Buzz Joins the International Press Corps

The Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand is located on the top floor of a high rise office building in Bangkok’s CBD. Also on the floor, are the offices and studios of international media such as BBC, ITN, CNN, Bloomberg and CCTV. Periodically, the FCCT arranges tours of these media outlets for members to see how the news is put together and then broadcast throughout the world. I joined one of these informative evenings on November 19, 2010.

Reporters are in danger throughout the world. Two foreign correspondents were killed in Bangkok six months ago as they covered the red shirts’ burning of downtown Bangkok. As a precaution, reporters now wear bullet proof jackets and helmets, which, I can now tell you, are extremely heavy, hot and uncomfortable. I don’t know how they can wear this protective gear for very long. But, I tried (above).

The BBC is the largest foreign news agency in Bangkok. In its offices, one of three regular reporters stationed in Bangkok (above), describes how news is gatherer, edited, and eventually broadcast via satellite.

There are two radio broadcast studios at the BBC in Bangkok. Here, I sit at one of the radio consoles (above), but I’m not yet qualified to do a BBC broadcast. Next life, maybe.

The newsroom itself looks like many office premises, except for the ever-present TV monitors and lots of media gear.

Only two weeks ago, the China Central Television (CCTV), the major state broadcaster in China, opened a Bangkok office as part of its world-wide expansion plans (that sounds familiar). At the present time, CCTV sublets space in the BBC offices, until it can find its own offices and studio. Here, two Chinese reporters work on a story.

The CCTV’s Bangkok reporter explains the policies and goals behind the expansion of CCTV to become a world-wide influence. She was very frank and honest in answering questions, including ones about press freedom. At a time when the BBC, one of the great forces for honest and balanced reporting left in the world, is faced with extreme budget cuts, which will most definitely diminish its scope, this reporter affirmed that CCTV was not strapped for funds and that it would spend whatever it takes to accomplish its goals. To put it bluntly, as the West retrenches, for the Chinese, money is not a problem. In the US, only a threatened veto from President Obama, prevented congress from cutting or eliminating the funding for National Public Radio.