Indie • in-depth online news agency to “bridge the gap” and “connect the dots” with a critical and constructive mind on development and environmental policies in Thailand and the Mekong region: to deliver meaningful messages and create the big picture critical to public understanding and decision-making, thus truly being the public’s critical voice
From the beginning, it started from zero: a news agency that we intended to explore the advantages of online and social media platforms to expand the horizon of knowledge and inspiration, and more importantly, of press freedom and independence.
Having been in the media realm for some time and experienced how the media are under pressure, the idea of creating a news agency that is independent and in-depth is nothing beyond apprehension. This is because the more journalists work, the heavier the ceiling against their minds for conveying meaningful messages to inform and inspire people becomes.
Aside from political pressure, which often shows itself up, the fierce competition and new pressure brought by the rapid change in the media landscape have also manifested themselves in a fall in revenues and a near-collapse of the industry. The more they crumble down, the lower the ceiling against journalists is, and the less meaningful the messages are conveyed to the people.
To say the least, the media here are struggling hard to survive. Without freedom from those pressures, we would eventually have no journalistic integrity left. Hence, the media need to be free from such pressures. They need to maintain their independence and critical and constructive minds so that they can convey meaningful messages to the people once again.
This is particularly critical when our society is in a transition and needs to be well-informed and inspired. A new model for the media is, therefore, desperately needed to offer us a chance. And coming up with an idea to set up a so-called “media social enterprise“, for one, is nothing but an attempt to keep press freedom and independence intact.
As a non-profit social enterprise, such an entity will become more flexible to garner support from various sources. A mix of supports, from project-based collaboration to public patronage and public contribution, could be a new hope that helps support such an enterprise. Without dependence on commercials and other influences, such a media social enterprise could then be independent, being able to perform at its best and become critical and constructive as supposed.
It could then help “bridge the gap”, and “connect the dots” so as for it to deliver meaningful messages and create an in-depth and complete picture for people to see and understand the challenges so that they can make a better decision for their lives and the society.
These are the reasons why we at Bangkok Tribune have been trying to materialise the idea of creating this kind of news agency.
From “zero”, some small pocket money, and the help of technology, it has been proven that such a news agency can be set up. Hence, we would like to invite you to join us in exploring more of the possibility of creating such an independent and in-depth news agency that can maintain critical and constructive minds with a mission to serve the public as its critical voice.
Your support will definitely be invaluable for this crucial moment. We thank you in advance for your consideration and hope you will consider joining us in this mission.
Or contact us for more details and a full proposal@ b.tribune@bkktribune.com