Call for public to co-regulate media sector
A consumer rights advocate and National Reform Council member has called for more public participation in regulating the media to better protect consumer rights while another NRC member wants media literacy to be taught early at school.
Saree Ongsomwang, secretary-general of the Foundation for Consumers, told a forum yesterday that existing media regulatory bodies like the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) should enforce the law in a more practical manner.
She was speaking at a seminar on media cross ownership, monopolies and information dominance in society that was co-organised by the Thai Journalists Association, the Issara Institute-Thai Press Development Foundation and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.
To illustrate her point, she touched on the controversial deal involving Solution Corner (1998), or SLC, acquiring a 12.27-per-cent stake in the Nation Multimedia Group, the owner of The Nation.
SLC owns digital channel Spring News TV while NMG wholly owns digital channel Nation TV. The deal appears to breach the auction rule governing cross-holdings.
To protect consumers, Saree said the NBTC must take action and strictly follow its own regulations.
Strong regulatory body
Saree said a self-regulating media was impossible. “So we need co-regulation with public engagement,” she said.
Chumpol Rodkhamdee, chairman of the NRC committee on media reform, agrees with co-regulation of the media.
He wants to see a strong regulatory body established in the sector to better protect consumer rights.
Chumpol regards media literacy – an understanding of how the industry works – as being even more important and believes it should be taught early at school.
He noted that the media landscape was rapidly changing due to the development of communication technology and the mainstream media had been joined by social media users in generating news and other content.
Chumpol said that under free trade, cross-media ownership was inevitable but the industry and related parties should design regulations to protect consumer rights.
Panellist Pirongrong Ramasoota, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University’s Communication Arts Faculty, said cross-media ownership shaped and had an impact on public opinion.
NBTC commissioner Thawatchai Jittrapanun insisted the watchdog could effectively regulate the industry so consumer rights were protected through existing regulations.
