Storytelling Process and Construction of Meaning through Characters in Crime News of Tup Toh Khao Program on Amarin TV 34: A Case Study of the Death of Nong Chompoo in Ban Kok Kork Village

Abstract

This research was part of the research entitled “Storytelling Process of Crime News by Thai Press.” The objective of this qualitative research is to study the storytelling methods and social construction of meaning through people in the news. Data was collected from news reports on the death of “Nong Chompoo,” a Thai girl who was murdered at Kok Kork Village in Mukdahan province. The news reports were created by the “Tup Toh Khao” news program, which aired on Amarin TV 34. Content and textual analyses were used in the research.

The research found that the storytelling methods of criminal news on Amarin TV 34 were similar to those used for fiction content. There were plots, structures, characters, settings, dialogues, storytelling tactics, and social constructions of meaning deployed in the news reports. The “protagonist” and the “antagonist” exchanged their roles according to time, witnesses, and evidence, resulting in the characters having images that were not fixed. The reporters of the news were also considered characters in Nong Chompoo’s story. Both scientific and non-scientific information was presented to tell the story dependently on each other.