Free TV from interference
A newscaster greets viewers in front of the logo of TITV, the new name for iTV, yesterday during the broadcast of a news programme. The station’s staff will continue working at Shinawatra 3 Building until the Channel 11 headquarters, which is set to be th
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TITV would achieve true "free TV" status only when its executive board and the government put in place clear-cut measures against editorial intervention, an academic said yesterday.
"Importantly, TITV must also find ways to prevent being dominated by the working culture of the Public Relations Department," Somkiat Tangkitvanich told the seminar "Exit … iTV, Free TV?"The board should be dissolved after a month to ensure a smooth flow of revenue to the station, said Somkiat, the research director at the Thailand Development Research Institute. State meddling was just one of the risk factors TITV is facing. It could also suffer from a lack of good governance, with outsiders and insiders skimming profits from non-transparent procurement contracts while the key personnel who built up the iTV brand could leave. The station's image has degenerated, from a station linked to an influential business group to one that fights for its own interest, he added. Ex-senator Jon Ungpakorn said there was no such thing as free TV in Thai society as all stations had their own agenda. While ASTV is propagandising its script, TITV lacks investigative reporting, particularly on the Temasek Holdings-Shin Corp deal. He said to create free TV, all airwaves must be opened and once there were more stations, society could be better informed about corruption scandals involving members of the Council for National Security. He also suggested taxing TV commercials and using the proceeds to sponsor a free TV station. "I don't think the government knows what a public TV station is. If TITV is to be a public station, there must be a live public hearing through the channel. There must be a panel to carry out the public hearing, whose members do not represent the state," he said. While saying that this was the best time to start up a public TV station, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a Chulalongkorn lecturer, said there was still little understanding on what a public station should be. A public channel means broader autonomy than what an independent station enjoys. It is reaching out to all segments of society with a variety of programming produced regardless of ratings, including special series on affected social groups. A public station must stand on its own feet as government funding could lead to interference while private funding also poses problems. The government should divert taxes from BEC World, the operator of Channel 3, to finance a public station. He also questioned the move to turn TITV into a public station, as going forward, its employees must understand that their viewing audience is the whole society, not just those who are watching at present. TITV news anchor Jom Phetpradap said the station, though allowed to continue broadcasting after its licence was pulled, was still under external control and there was no clear picture on what it would be like given that the new operator, the Public Relations Department, had not yet unveiled its policy. "We can't say we're the freest station, but the recent episode shows the public is willing to pay for one. In just two days, we received Bt2 million in donations. I think Thai society is ready to have a real free TV," he said. - The Nation
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