There were emotionally charged scenes that culminated in high drama.

Of course, the burning question was whether the screen would turn black. It would be a pity if a television station with a legion of fans were to be taken off the air. iTV's story would make the best type of news tale, with its plot revolving around the media outlet, the fate of which became uncertain with the coming of the military-installed government.

From Tuesday to Wednesday - judgement day - iTV's round-the-clock programming featured a series of spots aimed at drumming up public support against the government's plan to pull the plug on the country's only privately-run free television channel. iTV reporters portrayed themselves as victims of injustice in the face of government suppression. "Without iTV, who will expose the truth to the public?" one iTV newsman said. Another female reporter broke into tears before going back on duty, holding the microphone firmly and reporting the decision live from iTV headquarters.

In fact, iTV reporters were apparently as shocked as anyone else upon learning of Tuesday's Cabinet ruling shutting down the station. After the network, as well as the other television stations, reported the live announcement of the Cabinet decision made by PM's Office Minister Dhipavadee Meksawan, iTV's programming returned to normal - with an Indian drama series.

Afterwards, however, news programming gave way to "tribute" sessions, one after another, as a plea to the public to turn against iTV's closure. Reporters came out to boast about how they had had to risk their lives covering conflict stories. One reporter said he'd had to risk his life braving nail traps spread out by insurgents in the three southernmost provinces. My colleague who is familiar with the southern conflict felt that such statements were a mockery to the poorly paid stringers and fixers who have actually been living down there on the front lines.

News anchors let their sources air their grievances regarding the possible shutdown of the station. Reporters were in tears. Spots of iTV's charitable activities, such as the station's donation of blankets to people in the North, were shown during every commercial break.

High-profile figures who phoned in to extend their sympathies were praised by iTV newscasters. One of them was former Thai Rak Thai Party MP Kannikar Thammakesorn, who was dubbed a "respectable media woman who revolutionised TV news reporting" by the iTV anchor.

 The words "media freedom" echoed time and again. But it was clear that reporters were also concerned with job security. At one point, when Khan Prachuabmoh, president of the Government Housing Bank (GHB), phoned into a news programme, the host asked Khan to assist iTV reporters who happened to have borrowed housing loans from the GHB if they lost their jobs. Khan promised he would, even though he said he would have to work out the details later.

Support pouring in from the public was also highlighted during the programme. From time to time, iTV headquarters would cut short its programming to cut to live reports from regional iTV offices as proof that the shutdown decision would certainly run against public sentiment.

Programmes on Tuesday and Wednesday were designed to serve as a farewell episode for the network by featuring its ups and downs over the past decade. Amid all of this strong emotion, what was missing was the source of all the controversy.

To recap: the story began in January 2004, when an arbitration panel's ruling reduced the concession fees for iTV and deviated the intentions behind the founding of the station. The panel allowed iTV to pay a lower fee and adjust its content, so that it was more skewed towards entertainment. iTV won permission to pay an annual fee of either 6.5 per cent of its revenues or Bt230 million, a drastic drop from the original rate of 44 per cent or Bt1 billion a year. The court also allowed the station to adjust its news/entertainment programming ratio from 70:30 to 50:50.

However, last May 9, in responding to an appeal by the Office of the Permanent Secretary of the PM's Office, the Central Administrative Court overruled the arbitration panel's decision and ordered iTV to stick to the original concession-fee rate - 44 per cent of revenues or Bt1 billion a year. The court also called for backdated concession fees of about Bt1.7 billion to be paid. iTV was ordered by the Central Administrative Court last May to pay Bt70 billion for breaching its contract with the government. The station was also required to readjust its news-to-entertainment ratio from 50:50 to 70:30.

iTV's programming adjustment was in fact a departure from its founding principles, which were laid down following the expensive lessons drawn from the media's failure to tell the public the truth about the events of "Black May" in 1992.

iTV reporters failed to mention an incident in 2004 when Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, then chairman of iTV's executive board, said the adjustment of content to add more entertainment programming, despite the initial regulations governing iTV, had been "made to increase advertising revenues and boost ratings". In short, the original iTV concept was lost from that moment on.

While reports were dominated by pictures of teary-eyed staff and discussions of legal complications, the high-profile political intervention that led to the sacking of more than 20 "rebellious" reporters was another high point of iTV history that was left untold this week.

Now iTV reporters have a happy ending. its news reports on Wednesday tirelessly showed the pictures of 1,000-plus staff rejoicing at the reprieve for their embattled channel. The drama is over, and now it's time to move on.

The natural next assignment for these reporters is to correct the injustices caused by their previous management team, which resulted in a loss of tax money - in other words, the public's interest that they are supposed to protect. The audience, which has supported the reporters despite not being told the whole story, deserves no less than the truth.

Jeerawat Na Thalang