The Princess and the Facebook Girl
By Lawrence Pintak
Arab Media & Society: May 2008
http://www.arabmediasociety.com/topics/index.php?t_article=199
The relationship between media and state in the Middle East and North Africa is no fairy tale. Not a single Arab country has a press classified as “free.” For every step forward, there is at least one step back. For every official committed to loosening the reins, there is a lawyer wielding a lawsuit or a police thug with a blood-spattered baton. The rack may be history, but electric probes are today’s torture implement of choice…The contrast between Princess Rym Ali, sister-in-law of Jordan’s king, and the plight of 27-year old Esraa Abdelfattah, Egypt’s so-called “Facebook Girl,” succinctly sums up the contradictions inherent in government-media relations in the Arab world…Princess Rym, a former CNN correspondent, is on a quest to build the region’s first Arabic language graduate school of journalism. Facebook Girl, meanwhile, found herself being hustled off by Egyptian state security after creating a group on the popular social networking site that attracted 75,000 members and served as the spark for the country’s recent anti-Mubarak strikes.
…The Egyptian regime’s contempt for – and fear of – the media can be seen in the recent seizure of satellite uplink equipment used by Al-Jazeera’s Cairo bureau and prosecution of the equipment’s owner; in what news execs tell us is pressure on Egypt-based satellite channels like Dream, Orbit, O-TV and El-Mehwar to sanitize their coverage of the recent riots in the delta town of Mahalla.
Tesco warned-Nation
14-05-08
Rights body seminar warns Tesco Lotus over libel suits
The Nation: May 9, 2008
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/05/09/headlines/headlines_30072642.php
Tesco Lotus came under fire yesterday as the National Human Rights Commission and the Foundation for Consumers held a seminar on the hypermarket chain’s negative impact on communities and the mass media’s freedom of expression…Suthichai Yoon, editor in chief of Nation Multimedia Group, told the seminar that Tesco Lotus’s recent libel suits could be seen as a “classic” case study on multinational firms’ ethical conduct as far as public sentiment and social responsibility are concerned…Suthichai said the public and mass media had the right to express their opinion in good faith. As a result, these critics, wanting to protect a minority in society (the traditional trade), should not face such intimidation…The Campaign Committee for Human Rights also issued a strongly worded statement criticising Tesco Lotus and urging the public to boycott its business.
Oct 6 massacre redux in the making by Manager-PAD
Somsak Jeamtheerasakul, Department of History, Faculty of Arts, Thammasat University
Prachatai: May 7, 2008
http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=626
On Tuesday morning, Oct 5, 1976, an ultra-rightist group called the ‘Housewives Club’ held a demonstration at the Royal Plaza to protest the government in light of the crisis caused by Field Marshal Thanom’s return. The protest went on until almost the afternoon when someone raised the issue of a photograph of a re-enactment that had been staged by Thammasat students at noon of the previous day, Oct 4. This portrayed the hanging of two electricians in Nakhon Pathom who had been protesting against Thanom. A photograph of the scene was published on the front page of the Bangkok Post the following day. The protesters claimed that the face of one of the students who took the role of a hanged electrician resembled that of the Crown Prince, and accused the students of lèse majesté. Read the rest of this entry »
[FACT comments: Strange that the audio files have been deleted from the independent download sites.]
Chotisak no show at forum due to threats from Manager Radio
Prachatai: May 5, 2008
http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=623
On May 2, a public forum was held at Thammasat University to address the controversial issue of the refusal of Chotisak Onsoong and his girlfriend to stand for the royal anthem. The panelists included social critic Sulak Sivarak, historian Suthachai Yimprasert, and reporter Pravit Rojanaphruk, with Thammasat lecturer Kasem Penpinan as the moderator.
The organizers, including the Santi Pracha Dharma Institute and Fah Diew Kan (Same Sky) magazine, started the forum with an audio clip recorded from a radio programme ‘Metro Life’ which belongs to the Manager Group, the driving force of the anti-Thaksin, royalist People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD). The radio programme was broadcast on the night of April 30 at FM 97.75, or Manager Radio, during which the hosts incited listeners to come to the forum to attack Chotisak and disrupt the event.
(Note: since the evening of May 2, the audio files of the programme for April 29 and 30 have been removed from www.managerradio.com, but can be downloaded here (29) and here (30).)
