Journal of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues (Print ISSN: 1544-0036; Online ISSN: 1544-0044)

Review Article: 2021 Vol: 24 Issue: 1

The Professional Media Organization Structure Reform Concerning the Ethics Controlling for Health Information Presentation of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDS) Spreading in Thailand

Wachiraporn Poungjinda, School of Political Science and Laws, Walailak University

Keywords

Reform of Professional Media Organization Structure, Ethics Control, Presenting of Health News of EIDs Spread

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to study concepts and theories related to the reform of the professional structure of mass media, to analyze legal measures related to the reorganization of the professional mass media organization structure, and to present guidelines for revision of Thai law on the reform of professional organizational structure, mass media on the control of the code of ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs), in the Thai context, which affects the perception of information in the protection and safety of public health. This study is documentary research and using systematic analysis. The results of the study showed that: Professional media organizations in Thailand have a growing ethical problem which is caused by the increasing emergence of media organizations, especially new media and community media where the law provides an informative approach to communicating awareness of the severity of disease and hate speech for others with infectious diseases. The vast majority of media practitioners lack formal accreditation from professional bodies, thus these media outlets do not yet have clear regulatory guidelines for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs). There are also problems with media entrepreneurs under the capitalist system, with political interference, a lack of ethical knowledge, and a lack of strict governance among themselves. The results of the research suggest that it is appropriate for Thailand to revise the content of the relevant laws governing the ethics of mass media in presenting the health information of EIDs that are spreading to an international standard, and is an independent mechanism without public and private intervention, including defining the structure and method of acquisition of the Professional Media Committee by recruiting people who have the knowledge, expertise or experience that will truly be useful in performing their media duties. Therefore, three legal reform guidelines are; (1) Analyze the ethics control of media professional organizations in presenting health news of infectious diseases that spread following the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2007 in the past. (2) Analyzing the control of ethics of media professional organizations in presenting the health news of the epidemic infectious disease, during the enforcement of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2017, the current version. And (3) analyze the control of ethics of media professional organizations in presenting health news of infectious diseases in the future.

Introduction

Free democracy in the present day has a concept of the rule of governance commonly called "Constitution" (Although some countries may use different names, for example, the German constitution is called Basic Law. The first constitution of the United States of 1176, considered the prototype of a written constitution, called the "Article of Confederation, which was later abolished and adopted in 1789 the Second Constitution" was called "The Constitution of United States". Even in Thailand, where the first constitution is called "Provisional Statute of the Government of Siam Land, 1932") (Garner, Bryan Black & Henry Campbell, 1999). It consists of laws, customs, traditions according to the principles and objectives of the Constitution (Lord Bolingbroke, 1997). Since Thailand has been enforced by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand to make democratic governance suitable for Thai society under the spirit of law reform, to ensure and protect the rights and freedom of access to information of the people under the jurisdiction of the State, they must comply with the law, this reflects the relationship between the law in determining rights and duties, as well as the responsibility of the mass media that play an important role in the proper presentation of information.

In the situation of social change over the past three decades, it has been found that the health information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID), which are likely to become more serious and have a tremendous impact on the economy and public health of the world, in particular, people's perception of information about EIDs spreading in the country is very important. Since an emerging infectious disease is a disease that is not previously known, or a disease that has occurred and has recurred, a disease that cannot be cured or controlled with existing drugs, diseases that occur outside of Thailand and have previously spread to Thailand or have the opportunity to spread into Thailand, both already occurring and will occur in the future, including diseases that are transmitted from animals to people and from people to people, these include MERS disease, Cigar virus, Ebola, influenza (H1N1), avian influenza H5N1 and H7N9 and Infectious diseases, Coronavirus 2019 and so on (Government gazette, 2020).

Thailand guarantees the right to receive information under the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2017, the current edition which has the scope of the prohibition of the restriction of rights and freedoms intended to apply to any case or any person as specifically (General characteristics are considered in terms of time, in terms of individuals, and in terms of content:

(1) General in terms of time, nature of law enforcement in terms of that time, because that law will be in effect forever, the law is in effect as long as the law comes out later, it does not in effect repeal it.

