The Abac poll on readers' expectations of the print media found that 89.6 per cent of respondents wanted newspapers to report the news in a more responsible fashion. Meanwhile 88.9 per cent said they wanted to read more in-depth reports and 88 per cent wanted reporting to be more reliable.

The poll was conducted at the end of last year among 1,296 Bangkok residents, about 80 per cent of whom said they spent about an hour a day reading newspapers.

About 44 per cent believed "a newspaper is a mirror reflecting society", while 26.2 per cent disagreed with the statement. Around 33 per cent said the print media was neutral, 28 per cent said it was partial and 38 per cent were uncertain.

More than 33 per cent said the media failed to respect people's privacy and 28.3 per cent said the opposite.

On the media's courage when reporting critically upon influential figures, 25.2 per cent did not believe the media was sufficiently strident but 37.3 said newspapers were prepared to report negatively on powerful people.

Around 54 per cent believed the print media was free with 13.2 per cent disagreeing.

Newspaper journalists were graded as 'average' by 57 per cent of respondents, 34.4 per cent regarded hacks as of 'high quality' and 8 per cent said their standard was 'low'.

Fewer than 30 per cent had heard of the Thai Journalists' Association.

The Nation