Thai Newspapers’ Roles in Political Conflict : The 2014 Political Crisis

Abstract

This study aimed at analyzing the news content of the Thai political conflict from three newspapers namely: Thairath Matichon and Thai Post. The political turmoil started in the late 2014 during the government of Yingluck Shinawatra and the government of General Prayut Chan-o-cha. Applying content analysis the researcher investigated the role of mass media, guidelines for presenting news content in a peaceful or conflicting way, policies and factors determining news.

The findings revealed that the three newspaper publishers took the role of monitors in terms of the environment for the society such as reporting the movement of the protest. However, the report sometimes may not be in line with the media duties and may cause undesirable outcomes. For example, the report on the estimated large number of protesters may lead people in that area to panic.

          Concerning news report in a way that leads to peace or conflict, the three newspapers presented the news in a conflicting direction while during the coup of the government of General Prayut Chan-ocha, the three newspapers reported the news in a more peace fostering way.

          When analyzing the news content by using the normative theories of media performance, the researcher discovered that during the first period of political conflict. Hence the newspapers reported the news according to Libertarian Theory, which means the media had control over the news content while the government lacked the stability and authority to control the media seriously. But during the second period of political unrest under the strict government, the media was more careful in presenting news about political conflicts. The newspapers then returned to be under control of the government according to Authoritaria