(2) The general nature in terms of persons and the content of the law, that is, the general meaning of the number of persons involved in the statute is indefinite, as in fairness the meaning of the facts cannot be determined) (Bunjerd Singkaneti, 2004). The scope of the application of this principle comes from the principle of equality because all citizens are subject to the terms of the law applying to the same fundamental rights which is considered a genuine obligation of the administrative sector (Worachet Pakeerut, 2000), It shows that the constitution brings "principle of proportionality" to used to limit the use of state power to be indiscriminate (Grabling, 1973; Bunjerd Singkaneti, 2004 ; William Blackstone, 1982 ; & Chaiwat Wongwattanasan, 1997), Including guarantees for the limitation of rights and freedoms can be done, but must be governed by the provisions of the specific law that the Constitution provides (Teera Suteevarangkul, 1999), which affirms the rule of law as the cornerstone of the governing of a country, as people must be protected and subject to the same law with justice and equality known as "Equal Before the Law" to protect the rights and freedoms of the people and to protect the public interest (Prasit Kovilaikool & Prapruet Sukulrattanamethee, 2004).

Ethics Control for Presentation of the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) that are currently spreading of the media by self-governing bodies, it is the media professional's responsibility to strive to develop media professional ethical standards in democratic countries (Suwat Thongthanakul, 1999). Media ethics governance, therefore, emphasizes the self-regulation principle which is more desirable for media practitioners than censorship (John, 1963). The concept of self-governance has evolved from the media's desire to correct mistakes in their work, and want to make themselves credible to the public and a tool that will help the media to have effective self-regulation, is to have a code of conduct as a guideline which includes mechanisms for receiving and responding to complaints such as Ombudsman (This is a Swedish language which in Thai is popularly called "Parliamentary Ombudsman" which is a special agency directly to the parliament, which is a legislative body and independent of the administration, monitors the performance of the administration and has the power to investigate to make reports to the parliament) or Media Council, Although self-governance principles are used in many countries, they are not always as effective as one might expect, the failure of the media to emphasize business interests and political independence has created a professional movement that can be expressed in many forms, such as: the association of the media organization, the establishment of professional councils and the code of practices and ethics.

Therefore, the foundation of problems in the enforcement of the constitution and the implementation of statutory rules of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand and the duties and responsibilities of the mass media in presenting the health news of EIDs contributes to Changes and obstacles present in the constitution that affect the rights and freedom of people in the perception of information of the people of Thailand. Including guidelines for creating measures to resolve the flaws of the Thai constitution in the future.

Research Objectives

1. To study concepts and theories related to the reform of the professional structure of the mass media on the control of the Code of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs).

2. To study legal measures on the reform of the professional organization structure, mass media on the control of the Code of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) following foreign laws and of Thailand.

3. To analyze legal measures on the reform of the professional structure of the mass media on the control of the Code of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs).

4. To propose guidelines for amending the Thai law on the reform of the professional organization structure, mass media on the control of the Code of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs).

Research Scope

The research has scope for researching according to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2017 in principles, concepts, and legal theory, namely; Theories on the protection of rights and freedoms, principles of equality, and theories on solving problems related to the structure of the mass media profession and the regulation of ethical health news presentation of EIDs and focus on studying laws related to ethical regulation and presentation of health news of professional media organizations both in foreign countries and in Thailand. Analyzing and comparing with ethical control, health news presentation of EIDs of professional media organizations, mass media appearing in the constitution that affect people's right to receive information to keep informed of legal issues and legal solutions under Thailand's legal guidelines that will enable Thailand to resolve future legal issues.

Research Hypothesis

Since the enforcement of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, it has been found that there are legal problems related to the structure of professional media organizations, and the ethical regulation of presenting health news of EIDs, which tend to increase in the context of emerging infectious diseases in society. Therefore, it is necessary to find a solution to mitigate the problems, the principle that requires states to have legal measures to regulate the ethics of media professionals for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) that spread in Thailand. The researcher agrees that specific laws, regulations, the scope of duties, and professional ethics of the mass media for the Presentation of the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) are spread. By adopting foreign law principles to correct the shortcomings of mass media performance, including the supervision of professional organizations, mass media, ethics control, and presentation of health news of EIDs that spread under the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand appropriately and efficiently.

Expected Benefits

1. This provides the concepts and theories on the reform of the professional structure of the mass media on the control of the Code of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs).

