บทบาทของหนังสือพิมพ์ไทยในการวางกรอบอุดมการณ์ทางสังคมในกรณีการนำเสนอข่าววัดพระธรรมกาย / จันทิกา สุภาพงษ์ = The role of Thai newspaper in framing social ideology through their coverage of Wat Phra Dhammakaya / Jantiga Supapong
The objective of this research is to study ways in which Thai newspapers present issues that have ideological dimensions and the forms in which these ideologies are reproduced in their news coverage. Preliminary hypothesis sees two positions in the media's ideological role - as promoter of state's power or as an open platform/terrain for all types of competing ideologies in society. The study also examines whether there is a relationship between the newspapers’ ideological approaches and their selection of news sources and their rationalization process in the news. To answer the above inquiries, the study uses news reports about the controversy surrounding Wat Phra Dhammakaya as a case study. This research involves a comparative content analysis of news reports about the Wat Phra Dhammakaya controversy in five Thai newspapers; namely, Thai Rath, Daily News, Thai Post, Khao Sod, and Mati Chon from November 1998 to July 1999. Two ideological categories are outlined as a benchmark for the analysis – ideologies that support state power and ideologies that do not support state power. The study also seeks to examine the relationship between the presence of these ideological positions in the newspapers and approaches used by the papers in selecting news sources and in rationalization. The research finds that Thai newspapers tend to present issues with ideologies that promote state power rather than issues that reflect a position of open platform for different ideologies. Meanwhile, the study also finds the newspapers' selection of news sources and the newspapers' rationalization in the Wat Phra Dhammakaya case correspond to these ideological positions since they also work in support of state power.