The organizers therefore informed participants that Chotisak would not join the panel at the forum for safety reasons. Read the rest of this entry »
เสวนาวิชาการ : ‘สิทธิมนุษยชน กับความคิดเห็นที่แตกต่าง’
Prachatai: May 3, 2008
http://www.prachatai.com/05web/th/home/12059
วันที่ 2 พ.ค.51 ที่คณะเศรษฐศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยธรรมศาสตร์ (มธ.) ท่าพระจันทร์ มีการเสวนาวิชาการเรื่อง ‘สิทธิมนุษยชน กับความคิดเห็นที่แตกต่าง’ โดย สถาบันสันติประชาธรรม ซึ่งเป็นเวทีสืบเนื่องจากกรณีที่นายโชติศักดิ์ อ่อนสูง และนางสาวชุติมา เพ็ญภาค ถูกแจ้งข้อหาหมิ่นพระบรมเดชานุภาพ เนื่องจากไม่ยืนเคารพเพลงสรรเสริญพระบารมีในโรงภาพยนตร์เมื่อเร็วๆ นี้ โดยมีผู้อภปิรายร่วมแลกเปลี่ยนความคิดเห็นได้แก่ สุลักษณ์ ศิวรักษ์, สุธาชัย ยิ้มประเสริฐ อาจารย์จากจุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, ประวิตร โรจนพฤกษ์ ผู้สื่อข่าวหนังสือพิมพ์เดอะ เนชั่น และ เกษม เพ็ญภินันท์ จากคณะศิลปศาสตร์ มธ.เป็นผู้ดำเนินรายการ ซึ่ง ‘ประชาไท’ ได้ถอดความและเรียบเรียงเนื้อหาส่วนที่ทั้ง 3 คนนำเสนอบนเวที
ทั้งนี้ ในช่วงเริ่มต้นของงานเสวนา ทางคณะผู้จัดได้เปิดเสียงรายการ “Metro Life” จัดรายการโดยต่อพงศ์ เศวตามร์ และ อำนาจ เกิดเทพ ออกอากาศทางคลื่นยามเฝ้าแผ่นดิน FM 97.75 เวลา 21.30 น. เมื่อวันที่ 30 เม.ย.ที่ผ่านมาเป็นเวลาประมาณ 10 นาที ในส่วนของเนื้อหาที่เป็นไปในทางยั่วยุให้ผู้คนเกิดความเกลียดชังและเข้ามาก่อความรุนแรงในงานเสวนาดังกล่าวตลอดจนทำร้ายนายโชติศักดิ์
หลังจากนั้นทางคณะผู้จัดฯ จึงได้แจ้งต่อผู้เข้าร่วมงานว่าเนื่องจากเกิดกระแสยั่วยุดังกล่าวทำให้เห็นว่าเพื่อความปลอดภัย ไม่ควรให้นายโชติศักดิ์ อ่อนสูง เข้าร่วมงานในครั้งนี้ ซึ่งตามกำหนดเดิมนั้นเขาเป็นผู้ร่วมเสวนาคนหนึ่ง
“ทางคณะผู้จัดงานเห็นว่าไม่ควรให้คุณโชติศักดิ์มาร่วมงานด้วยเกรงเรื่องสวัสดิภาพของคุณโชติศักดิ์และผู้ร่วมงาน รวมทั้งเกรงว่าอาจจะเกิดความรุนแรงและถูกขยายผลนำไปเป็นเครื่องมือทางการเมืองอื่นๆ สุดท้าย เราขอยืนยันว่า ในสังคมประชาธิปไตยจะต้องมีการเคารพความคิดเห็นที่แตกต่างกัน ไม่ว่าความคิดเห็นนั้นจะแตกต่างสักเพียงใดก็ตาม ตราบเท่าที่ความเห็นนั้นไม่นำมาสู่การสร้างความรุนแรงให้เกิดขึ้นในสังคม และกรณีทีเกิดขึ้นกับคุณโชติศักดิ์นั้นแสดงให้เห็นอย่างชัดเจนว่า สังคมไทยอาจจะยังห่างไกลจากสิ่งที่พึงปรารถนา และคุณโชติศักดิ์ อ่อนสูง ก็เป็นเหยื่อของสังคมที่ไม่เคารพความเห็นที่แตกต่าง” คณะผู้จัดชี้แจง Read the rest of this entry »
No free press and no democratic govt
SURANAND VEJJAJIVA
Bangkok Post: May 9, 2008
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/09May2008_news25.php
Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States of America and considered one of the forefront thinkers of modern democracy, was quoted as saying: “The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object is to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.”…Jefferson believed that an enlightened citizen, well-informed and educated through a free press, is essential in protecting liberty and democracy.The worrying point for me, however, is in the so-called new media. Today many websites present unedited points of view with hard-core fans posting their strong-worded opinions leading to polarisation on many issues. The anonymity of the writers lessens the accountability factor, and thus many of the articles appear to be a mixture of truths and lies…Of course, President Jefferson in the 18th century could not have anticipated all these technological advances, since there was then only the printing press; but to put it in his terms, when taking all the factors I have mentioned into consideration, today’s Thai public is not “well read”. An uninformed public, either through lack of attention or a reactive tendency to believe all that is reported, rightly or wrongly, can be easily manipulated.
