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Propagating government propaganda

We have been watching the "Today's Truth" news programme that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej commissioned the former executives of the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship to host on Channel 11 from 10pm for one hour every night.



Although we don't agree with the government's plan to produce the programme, we decided to watch before judging its merits. After a couple of episodes, however, we have come up with this suggestion: the government should end the programme because it is a complete waste of public money.

First of all, the message of the programme can be heard at the DAAD's rallies. The hosts of the programme are members of the DAAD: Veera Muksikapong; Nuttawut Saikua, the government's spokesman; and Chatuporn Prompan, a People Power Party MP. They spent their airtime mostly rebutting claims made by the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy. In fact, the government already has a weekly forum to communicate with the public: Samak's one-hour weekend talk show. Samak uses this programme to vent his anger with the media instead of explaining the government's vision and policy.

But Samak thinks that his weekly programme is not enough to make the government popular. So he ordered that the news analysis programme on Channel 11 be replaced with "Today's Truth". In essence, he replaced a programme run by an independent producer with one consisting of government propaganda every night. This can be considered an attempt by a politician to use his power to serve his own interest.

The programme marks a step backward for the state-run media outlet because it shows that the network will have to succumb to the orders of politicians instead of having the freedom to serve the public interest. Besides, the harsh words used in the programme will only exacerbate the divisions in society. While the PAD's campaign has been financed by private money and private contributions, the government is now using tax money to open up a propaganda channel.


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