When news turns into propaganda, we all suffer
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Re: "Now we know the value of free media", Editorial, December 4.
Government-controlled or corporate-controlled news media are neither news providers nor journalistic, but rather practising propaganda or something similar.
Media ignoring or minimising significant news events can be just as destructive as rewriting or lying about history and is, again, in the realm of propaganda, not news.
Thai news media must remain outsiders, able to provide objective, balanced coverage at all times, if democracy in Thailand is to succeed. We must remember that democracy anytime, anywhere, can fall apart if journalists become propagandists.
If news media reporting in Thailand becomes more like the fluff of social media – and I see that happening already – then democracy itself fails.
Free news media are not simply part of democracy, they are democracy, the make-or-break element.
Guy Baker
Bangkok
