The launch of Thai Red News, a weekly pro-Thaksin Shinawatra and pro-red-shirt Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) newspaper less than three weeks ago made sure that discourse on real versus fake mass media keeps continuing.

This writer interviewed Thai Red News editor and DAAD leader Somyos Pruksakasemsuk on Monday and he did not seem too comfortable with the subject. First, he half jokingly said

Thai Red News was simply "fake media", but when prodded further, he retorted: "Tell me which [Thai mainstream media] is ethical?"

He explained that ASTV-Manager Daily cursed the red shirts and Thaksin regularly, and filed false reports.

"Media is media, be it ad hoc, short or long term. The reds have their own ideologies and goals, so they had produced their own media to serve [these objectives]," he said, adding that about half a dozen more papers supporting the red shirts were being launched.

Readers can decide what to make of Somyos' remarks.

However, to this writer, the discourse about real versus fake media, which has been around even before the 2006 coup, is more about the insecurity of mainstream media and their need to maintain legitimacy, power of persuasion and credibility.

The mainstream media's legitimacy in the eyes of yellow and red shirts has suffered markedly over the past three years, their credibility is evaporating and their power of persuasion has to be shared with vigilante outlets like ASTV-Manager Daily or Thai Red News.

This is probably because many mainstream media outlets have proved to be less than fair and open-minded in their political reports. Instead, they remain deeply politicised and partisan even as they hide behind a veneer of respectability and trustworthiness. This explains why many yellow, and especially red-shirt supporters, are fed up with current news outlets and want their own paper.

Claims that mainstream media in Thailand is impartial and without any hidden ideology is false. If papers like ASTV-Manager Daily and Thai Red News subscribe to their readers' politics and are directed by their political leaders, then mainstream media too is operated under free-market dogma wherein big advertisers and major shareholders hold sway.

So, there's really no such thing as an ideology free media outlet.

The crucial issue here is not whether Thaksin funds the Thai Red News or that People's Alliance for Democracy leader Sondhi Limthongkul runs ASTV-Manager Daily, the issue is that people ought to be able to read and believe in what they want. They do not deserve to be told by mainstream media or the Thai Journalist's Association that some media outlets are fake and should not be read.

Decision about the legitimacy of a media outlet, its sincerity and influence over politics should be left up to the public. Now, the mainstream media's power over political opinion is being challenged more than ever before - by both the red and the yellow camps - and they have no one else to blame but themselves for their dwindling support.