Suranand Vejjajiva on Thailand's No 1 TV news personality & what it takes to achieve success in Thai TV (plus balanced critique).
Sorayuth, a hero in this age of reality TV by Suranand Vejjajiva
Watching television on the current flood relief operations, one sees all sorts of personalities competing to get, in Andy Warhol's expression, their "15 minutes of fame".
Politicians, academics, government officials, NGOs, reporters and broadcasters - all have become water experts overnight (including myself, of course, on my own political commentary talk show.
But one individual and one television channel stand out, getting far more than their share of 15 minutes: Sorayuth Sutha-sanajinda, the popular news anchor, and Channel 3 where he works.
Mr Sorayuth rose to stardom with his direct questioning style mixed with dramatic pose and prose. His popular morning news show, Rueng Lao Chao Nee or "stories to be told this morning" is cleverly designed to suit the Thai way of life, which revolves around the neighborhood coffee shops or stalls where groups of friends and neighbors gather to discuss the news of the day, dubbed sapha kafae or coffee council.
In terms of style, Mr Sorayuth does not report news like other news anchors. He has mastered his storytelling skills and is able to talk in a way that people feel they are gathering around the table and actually are with him in the flesh.
More of a talk show than straight news, Mr Sorayuth bundles opinions and news facts to convince the audience of his stories in the way we all do when we talk to friends and try to make them agree with our views.
He (with his editors) picks popular topics catering to the interests of common people on the street - somewhat like the combination of tabloid and news that makes a newspaper like Thai Rath the number one print in this country.
Over the years, Mr Sorayuth and Channel 3 have developed a winning formula of news reporting, storytelling and reality TV into a package that keeps audiences glued to the screen. Rueng Lao Chao Nee is at the top of the ratings chart.
Lives are laid out, traumatic experiences dramatised, while funny stories become the talk of the town, while abuses of power and scandals are exposed. Copycats at other stations fade in comparison to the master of the game, who is adept at heightening the sense of excitement, fear, happiness, and sadness even to the point of tears, as the news of the day flows.
And like Thai Rath, Channel 3 and Mr Sorayuth's popularity became an influence that has drawn in sponsors. It is rumoured that any product Mr Sorayuth endorses, or even merely mentions, on his show will sell like hot cakes. His words can literally turn into gold.
Channel 3 also cleverly mixes other styles of news show to follow up and maintain ratings after Mr Sorayuth's morning show. The news-breaks at the top of the hour and the midday news hour are more of a straight news reporting type but still with flare and dramatization.
Kitti Singhapat and his late night news hour, Khao Sam Miti, or "news in 3 dimensions" provides more substance both in terms of reporting and analyses but also maintain the heightened dramatic aspects from field reports. If life is a box of chocolates, then Channel 3 has it all for you, a different taste for every personality.
Since the flood last year, and more so with the scale of the disaster this year, Mr Sorayuth and Channel 3 have taken even a more aggressive role not only in reporting, interviewing and commenting on the news, but also in flood relief operations.
Channel 3 has become the leading news organization in relief work: receiving donations, putting together survival bags to be handed out to flood victims, searching for and rescuing stranded people and their pets, all under the non-stop rolling of the cameras churning out moving pictures as if everybody were part of a reality TV show.
Mr Sorayuth is the leading man. He is out in the field talking, interviewing, reporting, telling stories and helping victims tirelessly into the night, with clips to be shown on his morning show.
He now has a sidekick (every hero has a sidekick) in Ko Tee the popular comedian, fat and short but cute and funny. Together they venture out on their mission to save the world. It is a winning package made for television.
Is it wrong for Channel 3 to do relief work? No, of course not; well, not entirely. It is good that a profitable organization like Channel 3 helps out the flood victims. I sincerely commend Channel 3's management in taking charge of a charitable venture.
They are trusted by many among the general public who donate in millions, and have received cooperation from the agencies, government and non-government, which willingly provide coordinated assistance.
And although I must admit there is a funny feeling when I see Channel 3's big logo on the relief supplies (since it is definitely a way of advertising), it is much better than the government's survival bags marred in power abuse and scandals. Speaking of which, the government's Flood Relief Operations Command (Froc) has a lot to learn from Channel 3. Froc has fumbled and bungled their operations and its public credibility is low.
On the other hand, to be fair, Channel 3 has the advantage of being a corporation. Coordinating their operations is easier than the various government agencies running around Froc protecting their own turf and interests. Each agency wants to propagandist its own work and not remain under Froc's umbrella.
The Army, Navy, Interior Ministry, individual politicians - all want to gain credit for themselves. Even the police wear T-shirts saying "Police". Froc and the government get all the blame, the agencies get the credit, even as they tap Froc for budget and authorization.