2. This provides legal measures on the reorganization of the professional organization structure, mass media on the control of the Code of Conduct for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) following foreign laws and of Thailand.

3. Making known legal measures on the reform of the professional media structure of the mass media about the control of the Code of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs).

4. This provides guidelines for amending the Thai law on the reform of the professional organization structure, mass media, and control of the Code of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs).

Research Conceptual Framework

In this study, the researcher studied the following documents: (1) Office of Policy and Strategy, Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health. (2012). National Health Development Plan During the 11th National Economic and Social Development Plan (2012 2016). (2) Office of the Council of State. (2007). Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2007. (3) Health Information System Development Office. (2010). Strategic Plan for the development of health information systems in 2010 2019. (4) Nuntawat Boramanand. 2018. "Digital Government" and (5) Public Law Net. On the following issues;

1. History, concepts, and theories related to the reorganization of the professional organizational structure, mass media on the control of the code of ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs).

2. Legal Measures on the Reform of Professional Organizational Structure Mass Media Regulation of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) following foreign and Thai laws.

3. Legal Measures on the Reform of the Professional Organizational Structure Mass Media Regulation of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs).

4. Guidelines for revising the Thai law on the reform of the professional organization structure, mass media on the control of the Code of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs).

Research Methodology

This research is documentary research by using the method to analyze data from documents related to legal principles concerning the protection of the right to access information as follow; Books, textbooks, research reports, articles from journals, government publications, theses, information documents from governmental and non-governmental organizations and documents in both Thai and foreign languages, as well as information obtained from International Network or Internet, and legal opinions relating to ethical control, health news presentation of EIDs. The data was analyzed by systematic analysis.

Results

Legal Principles And Theories On Legal Measures For The Control Of Ethics For Presentation The Health Information Of Emerging Infectious Diseases (eids).

There are four basic principles on freedom of duty and professional ethics of the mass media: (Surat Numnon, 1988) 1) Constitutional Freedom, 2) Principles for freedom of competition Media business in democratic countries is a free business, 3) Principles of freedom of concealment of news sources, and 4) Principles of freedom of invasion of personal rights.

In addition to this philosophy of mass media responsibility, at least two important responsibilities are to be considered (Prachan Walligo, 1980): Legal responsibility and ethical responsibility, Therefore, the application of the principle of responsibility for the media is to report the news through the media following the duties If the media acts distorting, which is considered unethical such as Misrepresentation of news of EIDs, news presentations that violate the privacy rights of EIDs that are spreading, news releases images without consent, etc. Besides, both ethics and ethics are not laws that the authority can apply to enforce or punish violators, but rather something that the offender must do voluntarily. However, both ethics and codes of conduct can be used to examine and regulate the work of individuals in different professions to some extent.

Theories on freedom and function of journalism are Normative Theories of Mass Communication (Kanchana Kaewthep, 2009), Public interest theory (Borwornsak Uwanno. 2004: 289 301), Social Responsibility Theory (Surasit Wittayarat, 1999), including theories about ethics.

Legal Measures Relating to the Control of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) of Foreign Countries.

From the study of the media governance concept, it was found that the ethical governance model of the media in foreign countries can be divided into 3 types as follows.

Type 1: Self-Regulation, which has two characteristics. (1) Mandatory, i.e., it is compulsory by law to be a member of the governing body of Luxembourg and, (2) Voluntary: the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Finland, the Republic of Ireland, There are both types where professional councils have only representatives of practitioners in the supervision, and professional councils with civil society involved in Supervision. For example, the Republic of Finland, the Council of Media regulates radio, television, and print media, The Republic of Ireland Irish Press Council has the efamation Act 2009 (Schedule2) ensuring the independence of journalists. The Royal State of Luxembourg, under the Freedom of Expression in Media Law of 8 June 2004, states journalists must have identification.

Type 2: Co-Regulation, which includes both state-specific professional councils, takes part in the supervision of professional councils with both the state and civil society involved in the supervision such as the Kingdom of Sweden. As for the Kingdom of Denmark, the state drafts a professional code of conduct for the Press Council, and the Press Council is appointed by the Minister of Justice following the Media Responsibility Law (Media Liability Act 1991) (Wittayakorn, 2020).

