Two extra seats on media council go to journalists

A recent change to the draft law on the media will see two extra seats in the controversial national media council allocated to journalists.

The bill, which is scheduled for final consideration next Monday, would increase the number of media representatives in the council to nearly half its composition.

The two added seats will be given to journalists, taking their numbers in the council from five to seven and consequently taking the number of original members in the council to 15 compared to 13 before, said ACM Kanit Suwannate, member of the National Reform Steering Assembly.

The bill governing the media industry has been drafted by an NRSA panel led by ACM Kanit.

It has been criticised for proposing a large number of government representatives to the council which is feared will serve as a conduit for political interference in the media.

ACM Kanit said yesterday the panel based its decision to rejig the council’s composition on the need to have “representatives from local media.”

Under the bill, the council will have the power to warn, fine, suspend and revoke the licences of media crews if they break codes of conduct.

The suspension and revocation functions are central to an ongoing debate over the decision to appoint two permanent secretaries of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Culture Ministry to sit on the council.

ACM Kanit earlier played down the concern over state interference, saying there were only two people from the government on the council.

There should not be any conflict of interest as a result, he said.

Originally the number of ministerial permanent secretaries were two — from the Finance Ministry and the Digital Economy and Society Ministry — but amid growing criticism, the panel decided to replace them with two representatives from the National Human Rights Commission and the Consumer Protection Board.

However, Thepchai Yong, president of the Confederation of Thai Journalists, insisted on the group’s stance against the media bill out of concern over the potential impact on press freedom and public access to information.

ACM Kanit argued the bill is needed for better regulation of media businesses in an age of fast-changing technology especially with regards to online social media, where “everyone can be media crews”.

The law will set clear criteria for who should be registered as a journalist, he said.