It is also easier for Channel 3 and Mr Sorayuth or any other reporter to pick out a case to help, float in with cameras rolling and do their dramatic search and rescue. They need only a few cases a day to make their news show a success. Froc cannot do spot work and thus cannot compete in that sense. Froc may have helped thousands, but none of it was advertised.
In a separate issue, many have criticised Mr Sorayuth and Channel 3's approach to dramatising the news. I do agree with them to a certain extent. In some instances, I think Mr Sorayuth and his team should respect individual rights a bit more - waking people up at night and shoving a microphone or camera in their face just to get a story is not right.
And in many ways Mr Sorayuth overextends himself from the role of the media to intervening in incidents which could backfire in terms of public interest. Channel 3's management should evaluate carefully and set a clear line of policy.
I would not say Mr Sorayuth and the news team at Channel 3 are media heroes. But in this day and age of soap operas and reality TV, I just sit back and enjoy the show.
Suranand Vejjajiva served in the Thaksin Shinawatra cabinet and is now a political analyst
(Source: Bangkok Post, COMMENTARY, Sorayuth, a hero in this age of reality TV, 18/11/2011, Suranand Vejjajiva, link)
TV News and Entertainment Industry Vocabulary
reality - actually happening ความเป็นจริง
reality TV - a type of TV program with unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, "documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded... exploded as a phenomenon around 1999–2000 ... at times utilizing sensationalism to attract audience viewers and increase advertising revenue profits...
Participants are often placed in exotic locations or abnormal situations, and are often persuaded to act in specific scripted ways by off-screen story editors or segment television producers, with the portrayal of events and speech manipulated and contrived to create an illusion of reality through direction and post-production editing techniques" (See Wikipedia)
age - a period in history (a long period of time)
this age of reality TV
relief - help for improving a bad physical condition or a bad situation การผ่อนคลาย, การบรรเทา; การช่วยให้พ้นภัย; money, food, medicine etc. that is given to help people in places where there has been a natural disaster, war, etc. เครื่องบรรเทาสาธารณภัย
flood relief - helping people who are in difficult situations because of the floods
current - of the present time ปัจจุบัน
current flood relief operations
personality - a famous person คนที่มีชื่อเสียง
Andy Warhol - (1928-1987) famous American "pop artist" as well as celebrity during the 1960s and 70s (See Wikipedia)
15 minutes of fame - being famous for a short time, "the expression was coined by Andy Warhol, who said in 1968 that 'In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.' The phenomenon is often used in reference to figures in the entertainment industry or other areas of popular culture, such as reality TV and YouTube" (See Wikipedia)
academics - professors and lecturers at universities and colleges
NGO - Non-Governmental Organization, organizations that are not connected to the government or companies that do different kinds of work to help people (See Wikipedia)
broadcasters - radio or TV stations that send programmed over the airwaves for people to listen to or watch in their homes การแพร่ภาพกระจายเสียง
all have become water experts overnight - all have become experts very quickly
individual - a person (considered separately from their society or community) บุคคล
stand out - easy to be seen or noticed (appears as different from all the others)
one individual and one television channel stand out
share - to have or use something at the same time as someone else ใช้ร่วมกัน
getting far more than their share of 15 minutes
news anchor - "a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet. News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field, also called a "news presenter" (See Wikipedia)
rose to stardom - become a famous celebrity
direct - A affects D
direct questioning style - ask people difficult questions they may not want to answer
dramatic - exciting and impressive
pose - 1. staying in a certain nice position to take a photograph (not a usual or natural position); 2. pretending to be a certain way to create a certain impression or to make people think or believe something
prose - normal everyday writing you find in newspaper articles, for example (not poetry)
dramatic pose and prose
cleverly designed to suit the Thai way of life
stalls - large tables or small shops with an open front from which goods are sold in a public place แผงขายของ
dubbed - given a name ตั้งฉายา, ตั้งชื่อเล่นให้
dubbed sapha kafae or coffee council.