Type 3: Legal Regulation, That is to say, focus on the governance and the law that is governed by the state, when comparing the content of the code of ethics of Thailand with other countries, it was found that the countries using the co-governance model were The Kingdom of Sweden and the Kingdom of Denmark, which apply to conditions of force that include a fine or both a fine and a prison Countries that use a voluntary self-regulatory model are: The United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Thailand mainly use the social force of caution, condemnation and public outreach. While the Royal State of Luxembourg is compulsory to withdraw the professional identity card.

The Legal Measures On The Reform Of The Professional Structure Of The Mass Media On The Control Of The Code Of Ethics For Presentation The Health Information Of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs).

From the study of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2017, it was found that there were legal problems concerning the control of the Code of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) that are inconsistent with legal principles and theories, besides, it is not consistent with the current circumstances, thus affecting the public perception of health information of EIDs, And contrary to the spirit of the law aimed at helping patients with emerging infectious diseases who do not have to lose life or organs or have impaired function of vital organs, Including unreasonable aggravation of injury or illness, which is the following issues;

Analysis Of The Ethics Control Of Media Professional Organizations For Presentation The Health Information Of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) That Spread Following Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2007

In the past 2007 the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, although there were provisions that were effective in ensuring the rights and freedoms of the press, in practice, the rights and freedoms of the press, as guaranteed by the constitution, can be affected by the operation of some governmental organizations or from the normal exercise of the powers and duties of the government, which is not following the spirit of the principle of government under democratic principles and the rule of law. The 2007 Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand does not provide a truly valid channel and education on the right to receive information about the health of EIDs. That is, it gives people the opportunity to have equal education and information, enjoy equal rights and freedoms, which shows that there is little social democracy for Thailand. Including the dissemination of information about emerging diseases, the use of communication channels that are not diverse, too limited, the information available in the media lacks analysis from relevant groups of people to be used in the planning of the research, perceptions of psychological risks are associated with inadequate information. It also comes from a lack of accurate information, news content is often opinions, predictions, preliminary reporting, but a lack of accurate scientific information. In this regard, the determination of information issues regarding the situation of the epidemic or violent communicable disease and the media should give the public a great deal of weighting on information issues related to knowledge and self-defense because the general public will have knowledge and concerns about health safety. The communication in the Emerging Infectious Diseases to look at the old media and new media, analyze the barriers to healthy upgrade to the audience. In an epidemic situation, immediate and open outbreak reports are found that an important factor is an economic impact, in announcing that an EID outbreak will affect the country's economy. If such information is inaccurate, it will cause delays in providing information to the media and the public, as accurate information needs to be verified. In terms of agencies and personnel involved in providing knowledge about diseases, there are problems and obstacles, namely the knowledge of the disease, because the various departments have limited knowledge, are not clear of some information, and lecturers or experts in specific diseases are limited.

Analyze The Ethics Control Of Media Professional Organizations In Presenting The Health News Of The Epidemic During The Enforcement Of The Current Version Of The 2017 Constitution Of The Kingdom Of Thailand:

Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2017, The protection of personal rights is expressly provided in Article 32 “concerning a person has the right to privacy, honor, reputation, and family, presenting news that violates or affects individual rights is also against the regulations of the Thai Radio and Television News Professional Council”. On the ethics of the profession of Thai radio and television news 2010 item 6, “Radio and television must present or distribute relevant news and information for the public interest and not violate the rights and freedoms of others.” And Item 7 “Radio and television have to act following professional ethics following the joint declaration of intent, the presentation of such clip may be contrary to the Computer Crimes Act (No.2) 2017, to disseminate and transmit that information to others defame, despise, hate, or be humiliated”.

When considering legal issues with public legal theory, they are: Public benefit theory and proportionality principles related to the interference with the freedom of the press can be seen that when lawmakers enact laws to interfere with the freedom of the press, The measures enacted by lawmakers as law are not appropriate, as the government tries to intervene in the performance of the media, thus blocking the unity of the media pursuit of information. It also makes it extremely difficult for journalists to convey the truth due to ambiguous facts, summarizing the issues and presenting them to the public is therefore difficult to cope with. Hence, a unified press release based on information provided by a physician is as important as presenting undistorted facts.

