Pinpaka Ngamsom - Roles of Online Media - Manila 14 Oct 2011

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Reporting on Violence and Emergencies:

Regional Media Conference for East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific

14 Oct 2011 Manila

Panel 1: Reporting on violence and emergencies: opportunities and challenges

Pinpaka Ngamsom, News Editor, Prachatai.com (Thailand)

"The roles of online media in Thailand's May 2010 crackdown: advantages and obstacles"

19 May: In front of UN office BKK

In This Clip, the Redshirts cursed Thai Media because they feel that the way Thai media represent

redshirt movement is unfair and blame that Thai media response to the worse situation on Thai political

crisis

This happened on 19 May, The crackdown of the redshirts

A night before 19 th I've heard from group of academics that they will go to the UN office to ask for any

action from UN to protect people from the violence. So I went there in the morning of 19th and see

around 100 people there.

I wear the Press ID Tag (Thai Journalist Association) with hope that I might get into the bld. in case that

UN officer comedown to receive the pledge.

But this things is useless at all, I could not get inside the bld. besides were cursed by redshirts on behalf

of Thai media because they can recognize my role from Press Tag J (will add more story about this

thing later)

Why should we attend on the redshirts movement and crackdown on May 2010

1 This crisis base on the debate about electoral democracy principle. Believe it or not! (becoz takin is evil

and corrupt so we do not need to care the mechanism to step him down or we can wait for the next

election)

2 Base on electoral vote, the redshirt recognize themselves as majority to been violated their rights to

vote. (by or noble and double standard practice)

3 Many power players show up, establishment, justice system, military, middle class come with yellow

shirts and grassroots come with redshirts. And even media. Please notice that anti taksin movement and

call for royal and military intervention led by one biggest media corporation, manager group.

Why red shirt to be hostile to the Thai media.


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Thai media focus on the conflict among leader but lack of space for voice from ordinary people who join

both yellow and red.

Media self censor strongly and mislead represent of redshirt.

The mist classic example is meaning of the word.

Reclaim the area instead ofdisperse rally

Tighten the area instead ofCrackdown

New way to access information

Portal websites (most just broadcast speech from the stage) People go to Websites, Portal websites

which broadcast the redshirts movement eventhough under emergency decre and and computer crime

act there were blocked the 7,4686 URLs have been blocked in 2010 . But this situation push people to

learn how to access website trough webproxy. Grassroot become fast learner about the IT.

Websites (thaifreenews.com, thaienews.com, newskythailand.com)

Facebook, twitter.

Cable TV

Community radio

During the rally, Under Emergency Decree, MAIN Red Cables TV and Many community radio were shut

due to CRES order. But before it been shut we can see people went protect their media.

These are picture from thaicom satellite station. Military fail to disperse redshirt at first but they can

shut the cable tv finally. (Dstation, PTV)

Facebook and twitter become a battlefield among red, yellow and multicolor movement

After crackdown, redshirt fall into fear. I cannot contact my resource person in countryside. Facebook

flood by status that express the while most of the leader were arrested and some escape.

But shortly after crackdown, a guy who is welknown as . . who was arrested and bail out start

campaign again. He gathered people around facebook and twitter make and appointment to do an

activities offline. So the red start again from middle class in Bangkok with likely funny activity like dace

together, jocking, picknick and share their experienceit was like group therapy but finally people in

countryside join and come up with huge rally on 19 September.


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Meanwhile Multicolor is also active, just 2 days after crackdown, they gathered through facebook and

twitter for cleaning up Bangkok with the campaign Big Cleaning Day

2 Alternative Medium

facebook and twitter become a medium to access information 3 and become colorful batterfield. There

are groups set up and attack other and Democrat government spend 170 millions thai baht for cuber

scout project aim to train schoolboy mornitor cyberspace. Exclude 10s millions for build up new page for

the prime minister/government and so on. Yingluck do the same but I do not know yet what does she do

about the cyber scout project.

These are picture taken by a friend of mine. He is a dentist who live on high rise condominium located in

a life firing Zone. He wake up at 10 am that day and look at the street and see these people. He was

shocked and started taken picture and then post it on facebook . I ask him for the permission to put it on

prachatai

In the evening AP contact this guy to buy the picture, if Im not misunderstanding he just give it for free.

And next morning. I see this pic on newspaper.picture from AP is more reliable

6 . CRES- Center of the Resolution of Emergency

Situations.

10

..


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to be Fair Men in

Black

10 ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOUNBPD93g0)

.. 25

10 . .

)

Charactoristic

Interactive

- Empowering ordinary people- Opening space for marginalized people

- Reducing the dominance of mainstream media and the state in controlling the flow of

information

Not restricted in time and space

Political mobilization trough the internet reaches far and wide, at low cost but notice that the

mobilization online need to be connected to the movement in offline world. For example in Thailand

the witch haunting online movement due to prosecution of those who are alleged to have committed

les majeste is strong and have many supporters because it does happen in offline social.

Anonymous

An advantage of new media is that people can express their opinion can conceal their identity.

Costly access

To access the internet you must pay for the computer equipment and internet service. Then most of

audience and user tend to be middle class

Connot be blocked


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in case of Prachatai, we prove that there is no technology that authority can block websites

permanently. They can do it temporaly. We have been blocked 6 times in 2 month from April to May

Due to the order of

Not accepted as media

For Prachatai experience, Journalist organization in Thailand does not recognize us as a media.

Challenge

1 allow diverse information, particularly when mainstream media is subject to self censorship

2 rapid

This is the big challenge for mainstream media especially in crisis which you need numbers of reporter.

In case of Redshirts crackdown. We can go to youtube and get various situation and in this kind of

situation I wonder how difference between professional and non-professional coz u can just report

what u see which is just a jigsaw of big picture.

Obstacles

1 Online media has its limitations as it lack of narrative. When you take the photo by ur iphone and post

it on your facebook. Or just take a clip from your compact camera. It can be misuse by other.

There were huge number of clips which take by the redshirts were edited an exploited by the CRES-

Center of the Resolution of Emergency Situations.

2 Censorship

-Computer Crime Act

- Emergency Decree

- Article 112, Lese Majeste

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EYlSnPRKC4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7FWE8FtyC0

http://www.prachatai3.info/journal/2010/05/29555

Documents

Pinpaka Ngamsom - Roles of Online Media - Manila 14 Oct 2011