Journalists Association - Thai PBS submits ethics investigation of "Big Pom" due to behavior of threatening the media, unanimously requests that this be a standard for working with news sources. Mr. Supan Rakchuea, President of the Thai Radio and Television Journalism Council, along with Mr. Itthipan Buathong, President of the Thai Radio and Television Journalists Association, submitted a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives through the Speaker's Spokesperson to request an investigation of ethics clauses 12 and 13 in the regulations on the Code of Ethics for Members of the House of Representatives and Committees B.E. 2563. Mr. Supan said that following the case of the clip showing reporters interviewing Gen. Prawit on the issue of voting for the prime minister, Gen. Prawit showed dissatisfaction and was angry, which was not an action made on impulse. When considering it from all sides, this kind of action was not a head-butting, but an angry and threatening behavior towards the media. This was not the first time this politician had behaved like this. Previously, he had looked down on and belittled fellow professionals. Therefore, from the consideration, a petition was filed to investigate the ethics of this politician because this was an incident that was similar to his habit of doing things to the media in violation of ethics sections 12 and 13. He would not interfere in the consideration of the House committee, but he would like to know the results of the consideration of every step as specified in the regulations. It is not a rush, but he sees that if the media is submitted for an ethics investigation, the association will investigate within the 30-day time frame, and it is expected that the House investigation will take about the same amount of time. In addition to the association submitting a petition to the House, there are also civil society organizations preparing to submit a petition to the NACC. Mr. Supan also mentioned the case where many people thought that the victim did not press charges, saying that it was an interpretation of physical assault, which the victim must be the one to file a complaint, but we are talking about the ethics and duties of the media, whose duties must be protected and must be aware of this part, but if anyone changes the subject to the matter of being assaulted, it is the right of the victim. 'This is the first time that fellow professionals have risen up to protect the rights and freedoms of fellow professionals rather than issuing statements. And as a media profession, that's all we can do. And this may be something new and a norm for politicians to treat the media to realize that we are not conflict parties. We do our duty to present information and events that are happening. If the news source or politician is not willing to answer or not ready to answer, please say that you will not answer. Like the most recent case, the former prime minister smiled and walked away. There was no need to show such fierce and threatening behavior,' said Mr. Supan. Mr. Sup an also said that this petition confirms that there is no political issue involved. It only wants to protect the rights and freedoms of colleagues in the profession rather than being linked to political issues. In this matter, professional organizations have consulted on every aspect and have sent a clip to the committee for consideration. The delay in showing a stance is because we have to look at every aspect and must be careful enough within the legal and ethical framework that we have. While Mr. Noppadol Srihathai, Executive Editor of ThaiPBS, also submitted a letter requesting an ethics investigation of General Prawit because after talking to reporters, he found that he could not remain indifferent because ThaiPBS is a public media organization that must protect reporters because the work of the media will be more intense from now on. Therefore, threatening and harming is an infringement of the rights of the media to work. This submission will be a standard and this submission is to create an example of the media's work and ethical standards. As for the criminal prosecution for assault, let it be the responsibility of the media association to proceed first, because it is believed that if it proceeds, it will affect the work of reporters who have to work with news sources, which is consistent with the intention of the reporters in the clip who do not want to prosecute. However, it is believed that this submission will not affect the performance of public media and it is not a matter of not daring to move forward and present what the public wants to know. As for the conversation between General Prawit and the reporter, which was considered a joke, Mr. Noppadol said that the images that came out were not a joke and had never happened before. It can be seen that it was a joke or a threat to physical harm. Source: Thai News Agency
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