Government should stop harassing the media
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The government insists that the foreign media don’t understand Thailand and that their reporting is thus causing political rifts. The government requests “balanced reporting” and says criteria for renewal of work permits will be made public next week.
I fully support balanced reporting, since, like the blind men and the elephant in Aesop’s fable, no one has all the truth. To me, the job of professional journalists, whether Thai or foreign, is to show all sides of a given story and let readers decide for themselves. As Walter Lippmann put it, “There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and shame the devil.”
Thus, for example, in covering the Rajabhakti Park case, reporters should interview both the government and the students it detained en route to a peaceful protest against possible corruption. One way the government can aid foreign media’s understanding is to participate in Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand panel discussions, which seek to present speakers from both sides – rather than by forcing the cancellation of the events and harming our international image.
As long as reporters give equal opportunity to proponents of both sides, work permits for journalists should be renewed.
Burin Kantabutra