From the above, it can be seen that in the overall picture of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand In 2017, the focus was on the subject matter of the media profession. The right of the people to access public information or news in the possession of a government agency has changed to a condition whereby the state is required to disclose public information or news in the possession of a government agency. And state agencies must provide people with easy access to such information or news (Section 59).

However, the function of the mass media is often under the influence of state power. That is, the media that serves as the presenting of social reality or reporting on the events of the daily epidemic of EIDs, should also act as an instructor for people to jointly preserve, look after society, and be on the lookout for dangers, which are funded by media outlets to serve as news coverage in line with the owner or the program owner. Of course, the bias of news content is natural and inevitable. Therefore, the understanding between the state and the media in terms of resource management, the media should allocate space for presenting news to the general public, not just presenting people's news when disaster strikes.

Guidelines For The Control Of Ethics Of Media Professional Organizations In Presenting Health News Of Eids That Spread In The Future:

The conflict situation in the presenting of health information of the future epidemic is “New Media such as Social Network which is born from Social media”. This is often used as an emotional outlet and information exchange, as well as mobilizing among social media users rather than any social function. Overall, it was found that the media must maintain ethics, be impartial, have agencies to monitor the news presentations of the journalism to not create conflicts. There should be penalties for journalism that misrepresent, distort, or create incitement so that journalism can serve to inform the public, educate, and entertain in the framework of professional standards. The Joint Framework for Mass Communication Reform In mass media reform, the key factor that will stimulate the divide or cause the conflict in society to escalate into violence. This is because the presentation of information and the use of language motivates and encourages Hate speech or Propaganda and incites the opposition to violence against one another, disseminating false information, misrepresentation, and misleading.

However, while accessing and using the information on the Internet is useful in terms of speed, there are still problems with the quality of the information. The lack of a central standard of certain technologies and the Internet of socially disadvantaged populations to access information on illnesses and health conditions arising from emerging diseases, which has a great impact on the ethics of a media professional organization, not only in Thailand but affects all countries of the world and is difficult to control. It is difficult to regulate the ethics of online media because establishing an ethical framework for the mass media may affect the areas of freedom of expression for individuals. The most obvious impact of online media is how quickly it comes with flaws, online media as a source of rumors, encroaching on the privacy of others, and the language is used to create hate as easily and quickly as possible, including copyright infringement. Besides, the media also uses online media, especially the important person's Facebook, as their news source.

As mentioned above, it can be seen that if the mass communication lacks social responsibility, the media professional organization, and the responsible agency, lacks control and supervision, does not take seriously the personnel and the media within the framework of professional ethical standards, roles, and ethics of media in the epidemic crisis, influence of media owners and people, consumers of media, lack of discretion, which causes social conflict to expand into uncontrollable violence. Therefore, mass communication needs to change the whole mass communication process in a better direction to meet people's expectations of the welfare, peace, and sustainable progress of Thai society in the future.

Discussion

The evolution of communications technology has enabled the rapid and borderless flow of information. The ethical issues and issues of the mass media are becoming more and more important now and then, presenting information in the mainstream media are Newspaper, radio, and television. New alternative media such as Satellite television, cable TV, community radio, and local business radio, including social media has played a role in shifting news-leading styles in which the press can report news quickly, be it social media, both Facebook and Twitter, especially in the situation of emerging infectious diseases that are spreading in Thailand. The media of all types has an extremely important duty to convey information to the people about the new EIDs that are spreading which news presentation should be done within the framework of ethics and responsibility of the mass media with the same guidelines and standards. In particular, in a democratic society, it is the duty to present or disseminate information of various types to the people, social groups, and other organizations on news or situations based on freedom of expression or freedom of expression, Speaking, writing, printing, advertising, and other means of communication.

Besides, the role and ethics of the mass media in the epidemic crisis provide the public with information on stories, problems, and contexts on the control of the Code of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) that spread in Thailand. This includes reporting on the number of people infected, providing information on symptoms of the disease, treatment, as well as their impact on the entire economy in a straightforward manner, according to the interests of the people who are both the recipient and the messenger at the same time. Including being a medium to explain the phenomenon that has played an important role in making people understand the problems that arise in Thailand today. The role of the media when working on the epidemic of infectious diseases is principally was a risk assessment, which is always the focus of the media. Emergency communication still requires three things: 1) Report accurate facts, 2) timely and unified communications and 3) be reliable, free from misrepresentation, which allows people to be informed about the context, situation of the epidemic. In this regard, presenting or disseminating information by the mass media will inevitably affect people's attitudes and behaviors.

