PHUKET: One peculiarity of international coverage of events on Phuket is the reluctance of some media in places such as Canada, Australia and Britain - and probably elsewhere as well - to report more than one side of the story.
As today is World Press Freedom Day, the manner of coverage of tragic international events - involving tourists especially - deserves to be noted.
Phuketwan often reads what is being published elsewhere, makes a few telephone calls, then publishes an account based on what we've learned on Phuket as well as from reports in Canada, Australia or Britain.
Diplomats at embassies are often constrained as to what they can say because of privacy laws, which differ in each country but tend to be more strict in Western nations.
So in a case such as that of Canadian Jason Hoffman, who was involved last month in a fatal crash within hours of arriving on Phuket, the Canadian media present a version of events that takes account only of what has been learned by the reporters from Jason's family in Canada.
Anything reported in overseas media - Phuketwan included - is treated as somehow tainted, not to be believed.
We wonder why this is.
Is it because any report provided from outside Canada is unreliable? Is it because xenophobia is a prerequisite for some journalists in Canada?
Are journalists in Canada restricted by budget from making telephone calls to other countries? Will relatives sue any Canadian media outlet that repeats allegations made in another country?
The issue is important for tourism safety reasons, and for ensuring that anyone who gets into trouble in a foreign country is treated fairly.
Too often, diplomats these days are restricted in what they can do to help, often quoting ''privacy laws'' as the reason why they cannot do more.
The media? We are caught in the middle.
Quite often, even though our only aim is to ensure fairness and save people from being scammed or mistreated, we are treated as ''the enemy'' by diplomats and lawyers.
Quite often, only the journalist has the aim of wanting to cover the event transparently to make sure that incidents that needlessly cost people's lives do not happen again.
We hope the mood changes from this World Press Freedom Day towards giving the world press more freedom. But somehow, we doubt it.
Jason Hoffman Case, Reported from Canada
http://globalnews.ca/news/1975760/campbell-river-family-raising-money-to-get-son-home-after-scooter-crash-in-thailand/
Jason Hoffman Case, Reported from Phuket
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/canadian-rider-drinking-crash-killed-young-phuket-woman-police-22348/
As today is World Press Freedom Day, the manner of coverage of tragic international events - involving tourists especially - deserves to be noted.
Phuketwan often reads what is being published elsewhere, makes a few telephone calls, then publishes an account based on what we've learned on Phuket as well as from reports in Canada, Australia or Britain.
Diplomats at embassies are often constrained as to what they can say because of privacy laws, which differ in each country but tend to be more strict in Western nations.
So in a case such as that of Canadian Jason Hoffman, who was involved last month in a fatal crash within hours of arriving on Phuket, the Canadian media present a version of events that takes account only of what has been learned by the reporters from Jason's family in Canada.
Anything reported in overseas media - Phuketwan included - is treated as somehow tainted, not to be believed.
We wonder why this is.
Is it because any report provided from outside Canada is unreliable? Is it because xenophobia is a prerequisite for some journalists in Canada?
Are journalists in Canada restricted by budget from making telephone calls to other countries? Will relatives sue any Canadian media outlet that repeats allegations made in another country?
The issue is important for tourism safety reasons, and for ensuring that anyone who gets into trouble in a foreign country is treated fairly.
Too often, diplomats these days are restricted in what they can do to help, often quoting ''privacy laws'' as the reason why they cannot do more.
The media? We are caught in the middle.
Quite often, even though our only aim is to ensure fairness and save people from being scammed or mistreated, we are treated as ''the enemy'' by diplomats and lawyers.
Quite often, only the journalist has the aim of wanting to cover the event transparently to make sure that incidents that needlessly cost people's lives do not happen again.
We hope the mood changes from this World Press Freedom Day towards giving the world press more freedom. But somehow, we doubt it.
Jason Hoffman Case, Reported from Canada
http://globalnews.ca/news/1975760/campbell-river-family-raising-money-to-get-son-home-after-scooter-crash-in-thailand/
Jason Hoffman Case, Reported from Phuket
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/canadian-rider-drinking-crash-killed-young-phuket-woman-police-22348/
Mmmm ...
Call me perceptive Ed but I think the Phuket report had considerably more detail. The Canadian reporters could have found your story with a simple Google search.
Posted by Ian Yarwood on May 4, 2015 09:31
Editor Comment:
More likely they chose to ignore it, Ian. The comments on the Canadian article offer a clue as to why.