Media spin is not working; public still in the dark

For anybody watching TV or reading SMS texts during prime-time news hours these days, one can’t escape noticing that there are networks of spin-meisters hard at work out there. Their job is to make Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra look good and respectable, like a God-sent heroine. The more these people try to do this job, the more it has backfired. This helps to explain why there are so many new spokespersons informing audiences at home what the government plans to do about the flood crisis. 

One would have thought that such information would be easy to disseminate in a straightforward manner. Unfortunately, that is not the case because most of those involved in the relief operation and public relations efforts are still very partisan. What is sad is how Yingluck’s own preference is being undermined. The more she refers to assistance to the flood victims as being a non-partisan endeavour, the more her colleagues and minions do the opposite – in an effort to gain more support from their political base in flood-affected areas.

During this crisis, the government information agencies and personnel have seemingly done their best to explain to anxious Thais about what they might have to face in the next few hours, few days or even months. But everybody has their own theory and rationale, and there is no consensus. In front of the cameras, every spokesperson becomes an instant expert on floods and gives all kinds of advice. Obviously, some can be construed as better than others. 

Sad but true, during the earlier weeks of the floodtide, there was absolutely no practical information from the government or advice on how ordinary people ought to cope with the possibility of inundation. All the information was about the volume of water and its diversion from one place to another. So it was left to ordinary people, some of whom have never experienced anything so dreadful, to figure out themselves what to do. 

Based on untimely and inaccurate information, people went out to stock up on food, water and other basic necessities. Over the past few days nearly a million Bangkokians have left their homes for dry land outside the capital. Few have heeded the oft-heard official advice – don’t panic but be prepared – which comes too late and too little.

The new government spokesperson, Dr Tongthong Chantrarangsu, has done a better job in explaining the latest data and trying to frame expectations for the public for the coming days. But this seems not to have helped much because the prime minister has not been able to provide the kind of leadership and spirit that is needed in a time of crisis. Every time we see her on TV, her body language does not flow with her narrative. She has wept several times in the process. Tears can draw sympathy but will not stop the deluge or reduce anxieties among the public. When the nation is in crisis, as it is today, there is no room for mediocrity or politicking, which have unfortunately been the government trademarks over the past few weeks. Not surprisingly, allegations already abound of misused funds and hoarding of relief items including foodstuffs and water.

Positive spin on news can be considered normal in any democracy and media-consumed society like Thailand. However, when the government and its information teams overcook data and views, and cannot agree on anything, it turns the government into a theatre of the absurd. What is not timely and accurate can cause destruction and despair. Yingluck has no more time to lose; she either stays to help manage this situation and the rehabilitation in the aftermath, or she has to go with the floods.