Media must expose lies to heal rifts in society

Rosana

While many blame the mainstream media for adding fuel to the fire, there have also been calls to the media to help ease the rift and find a solution for society. The media has been urged to report with understanding, giving the background behind the conflict and violence: to in essence, provide quality reports.

However, to some people, only quality reports are not enough. The media is expected to also filter the unnecessary information.

Bangkok Senator Rosana Tositakul once said that news from the media nowadays were full of "toxic information". And as their "toxic" nature causes hatred, this "toxicity" should be filtered out.

Agreeing with Rosana, Malee Boonsiripan, a former Thammasat journalism lecturer, said the media should not report information that hurts society.

To mainstream media professionals, in a situation where there are two versions of a fact, the media try to report only what is firmly verified. Inevitably, the red shirts get little space in the mainstream media as most of the messages by their leaders during demonstrations are rumours and words of propaganda.

It is true that the media must report with responsibility and there is no room for fiction.

The question does arise: why does the conflict continue to grow and why has the mainstream media, who try to present the facts, been accused by the red shirts of giving them unfair treatment by denying coverage to their stories?

The red-shirts, as a consequence, view the mainstream media as one of their antagonists, prompting them to create their own media.

Not surprisingly, after viewing only the red-shirt media coverage every day, their belief in what the mainstream media sees as propaganda, as well as their hatred for the mainstream media grows even stronger.

The red shirts are living in their own world of facts, with the utmost belief that the stories are the truth, while others are not.

So, is filtration or ignoring really the right approach to ease the social rift?

The answer is self-evident: No. Any kind of censorship will never help resolve conflict, only provoke a conflict.

The problem with censorship is that there are always people who want to perceive and prompt others into believing the lies. To not present the lies raises doubts of fairness in these people, resulting in hatred towards the mainstream media.

In a crisis, the media should stress on building the same understanding, bringing everyone to live in the same world of fact by destroying the lies and finding out the truth.

The truth, not the lies, certainly deserves space in the mainstream media, but lies with the proof are even more worthwhile during a crisis.

Whether the red-shirt leaders are proved to be lying or it is the government that is guilty of it, the result will always be worthy for society.

However, if they ignore reporting the story because of pre-judgement, the lies, instead, will continue to exist and gradually hurt society.

Once the lies are exposed, they will not have the power to cause hatred among people. To take away the power of lies to mislead, by proving the facts, is the way to ease political conflict for the media.

If they ignore reporting the story because of pre-judgment that would be a lie, and the lies will continue to live on, causing hatred in society.

Whatever the stories from the reds, yellows or the government, proving the story is critical for society.

So what the media should do is not filter it or ignore it, but be pro-active and prove it.To pursue the truth, and not let the lie exist is really the way to ease political conflict for the media.