for the Business Times of Singapore, the U.S.”

THE Media AND Political Change ASIA 7 Forum in Bangkok spotlights emergence of a free press

Clockwise from upper left: Forum attendees follow the give and take among panelists; bountiful newspapers attract browsers; Preecha Sa-ardsorn edits in the newsroom of the National Channel in Bangkok; Charles L. Overby (left) presents Freedom Forum memento to U.S. Ambassador Richard E. Hecklinger; Thai broadcaster Sorajak Kasemsuvan assesses press freedom.

8 THE Media AND Political Change ASIA Getting to know Cambodia Following the Asia Media Forum in Thailand, a Freedom Forum delegation traveled to the bordering country of Cambodia. The agenda there included visits to The Freedom Forum-supported journalism library at the Cambodia Communications Institute in Phnom Penh and to the Killing Fields Memorial in Siem Reap, as well as discussions with editors of Cambodian newspapers and correspondents who cover the country for international news organizations.

Above: The Freedom Forum’s Chris Wells (left) chats with library director Sek Barisoth at the Cambodia Communications Institute. Right: Young boy expresses the somberness of a memorial to victims of the genocide that claimed the lives of more than 1 million Cambodians during the 1975-79 regime of Pol Pot.

01-W07 • 05/01 • NORDIC • 05/01 01-W07 THE Media AND Political Change ASIA 9 NEWS MEDIA AT A GLANCE THAILAND CAMBODIA The Kingdom of Thailand is in the heart of Southeast Asia. Roughly the The Kingdom of Cambodia is in Southeast Asia, bordering Thailand, size of Texas and shaped like an elephant’s head, Thailand has land area Vietnam, and the Gulf of Thailand. Its land area is 69,900 square of 198,114 square miles. It borders on (Burma), Laos, miles, slightly smaller than the state of Oklahoma. Cambodia, Malaysia, the Gulf of Thailand and the Indian Ocean. The population of Cambodia is about 12 million. Ninety percent of the Thailand has a population of about 62 million, 10 million of whom live population are Khmers, followed by Vietnamese (5%) and Chinese (1%). in the capital city of Bangkok. The largest ethnic minority is Chinese, About 95% speak the official language, Khmer; others speak French and with as many as 14% being of Chinese ancestry. Other ethnic groups English. The nation’s literacy rate in 1996 (the most recent figure avail- include Malays, Cambodians, Vietnamese and Indians. The country has able) was 35.2%. a 94% literacy rate. Cambodia has about 30 newspapers and 200 licensed publications that Nearly 100% of the population speak Thai, the official national lan- publish regularly in the capital city of Phnom Penh. Khmer-language guage. Chinese and Malay also are spoken in some areas. English is wide- Rasmei Kampuchea (circulation 15,000) is the country’s largest daily news- ly spoken in Bangkok and other major cities. paper. Newspapers are not widely available outside Phnom Penh. The Committee to Protect Journalists credits Thai journalists with being Only a few Cambodian newspapers derive significant sums from adver- more aggressive in covering government misdeeds since constitutional tising. Ninety-nine percent of local advertising revenue goes to just 10 reforms in 1997. The Thai Journalists Association is the most powerful newspapers. Rasmei Kampuchea accounts for 23% of the Cambodian press organization in Southeast Asia. It has been a consistent force for newspaper industry’s total advertising revenue. self-regulation of the Thai media, encouraging members to reform ques- Cambodia has about 11 radio stations and six television stations. tionable ethical practices. The association is influential in the region as a According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, press freedom in founding member of the independent Southeast Asian Press Alliance. Cambodia is guaranteed by the constitution, and the Khmer-language Thailand has about 19 daily privately owned newspapers including four print media are critical of political leaders in their coverage. However, Chinese-language and two English-language publications. The Thai press radio and television do not enjoy these liberties. The broadcast media is considered one of the freest and strongest in Southeast Asia. remain under firm state control, CPJ reports, with the government exer- Thai Rath is the largest-circulation newspaper in the country, with about cising formal and informal control by granting broadcast licenses to its a million copies distributed daily. Bangkok Post (circulation 56,750) is the allies and not to opposition figures. With the exception of a low-power largest English-language newspaper. radio station in Phnom Penh run by the Women’s Media Center and Thailand has six national television stations operating from Bangkok, five Radio Beehive run by businessman Mam Sonando, Cambodia’s airwaves of which are government controlled. The country’s only independent are dominated by the government or its allies, according to CPJ. station, ITV, was taken over by a company controlled by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s family in 2000. Radio is the most popular medium for news and information in Thailand. More than 500 radio stations operate there, about 130 of them run by the government’s Public Relations Department. With the exception of ITV, radio and television frequencies are con- trolled by the military or government agencies. Government domination of the airwaves has prevented Thailand from having completely free media. All stations are required to carry news feeds from the govern- Sources: Embassies of Thailand and Cambodia, Washington, D.C.; Committee ment’s Radio Thailand at regular intervals, although there are no direct to Protect Journalists; The Freedom Forum; CIA’s “World Factbook 2000”; controls at other times. Under the 1997 constitution, control of radio “2000 Editor & Publisher International Year Book”; “The Europa World and television frequencies is to be transferred to an independent, public Yearbook 2000”; “World Almanac and Book of Facts 2001”; U.S. State regulatory body. Department.

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