The ScholarActivist Nexus : a Case Study of the Thai Media Policy

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The Scholar-Activist Nexus a Case Study of the
Thai Media Policy

• Pirongrong Ramasoota

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Outline

• The role of scholar-activist nexus in the Thai
  media reform movement
• Campaigning and lobbying for structural reform of
  radio frequencies
• New social movement that sparked the
  constitutional debate on radio frequency and that
  finally led to the promulgation of Article 40 in
  the 1997 Constitution
• Monitoring the course of the reform and
  self-martyring
• the Campaign for Popular Media Reform (CPMR)
• Advocacy through research, public education, and
  networking
• Thai MPAC, MPC

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New Social Movement

• Coup detat 1991 gt Black May 1992
• Political Reform Media Reform
• 1997 Peoples Constitution

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Radio ownership structure

• Radio
• Name of orgs No of radio stations
• Public Relations Department (PRD) 145
• Army 128
• Navy 21
• Air Force 36
• Police 44
• MCOT 62
• House of Parliament 16
• Others 71
• Total 523

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Television ownership structure

• Name of orgs No. of TV stations PRD 9
• Army 2
• MCOT 5
• Ministry of 1
• PMs Office

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Constitutional Debate

• Public VS National resources
• The term public implies that the owner of the
  radio frequency and the spectrum are the general
  public or the people who are the highest
  sovereign of a democratic nation-state.
• On the contrary, the term national in the Thai
  authoritarian context implies the sovereignty of
  the state over the people.

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Counter Reform

• The military viewed radio frequencies as a
  national resource that implied the exclusive
  rights of ownership and management by the state
  and its security agencies.

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Article 40

• The radio frequencies for radio and television
  transmission, and in radio communications are
  national resources to be used for public
  interests
• An independent state regulatory agency must be
  set up to supervise the assignment and licensing
  of frequencies for radio and television
  broadcasting and for telecommunications
  stipulated in clause one of this article
• The objectives of clause two must take into
  consideration the highest public intersts at the
  national and local levels, in the area of
  education, culture, security and public safety
  and other public benefits, including free and
  fair competition.

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Media Reform Movement

• The scholar/activist reformers were also able to
  push for the inclusion of four important points
  in the organic law of article 40 the Frequency
  Allocation, National Broadcasting Commission,
  National Telecommunications Commission Act 2000

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Media Reform Movement

• The four points include
• Two independent regulatory bodies for
  broadcasting and telecommunications
• Three classifications of broadcast services
• Public/state service
• Private/commercial service
• Community service
• 20 of radio frequencies be allocated to the
  peoples sector community radio and TV
• The democratic participation of related sectors
  in the selection of NBC candidates

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Proposed vision of the National Broadcasting
Commission (NBC)

• Deregulation gt Open structure
• Reregulation gt Ownership reform
• Democratization of
• Broadcast Media Structure

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The Campaign for the Popular Media Reform (CPMR)

• The CPMR was originally known as the working
  group to follow the implementation of Article 40.
  
• CPMRs founding members came from key staff of
  the Thai Volunteers Foundation, a famous civil
  liberty NGO, and a group of progressive minded
  media scholars, led by Professor Ubonrat
  Siriyuvasak of Chulalngkorn University.

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Uncovering discrepancy in the NBC selection
process

• During the selection process of the National
  Broadcasting Commission (NBC), following the
  enactment of the Frequency Allocation Act, a CPMR
  member detected conflicts of interest between
  members of the NBC Selection Committee and the
  applicants. The case was brought to the
  Administrative Court which finally ruled the
  selection process as unlawful and stalled the
  final step of the process.

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The NBC that is not to be.

• Both rounds of NBC selection process, in 2001 and
  2004 failed due to conflicts of interest between
  selection committee and final candidates.
• The post-coup government (September 2006
  February 2008) stalled the third round of
  selection while the junta-appointed legislature
  wrote a new constitution which in effect merged
  broadcast and telecommunications regulator into
  one single entity.

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Article 47 of the 2007 Constitution

• There shall be an independent regulatory body
  having the duty to distribute the frequencies
  under paragraph one and supervise radio or
  television broadcasting and telecommunication
  business, ensure free and fair competition, and
  encourage the public to participate in management
  of public communication facilities.

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Self-martyring Shin Corporation V. Thai Post and
Supinya Klangnarong
Secretary-general of the Campaign for Popular
Media Reform (CPMR) Supinya Klangnarong and The
Thai Post newspaper were sued for defamation by
Shin Corporation for the comment Supinya
allegedly made about the conflict of interest
between Shin Corporation and the Thaksin-led
government. Supinya was acquitted in March 2006,
but after international spotlights were cast on
the issue as an exemplary case of the chilling
effect.
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Emerging scholar/activist nexus in Thailand

• Thai Media Policy Advocacy Center (Thai MPAC)
• Media Policy Center (MPC)
• Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT)

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Thai Media Policy Advocacy Center (Thai MPAC)

• Thai MPAC was founded in 2006 as a collaboration
  between Faculty of Communication Arts,
  Chulalongkorn University and Internews Network,
  an international NGO that has worked in more than
  70 countries around the world to improve access
  to information and to promote open communications
  policies.

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About Thai-MPAC

• Thai MPAC activities include
• Public information
• Advocacy
• Research
• Conferences and Seminars

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Thai MPACs activities

• Thai MPAC has a website (www.thaimpac.net) that
  will disseminate current news and information on
  relevant issues. Original news and articles by
  Thai MPACs contributors will be published on the
  website and available for download. Thai MPACs
  contributing writers are media law specialists,
  academics and journalists who are knowledgeable
  in such areas as policy formulation and advocacy,
  broadcast and telecommunications laws and
  regulation, and freedom of the press.

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Thai-MPAC conferences and seminars

• At least one international conference and four
  national seminars have been organized by Thai
  MPAC in the past two years on these issues
• Internet freedom
• Convergence and communications regulation
• New media laws and implications on freedom of
  expression
• The implementation of the new computer crime bill
  on cyber-dissidence
• Community radio and regulatory challenges

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Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT)

• Founded by a former English literature scholar
  from Thammasart University
• Became a sister NGO of CPMR
• Advocates against all forms of censorship but
  with a main focus on Internet censorship
• Activities range from campaigning, protesting,
  petitions, to lawsuits

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The End