In terms of style, ... - as for its style ... , describing its style ... , looking at its style ...
mastered - learned how to do something well ทำจนชำนาญ
skills - a type of work or task requiring special training and knowledge ทักษะ ความสามารถเฉพาะทาง
mastered his storytelling skills
gathering - a party or a meeting when many people come together as a group การรวมตัว, การประชุม
gathering around the table
actually - really 100% is true and exists
flesh - skin
in the flesh - when a person is there (with the "flesh" of their body)
actually are with him in the flesh
talk show - a TV show with many well-known guests who talk about different topics with a talk show host (See Wikipedia)
straight - not mixed with other things (example: Never drink straight rice whiskey before driving your car.)
straight news - only news (not mixed with other things such as entertainment)
bundle - many things gathered together into a group
opinion - ความเห็น, ความคิดเห็น
fact - ส่วนของข้อมูล; ความจริง, ข้อเท็จจริง, ความเป็นจริง
bundles opinions and news facts
convince - saying things to make a person believe something
audience - the people who watch an event happen; the group of people gathered in one place to watch or listen to a play, film, someone speaking, etc. ผู้ชม
convince the audience of his stories - make the people watching his show believe in his stories (and what he is saying, his message)
editor - the person who makes the decisions about what to publish in a part of a newspaper or magazine (See Wikipedia)
catering to - giving people what they they want
interests - the things that a person is interested in; wants to see and know more about
catering to the interests of - providing people with the things they are interested in, that they want to see and hear about
common people - ordinary people, people who are like most other people (not rich people, famous people, professors)
common people on the street - same as "common people"
picks popular topics catering to the interests of common people on the street
combination - the mixture you get when two or more things are combined การรวมกัน
tabloid - a type of popular newspaper with small pages which has many pictures and short simple reports หนังสือพิมพ์ขนาดเล็กที่รวมเรื่องสั้นต่างๆ ไว้
the combination of tabloid and news that makes a newspaper like Thai Rath the top circulation newspaper in this country
circulation - newspaper circulation, the number of people who read a newspaper each day, a newspaper's readership (See Wikipedia)
formula - a certain way to do something; a series of steps to achieve a result; a procedure
winning formula - a formula that leads to success
developed a winning formula - created a formula that leads to success
keeps audiences glued to the screen - the show is so interesting that people do not want to stop watching it (for any reason)
ratings chart - the list of top TV shows or songs (in order of most to least popular)
at the top of the ratings chart
trauma (noun) - 1. a very shocking and upsetting experience (psychological trauma); 2. an injury such as a broken leg (physical trauma)
traumatic (adjective)
traumatic experiences dramatised
the talk of the town - everyone in the town or city is talking about this
exposed - made known; uncovered เปิดเยต่อ
abuses of power and scandals are exposed.
copycats - people who only do what other people do, copying what others do, imitating them
fade - to slowly disappear, lose importance or become weaker อ่อนลง,หายไป,ค่อย ๆ ตาย
master - a man who is very good at something ปรมาจารย์
fade in comparison to the master of the game
adept - very skilled at
heightening the sense of - creating an increased feeling of
adept at heightening the sense of excitement
to the point of tears - almost makes you cry
influence - affect what people do or think อิทธิพล
sponsor - a company paying for a program or event (and getting advertisements and publicity in exchange)
drawn in sponsors - gets companies interested in being sponsors
Mr Sorayuth's popularity became an influence that has drawn in sponsors.
rumoured - people are saying that something is true (but there has not been an offical announcement yet, so don't knwo whether it is true or not)
endorse a product - say that a product is good
mention - say something about something (while you are talking about something else)
sell like hotcakes - sell very large amounts of the product
It is rumoured that any product Mr Sorayuth endorses, or even merely mentions, on his show will sell like hot cakes.
X literally means Y - X means Y exactly (not just being used to describe; used as metaphor or simile)
His words can literally turn into gold.
maintain - keep in good condition รักษา
maintain ratings - keep the TV rating high
TV ratings - (See Wikipedia on broadcast ratings and audience measurement)
news-breaks at the top of the hour - the short presentations of breaking news every hour on TV (between TV programs)
flare - 1. ; 2. when flames jump up and a fire gets bigger ความโกรธที่เพิ่มขึ้น
with flare and dramatization
substance - based on accurate or true information มีมูล
provides more substance
analyses
heightened - increased (example: heightened drama and excitement)
firld reports - reports from where an event is taking place (not back in the office or television studio)
heightened dramatic aspects from field reports
scale - size (relative size)
disaster - something very bad that happens and causes a lot of damage or kills a lot of people ความหายนะ ภัยพิบัติ
the scale of the disaster this year - meaning: this year's disaster was very big (bigger than usual)
aggressive - done with great energy and intensity; forceful, determined, and eager to succeed (See glossary) ก้าวร้าว ซึ่งมีความมั่นใจสูง
role - function or position that someone or something has in an activity, situation, organization, society or relationship บทบาท
taken even a more aggressive role
flood relief operations
donations - money given by people to help some project or organization financially
victims - people who are killed injured or harmed in some way from an accident, natural disaster, crime, etc.
survival bags to be handed out to flood victims,
stranded - left somewhere with no way of going anywhere else ปล่อยเกาะ ถูกทิ้งไว้ cannot leave a place (due to bad weather or hoards of protesters, for example) ถูกปล่อยเกาะ
rescuing stranded people and their pets,
the non-stop rolling of the cameras churning out moving pictures as if everybody were part of a reality TV show.