From the study, it was found that the problems and obstacles in the conduct of media ethics were caused by the media's lack of knowledge and understanding of ethics when leading to practice. Under media capitalism, the media's inability to adhere to professional ethics, intense competition in the media business, and the need for business to survive can contribute to the stability of the media's adherence to the ideology. Besides, the current media ethics issues are more depressing, such as exaggerating the news, voicing opinions, setting oneself as a judge, stating the victim, not discriminating between corporate and public interests. The cause may be that people in professional circles do not have the opportunity to learn, practice, or raise questions about news reporting ethics that underscore the behavior of individuals and the responsibilities of patients suffering from illness and spreading too much of the emerging infectious disease may increase social stigma on potentially infectious individuals. For example, some media outlets focus on news reports that speculate the transmission of COVID-19, try to identify the first patient to be infected in each country, focusing on news reports, vaccine efforts, and treatments may add to the fear and raise the impression that there is currently no way to stop the infection. As such, the media's presentation of information containing panic and hate content in the nature of the epidemic of EIDs. Although hate speech against others or third parties may in some cases constitute an offense under the Criminal Code for offenses of contempt or defamation in certain circumstances, if hate speech against others or third parties does not fit in under the Criminal Code, both external and internal elements. The judiciary cannot prosecute a person who creates disparaging hatred or slanders against others or third parties.

However, the ethics controls of media professional organizations are intended to control the media to act with honesty, truthfulness, and public interest. As can be seen from the ethical requirements of the various types of mass media that are carefully enacted. If the media can uphold its ethics, which is to fully adhere to the Code of Conduct, it is hoped that the public or the informant will benefit the best from the media's performance. However, it is difficult to present honest and truthful news today. Because in addition to being under the enforcement of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, it is also subject to certain powers that can control and monitor the information from being released. It is a problem of the mass media that cannot perform its duties fully and distort the facts in the perception of information of the Thai people.

Recommendations

Based on the analysis and comparison study with the foreign method structure, the researcher has therefore made suggestions for solving the problems arising from the control of the media ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) that spreading in Thailand. The researcher believes that there should be a law to protect the rights and freedoms, promote the ethics and professional standards of mass media by preparing the Act on the protection of rights and freedoms, promoting ethics, and professional standards of mass media. In the provisions of the Act, there should be a clear section on the establishment of mass media organizations in which the determination of the content of the Act must be consistent with the intent and purpose of the Constitution. Emphasis should be placed on the ethical and moral governance of the media, as it is so important that a committee may be required to direct such direct supervision, to increase the efficiency of supervision following professional standards and establishing measures, rules, inspection processes, measures of sanctions for media professionals who commit or act in breach of the Code of Ethics is clear and concrete. If any misconduct or misconduct is misconduct, it must be examined and removed from membership of the National Federation of Press Professions and can no longer function. This is for media professionals to become more aware, cautious, and responsible for their own mass media practice.

Also, recommendations on the governance of the international media, media rights and freedoms on accountability, and the prevention of media interference for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) that are prevalent in Thailand are as follows:

(1) Code of Conduct for Non-Infringement of the Rights of News Resources and Personal Information, Thoroughly Due Diligence. It also opens up space for constructive debate to reduce conflicts and hatred in society. In which, if the media can do these things, it will be a proactive role.

(2) A standard should be set for the media of all types to adhere to ethics by presenting information following the Crisis Mass Media Guidelines, which state: “Be careful of creating panics by speculating or not being confirmed by a medical professional or directly responsible for the cause of an epidemic or health hazard situation, including how to prevent, correct, and treat”. In order to lead to disaster relief and crisis relief. Besides, it is important to study the laws, regulations, or agreements that apply in a crisis so that news performance does not affect the interests or public safety.

(3) The government and the relevant authorities should pay special attention and caution in critical communication. In situations where society needs accurate, clear, and reliable information, it does not create confusion and build confidence in how we live and behave.

