The 25th Anniversary
of the Philippine Press Institute: Legacy of a Free Press was held at the
Traders Hotel had our very own President of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino III
as keynote speaker and respected media practitioners to talk about the media
industry.
On its first day, the event was
packed with media covering the event, media practitioners from various
parts of the Philippines and student representatives from different Colleges
and Universities to learn firsthand from the professionals themselves the state
of our Media Industry in terms of its deficiencies and progress.
President Aquino in his Keynote
speech gave a sort of lecture to the media about delivering balanced news. He said that too many times, negative news
overweigh the good news which could gravely affect tourism in the country.
According to him, a foreigner friend of his who was keen on visiting the
Philippines changed his mind when he found too much negative news occurring in
the Philippines which he based from local media reports. Another important
point that he raised was that media can be very hasty in releasing a story,
never mind that it may be factually wrong so long as it sells.
I was asked by a TV5 crew to
react to PNoy’s speech and I answered, with so little time to gather my
thoughts that there is indeed truth to the points PNoy raised. Oftentimes,
especially in print media, stories can be exaggerated and this may be due to a
characteristic of news that it has to be very unique or controversial in nature
in order to gain buzz. I do agree however with Ms. Malou Mangahas, Executive
Director of Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism who reacted on
whether there is imbalance in news. According to her it’s not a question of
positive and negative news but reporting the truth. It is true that I may not
always like what I hear in the news but at least it is factual and I have a
heads up on what really is going on out there so that I will be prepared rather
than other types of governments whose media are gagged.
The Speech of the late Isagani
Yugot, (PPI Trustee and Publisher of Philippines Daily Inquirer) entitled Media
Accountability, was read by Alexandra
Prieto-Romualdez, President of Philippine Daily Inquirer. Yugot said, “The
media, particularly in democracies are very powerful. But with great power goes
a great degree of social responsibility and accountability. The media, to
continue to enjoy the trust of the public, must be frank and transparent and
open to criticism and it should be willing to submit itself to the same level
of scrutiny that it subjects people and institutions to.”
The Filipinos because of our
incompetent government agencies headed by corrupt officials is not trusted. In
effect people would rather go to the media to seek help thereby empowering
media. TV5 News and Public Affairs Head, Luchi-Cruz Valdez said that at the time of
Typhoon Ondoy, they along with other media networks were the ones who were
giving relief goods to the victims and not one government agency was present to
help.
If you want instantaneous results
as in missing belongings left in taxi cabs you call radio stations and your
chances of getting it back is much greater if not faster than reporting it to
local police stations. If you have been wronged or if you weren’t served inefficiently
by government employees or even private employees, you would call the Tulfo
Brothers to speak out for you and only then will you be given the time of the
day. It may be true that the end does not justify the means but I am thankful
that such media personalities like them who are feared because they are dedicated
to public service that promise results. Scandals
even involving the Church like the ‘Pajero Bishops’ story, had it not been
reported, corrupt people responsible for it would still be enjoying luxuries
that is not due them. I would say that media in general has been doing its job
to be watchdogs of society. As a future media practitioner, I am excited to deliver
objective stories that would ethically serve the public well and create a
positive impact in the industry like the many multi-awarded media professionals
who spoke on the first day of the 25th Anniversary of the PPI.
