Balance press freedom, responsibility amid ‘exciting times’—Shinawatra
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. AP FILE PHOTO
BANGKOK, Thailand—Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said here Tuesday that media lived in “exciting times” but underscored a need to balance its freedom and responsibility of providing knowledge and information in its various forms.
“The news and publishing industries stand at an exciting time . . . recognizing its wider role in understanding people of our nations with the use of technology to reach a wider audience,” said Shinawatra here, the third day of the World Association of Newspapers and Publishers (WAN-IFRA) attended by over 1,000 participants worldwide.
Shinawatra said that freedom without responsibility “may lead to confusion.”
“Freedom of the press isn’t unlimited even in the most advanced countries,” said the prime minister.
She said that it was “important to have high standards and responsibilities.”
“Press and [the] media could find for themselves where this middleground is. And none is more evident than in cyberspace, which has been used for good and misuse,” she said.
Bangkok is hosting from June 2-5 the WAN-IFRA conference which, for the first time, is staging simultaneously the 65th World Newspaper Congress, the 20th World Editors Forum and the 23rd World Advertisers Forum.