the leading man - the main actor in a drama (movie, TV show)
sidekick - friend who travels along with a person on their adventures
venture - to go somewhere, especially someone that is unpleasant, dangerous or exciting เสี่ยงภัย ผจญภัย
mission - an important job, especially a military one, that someone is sent somewhere to do งาน
venture out on their mission to save the world.
charitable - giving money to the poor and disadvantaged; having a kind attitude towards people and wanting to help them rather than criticism them ใจบุญ เมตตากรุณา
I sincerely commend Channel 3's management in taking charge of a charitable venture.
donate - to give something such as money or goods to an organization, especially to a charity, school, political party, etc. บริจาค
donate in millions
cooperation - work together towards a goal ความร่วมมือกัน การทำงานร่วมกัน
provide - to give someone something that they want or need
coordinated - working together to achieve a goal ทำงานร่วมกัน
assistance - help (given to someone)
received cooperation from the agencies, government and non-government, which willingly provide coordinated assistance.
admit - to agree that something is true, especially when you are unhappy, sorry or surprised about it ยอมรับ
I must admit ...
logo - a special design or way of writing the company's name put on all products and advertisements
Channel 3's big logo on the relief supplies
marred - ruined, destroyed Rising Uncertainty “Foreign investors are used to
abuse - to use or treat someone or something wrongly or badly, especially in a way that is to your own advantage ใช้ในทางที่ผิด doing something you are not supposed to do, spending money on something you are not supposed to spend on
power abuse - having the power to control events and then control events in a way that is not moral or right (for your own or your cronies benefit or to hurt other people)
scandal - a shocking and immoral event or situation that everyone knows about (involving a politician, celebrity or other public figure) (See Wikipedia)
the government's survival bags marred in power abuse and scandals
credibility - believability, when many people believe that what you say is true; the degree to which something can be believed or trusted ความน่าเชื่อถือ,ความน่าไว้วางใจ
bungled - done in a careless or stupid way ผิดพลาด
Froc has fumbled and bungled their operations and its public credibility is low.
advantage - a condition giving a greater chance of success ความได้เปรียบ
Channel 3 has the advantage of being a corporation
turf - the territory or things that you or your group controls
interest - some way you can benefit from a situation or something that you own (example: ownership interest in a corporation, acting in your own interest)
protecting their own turf and interests
propaganda (noun) - inaccurate information that a political organization or government publishes to make people believe certain things
propagandist (verb)
under the umbrella of - included within an organization; under the authority or leadership of
under Froc's umbrella - included in the FROC organization
credit - 1. when people see you as the person doing some good thing; 2. loans เครดิต เงินกู้ money that you owe someone (a bill that grows until you pay it off at the end of the month, for example)
all want to gain credit for themselves.
tap - use
budget - the amounts of money that an organization has available to spend on different things during a period งบประมาณ (See Wikipedia)
they tap Froc for budget and authorization.
float in with cameras rolling
search - to look somewhere carefully in order to find something ค้นหา
rescue - to save someone from a dangerous situation ช่วยชีวิต
search and rescue
spot work - work at a certain location
Froc cannot do spot work - meaning: Froc has responsibility for all situations (cannot pick and choose the best)
issue - an important subject that people are arguing about or discussing ประเด็น
approach - a way of doing or dealing with some problem or thinking about something วิธีการทำให้ถึงจุดหมาย การจัดการกับปัญหา
extent - size ขนาด
to a certain extent - not completely, not 100%, from 1% to 99%
agree with them to a certain extent
respect - to accept the importance of someone's rights or customs
rights - something you are legally or morally allowed to do or have สิทธิ์ (See Wikipedia)
should respect individual rights a bit more
media - public ways of communicating news and information: television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the internet สื่อ
overextend - do more than you can handle or be successful with
incidents - events which are either unpleasant or unusual เหตุการณ์
intervening in incidents - getting involved in events (such as helping people in the flood)
overextends himself from the role of the media to intervening in incidents
backfire - to have the opposite effect or result than the one you intended ส่งผลตรงข้ามกับที่หวังไว้
public interest - what is best for all people in a society (the public)
backfire in terms of public interest.
clear - easy to understand
policy - 1. a set of ideas and plans used for making decisions; 2. a set of plans or action agreed on by a government, political party, business, or other group นโยบาย (See Wikipedia)
line - a way of dealing with or thinking about something or someone over a long period of time; a position or long-term strategy
policy line - a policy theme or set of policies over time (that are consistent and share something in common; not changing all the time)
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