(4) Should the executives of all news agencies pay attention to the welfare of the editorial staff, the reporters who must perform the news, visit the news area, report the news in the emerging epidemic situation by measures are in place to comply with disease control regulations, assess site risks, and appropriate protective equipment must be provided to reduce the risk of becoming infected by themselves.

(5) Civil society and the general public should be wary of forwarding or sharing information that may be false, fake news, untrustworthy, untrustworthy, which will create additional problems for society. If not sure, it should always check information from many sources including the media.

Hence, timely and unified communication with correct facts is scientific, forthright, firm, and clear, which requires a dependable demonstration of leadership and careful and reasonable scrutiny to let people know what to do to reduce the risk of infection promptly, and convince people that the state can deal with the threats that threaten their lives, including preventing people from seeking ways to save their lives in the chaos that lead to social and information chaos which resulted in the reform of the professional media organization structure for the control of the Code of Ethics for Presentation the Health Information of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) that spread in Thailand to be more effective. This will be a guideline in determining the security of rights and freedom of public perception of information in the future.

References

  1. Uwanno, B. (2004). Public law volume 3: Background and Legal Method. Bangkok: Nititham Publishing.
  2. Singkaneti, B. (2004). Fundamental principles of constitutional rights, liberties and human dignity, (2nd edition). Bangkok: Winyuchon Publishing House.
  3. Wongwattanasan, C. (1997). Memorial book for the funeral of Prof.Dr.Sompop Hotrakit. Bangkok: Amarin Printing and Publishing Lushing.
  4. Grabling, E., & AöR, B.D. (1973). S. 570; Jarass – Pieroth, Jarass - Pieroth, Basic Law - Commentary
  5. Aufl. (1995) Art.20 Rdnr. 57 a.
  6. Garner, B.A.B,, & Henry, C. (1999). Law dictionary, (7th Edition). St. Paul, Minn. : West Group p.306.
  7. Government, G. (2020). Notification of the ministry of public health on names and major symptoms of dangerous communicable diseases (No.3) 2020 (2020, February 29). Government Gazette Volume 137, special part 48 D., Page 1.
  8. Health Information System Development Office. (2010). Strategic Plan for the development of health information systems in 2010 2019.
  9. John, P.R. (1963). Curbing of the Militant Majority. The Reporter 29:2.
  10. Kaewthep, K. (2009). Mass communication: Theory and education approach. Bangkok. Faculty of Communication Arts: Chulalongkorn University.
  11. Bolingbroke, L. (1997). A dissertation upon parties (1733-4), in idem, Political writings. Cambridge, Hence: Dissertation.
  12. Nuntawat, B. (2018). " Digital government ".
  13. Office of Policy and Strategy, Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health. (2012). National Health Development Plan during the 11th National Economic and Social Development Plan (2012 2016). Bangkok: Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, Office of the Prime Minister.
  14. Office of the Council of State. (2007). Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand 2007. Bangkok: Office of the Council of State.
  15. Walligo, P. (1980). News writing principles. Bangkok: Ramkhamhaeng University.
  16. Kovilaikool, P. & Sukulrattanamethee, P. (2004). Law, morality and legal responsibilities. Bangkok: Nititham Publishing.
  17. Public Law Net. (2017). Laws about health.
  18. Wittayarat, S. (1999). Fundamental of printed matters. Bangkok: Book Center, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat Institute.
  19. Surat, N. (1988). Publication Law in Thailand, Department of Academic Newspaper. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press.
  20. Suwat, T. (1999). Ethical issues and the role of the National Press Council in the ethical governance of newspapers. Personal Research Document, National Defense Course for the Joint State Private Sector, Class 11.
  21. Suteevarangkul, T. (1999). “Protection of the rights and liberties of persons recognized by the Constitution”. Thammasart Law Journal, 29(4) : 508 – 581.
  22. William B. (1982). Commentaries on the Law of England. Professional Books Limited.
  23. Chiangkul, W. (2020). The principles of democracy.
  24. Worachet, P. (2000) Conditions for enacting laws limiting the rights and freedoms of the people, “Measure” in the constitutional validation control of the law. Thammasart Law Journal, 30(2), 190-191.
Get the App