With the strict government control over news and broadcast organizations in Thailand, the higher level of freedom of expression that social media allows for has been extremely beneficial for the country. On social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter, citizens are able to express their opinions about the power governing Thailand more openly. This […]

Read more "Social Media’s Political Role"

Tradition media and non-traditional media are at odds with each other in many ways. To properly analyze the differences, I have chosen to look at two different news outlets, Buzzfeed and Time Magazine, that cover the same topic. The link to the BuzzFeed article is here. The link to the Time Magazine article is here. BuzzFeed, being […]

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Scoop. This five-letter word is what drives a reporter. It fuels their chase and exploits their unlimited curiosity. Journalists are always searching. They’re searching for that headlining story. They’re trying to break the next paramount news before their neighbor does. This I believe is a pressure that can make or break a journalist. There is […]

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According to a CNN report, press freedom in the US has dropped 29 spots in the annual Reporters Without Borders report since Obama took house in 2009. As of 2015, the US is ranked at 49, which is the second lowest ranking in US history. The lowest ranking was 53rd during Bush’s presidency. In terms of gathering […]

Read more "U.S. Press Freedom"

With all the political change happening in Thailand, citizen journalism has become a necessity for news reporting. According to Online Marketing Trends, Thailand has 89.5% of its population on Facebook, ranking in as the 5th highest country of users. In addition, the numerous political rallies taking place have citizens posting a plethora of photos to […]

Read more "Citizens Empowered"

The film Restrepo that we watched in class was a hard hitting, unnarrated documentary of war in the Korengal Valley, the deadliest spot in Afghanistan. Shot by Tim Hetherington and Sabastian Junger, it presented viewers with the candid nature and the devastating realities of war. Everything that was seen in the documentary was real, bringing the viewer into […]

Read more "Restrepo: Documenting the Deadliest Place On Earth"

According to The Freedom House, 161 orders to block 21,000 URLs were issued by the Thai courts in 2012. These orders were given because the content was deemed to be in criticism of the monarchy. The actions that the Thai government considers infringement of the law are very broad. Acts as simple as “liking” a […]

Read more "Censorship Extremes"

I consider myself beyond privileged to have grown up in the peaceful environment that I did. In my early years I was protected from violence, always on the other side of the closed door when my parents watched the nightly news on TV. I was naïve to the negativity outside the bubble that sheltered me. […]

Read more "Reporting Death"

The government control over media and reporting in Thailand has escalated since the May 2014 military coup. Since 1992, 10 journalists have been killed in Thailand with a confirmed motive for their death, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Six have been killed with an unconfirmed motive. “The way press here has been treated reflects […]

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On December 26th, 2004, a deadly Tsunami hit Thailand. The disaster was considered to the worst in recent history. A brief overview of the disaster is as follows: 7:59am: (local time) an earthquake with the magnitude of 9.1 occurred under the Indian Ocean near the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, followed by […]

Read more "2004 Tsunami Hits 11 Countries, including Thailand"