NMG marches into the future with ‘One Nation’ strategy

NMG chief executive Shine Bunnag said the constant changes in communication technology and consumer behaviour have made organisational restructuring necessary.

Under the “One Nation” project, the strengths of all media outlets under NMG will be combined and synergised, he said.

“One Nation is born of the Nation Group. There are certainly many brands under the group, but every editorial department works independently, with freedom and unity. This will bring more efficiency and synergy.”

Shine added, “We are now undergoing a big restructuring in line with the One Nation policy. Details will be available at a press conference to be held in March.”

Among the changes, Nation News Agency will be revived to provide a database and quality news to all media outlets under the group, according to the CEO.

“We firmly adhere to the principle ‘Content is king while context is queen’. The focus is on good and quality news in a proper context. Also, we remain firm in our commitment to media ethics and the duty of scrutinising corruption and protecting the public interest. We disagree with content that is socially destructive or causes hatred in society,” he said.

Under the One Nation project, there is a plan to develop a business model for NMG’s assets, including collected photographs and exclusive content, such as documentaries.

Those assets could be turned into digital format and distributed through a new platform or ecosystem, according to the CEO.

“We signed a memorandum of understanding with Future Competere Co Ltd, which specialises in developing the digital assets business. This is another important step for Thai media circles,” he said.

Digital assets, particularly those in the form of non-fungible token (NFT), have become increasingly popular worldwide, with a growing number of creators and collectors both domestically and overseas.

NMG executive director Adisak Limparungpatanakij, who is in charge of The Nation NFT unit, says that over the past 50 years of its existence, NMG has amassed a large collection of content stored in the digital format.

“These include about 3 million photos of incidents and events that are historically valuable and 60,000 copies of newspapers published continuously for over 50 years,” Adisak said.

“We are in the process of creating NFTs from those collections,” he added.

Meanwhile, NMG deputy CEO Somchai Meesen said that 2022 is an important year for the group as it is undergoing organisational restructuring and synergy of its editorial departments for improved efficiency in the face of new challenges.

The business-oriented newspaper Krungthep Turakij will remain the group’s media outlet. However, its content will be aimed not only at business people, but also the lay person.

Nation Broadcasting Corporation and NBC Next Vision Co Ltd have combined their expertise in television and online content to make the digital television channel Nation TV 22 more than just television.

Nation TV 22 and Nation Online have seen high growth on all online digital platforms, including Facebook and YouTube.

NMG is also developing a new mobile application of a “lifestyle community platform” based on the user-generated content from its OK Nation website, which was popular more than 15 years ago, according to Adisak.

The now-dormant blogging website has about 100,000 registered bloggers, which are now known as “content creators”, with almost 1 million pieces of writing.

The news website Kom Chad Luek Online focuses on showbiz, entertainment and celebrity news, as well as content from social media.

“The People” new media team produces creative content under the theme “everyone has their own story”, in the form of interviews, graphics, still photos and video clips.

Spring News under NMG, born as a news agency in 2010 before becoming a television station, has transformed into a digital media outlet presenting news, information, knowledge and inspiring stories.