NRC panel backed on media rights
The National Reform Council's plan to establish a committee to oversee media rights while protecting freedom of the press and promoting professional standards has already received some support from academics and media experts.
Yesterday the NRC’s media reform committee led by chairman Chumpol Rodkumdee floated this idea among leaders in the media industry at a public hearing on a draft regulation governing media rights and standards. If approved, the draft will be included in the new constitution.
Wasan Paileeklee, a member of the media reform committee, said the panel would oversee all parties in the media ecosystem such as the Press Council, the Professionals of Broadcasting Council Thailand, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission and others. This committee will consist of representatives from professional associations and civil society, as well as academics and media experts.
"We hope that this independent committee can collaborate with each professional association or council to increase the effectiveness of co-regulation in each sector," Wasan said.
The new independent body could also handle problems related to code of conduct if a press-association member wanted to avoid punishment by resigning from its membership, he added.
Independent scholar Malee Boonsiripun said having an independent committee would mean there were more opportunities for consumer groups to get involved with co-regulation of the press.
Witawat Jayapani, chairman emeritus of the Advertising Agency of Thailand (AAT), said he also agreed with this idea.
He said that after a former government dissolved the National Telecommunication Commission, radio and TV broadcasters had to rely on their own content-monitoring teams for self-censorship. To ensure a code of conduct, the AAT and TV broadcasters collaborated with key parties such as consumer rights groups, broadcasting professional associations, the Marketing Association of Thailand and representatives from the academic sector.
Jamnan Siritan Numbhakdi, president of the Radio Television Broadcasting Professional Federation, said that the new independent committee seemed to focus more on the code of conduct and ethics in the press.