The once & future coup-Bangkok Post
14-05-08
[FACT comments: Note that we're talking here about a future coup!]
Jakrapob censorship slammed: Military, coup victims urge press freedom
Bangkok Post: May 12, 2008
http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/12May2008_news07.php
PM’s Office Minister Jakrapob Penkair is under fire after banning state media outlets from carrying news reports in favour of a coup…After Mr Jakrapob banned Public Relations Department (PRD) staff from reporting such stories, military leaders, academics and relatives of coup victims have criticised him for being undemocratic…Mr Jakrapob, who supervises the PRD, said he would take disciplinary action against PRD staff who report any news or information supporting the coup.
Lebanon: Armed Groups Attack Free Expression
Article 19: May 13, 2008
ARTICLE 19 condemns in the strongest of terms the closure of six media outlets in Lebanon and the attack on two others this weekend at the hands of armed men affiliated with Hezbollah and the opposition in Lebanon…On Friday 9 May, Hezbollah fighters and its allies forced Future TV, Future News and Radio Orient off the air. Gunmen forced themselves into the headquarters of each of these media outlets and threatened workers. Cables were disconnected and employees were forced out of the facilities. On that same day, the old headquarters of Future TV which houses the TV station’s archives was mercilessly burnt. Fire fighters were not allowed to put the flames off and flags of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party were hoisted atop the burnt structures. The offices of the daily Al-Mustakbal faced a similar fate…Al-Liwaa daily and Al-Shira’ magazine were also forced to stop their work…On Saturday 10 May, the headquarters of the Armenian-speaking Radio Sevan was also burnt in West Beirut. Meanwhile, protestors demonstrating in support of free expression were harassed by gunmen in Beirut. The protest was organised by the Lebanese Press Club…On Monday 12 May two cameramen working for Al-Jazeera were slightly injured by bullets fired on their vehicle by gunmen.
Morocco: al-Jazeera shut-Article 19
14-05-08
Morocco: al-Jazeera forced to shutdown Maghrebi news programme from Rabat
Article 19: May 7, 2008
ARTICLE 19 expresses concern over the decision by the Moroccan authorities to stop the broadcasting of a daily news programme from the Rabat office of al-Jazeera.
Al-Jazeera’s Rabat bureau received a fax on May 6 from the National Agency for Telecom Regulation (ANRT) saying it would no longer be able to broadcast the Maghreb programme for “technical and legal problems.”
” The decision by the Moroccan authorities comes as further indication of the continuous trend in the region to target Satellite TV, the only avenue for free expression in much of the Arab World”
[FACT comments: I think there is little actual support to abolish the Thai monarchy. Abolition of monarchy is a painful transition, as most recently in Nepal, and rarely serves the public interest. The issue is about abolishing the lèse majesté laws or, at the very least, amending them with clear guidelines as to their application. That one Thai citizen "can't stand" his fellow Thais' opinions and thinks that gives him the right to charge public Web discussion fora is ludicrous and the perfect example of what is wrong with the laws.]
Same Sky Books and Prachatai websites charged for allowing comments about Chotisak’s ‘not standing’
Prachatai: April 29, 2008
http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=620
Yet another Thai man has sued Chotisak Onsoong for not standing during the Royal Anthem in a cinema, as well as two websites for allowing discussion about this in their forums…On April 28 a Khon Kaen resident filed charges under Article 116 (2) of the Thai Criminal Code with police against Chotisak, for offending the monarchy and inciting unrest, and Fah Diew Kan (www.sameskybooks.org) and Prachatai websites for publishing threads of discussions by readers who supported Chotisak’s act…“There are many comments supporting Chotisak’s claim that people who stand for the Royal Anthem are those who like the Sakdina system [Thai feudalism]. One post says that she is married to a foreigner, and will tell her husband not to stand either, because she has long disliked the monarchy. And one person rudely parodies the lyrics of the Royal Anthem. As a Thai with great respect toward the monarchy, I can’t stand this,’ Sunimit said.
