Hijacking the press

A good newspaper is never nearly good enough. But a lousy newspaper is a joy forever, an old wisecrack goes.” It  resonated in the Philippine Press Institute’s conference: “Watching the Watchdog: Re-examining Ourselves.”

The tone-setting chore fell on  publisher Jake Macasaet.  “Media men raise hell whenever one of their own is killed,” he said.  “Do we care about a balut vendor whose daily earnings are fleeced by a cop?”

The press council found an educator’s complaints against distorted reporting valid. The council urged the publisher to take action.  “Nothing happened,” Macasaet recalled. “We can not claim to integrity if we have a thief in our home… Journalists are not a special class who claim  privileges.”

Cyberspace technology “hijacked” journalism, Vergel Santos of Businessworld asserted. “Quality of professional practice is poor,” said  the PPI vice-chairman. Editorial crosschecks for verification, accuracy and fairness are now bypassed. The new technology opened media to ”people altogether untrained, not to say clueless” about  this tool. “Now, anyone can string words together and foist on the world misinformation….”

New technology flattened roles on information exchange, South China Morning Post’s Raissa Robles said. Newspaper  readers morphed into  content providers. The Internet… ripped  down  archipelagic barriers that  once set Filipinos apart from Aparri to Jolo. “What was a one-way street is now an interactive world.”

Poverty denies most Filipinos Internet access. “But what goes viral on the Net eventually ends up on radio, TV and newspapers.” Can  journalists survive this wrenching transition? Yes, if they acquire, beyond basic news gathering skills the ability to make sense out of a pattern of events.

Journalism ethical strictures often collide with popular appeal, noted University of the Philippines College of Mass Communications Dean Roland Tolentino.  “National news is ‘showbizified,’ and showbiz is ‘nationalized,’ notably in broadcast.”

“Trivial aspects of national personalities are highlighted; e.g. the President’s love life. The prominent is trivialized and the trivial is given prominence. The result is the  ‘dumbing’ of the news and its condescending take on audiences… Newspapers need to tell the truth — and sell.”

Over 500 students graduate yearly with mass communication degrees.  But “a sizeable number of media workers do not come from these programs.” They learned journalism on the beat. This “uneven landscape of competencies” create the need for more training in core values, Tolentino said. ”A perennial catch-up game to meet professional standards,” meanwhile, persists.

“Mass com  is  the new kid on  the block,” former reporter  Manuel de la Torre e-mailed from Idaho.” Many outstanding editors never  sat  through mass com. Their “diplomas” came from the beat or news desks.

Don Filemon Sotto was a lawyer and classical pianist. Recall  Felix “Judge” Gonzales of Manila Bulletin before it’s new management,  Teodoro Locsin Sr of Philippine Free Press and Jose Luna Castro of Manila Times. They had a sense of news, command of the language from broad reading, plus  fairness and love for the craft.

Those values hold  whether  the paper is churned out on hot lead or by the flick of a computer button. A broad liberal arts background, acquired from books or classrooms — plus bedrock integrity —is  still  the best  foundation.

Sleaze in media and “marketability as a news value” are pressing issues,  stressed  Asian Institute of Journalism president Ramon Tuazon. Corruption permeates all levels, media members admit in round table discussions.

Graft  even  spun off it’s own jargon, “bukol,” ATM journalism to  didal. “There is no corruption pag hindi mo hiningi ang ibinigay sa iyo is one excuse offered. “Everyone does it is peddled  to doll up corruption.”

Some media groups, meanwhile,  direct journalists to double as account executives, arguing. ”A contract can legitimize changing of hands of money.” Will it sell? Marketability has established itself in the news media as a major element of a story, Tuazon added. That is gauged by a  rating system,

Indeed, some media groups direct reporters to peddle ad space or airtime to their sources, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines  Rowena Paraan confirmed. They get a 10- to  20-percent commission. “Let’s face it. This is a conflict of interest.”

.Some networks scrounge for loopholes  to block  employees from signing on with unions, Paraan added. “This contractualization of journalists… is a form of violence. (It) makes them more vulnerable to safety and ethical issues.”

It was difficult for his newspaper to  be critical, a publisher said on the floor. Local officials were quite “supportive.”  “The issue is about “corruption of the publisher,” snapped another.  “In rural areas, we survive by patronage of  politicians and  businessmen.”

“The journalist’s job is not  ‘to take the cudgels for local officials,’ was the heated reaction from the floor. Verification and context is what  separates journalism from showbiz or cyberspace gossip. Speak also about  efforts by many  to stem corruption, Cebu Daily News’ Eileen Mangubat suggested. An independent study of wages would be useful. “That will never come from the owners….”

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta  summed up these issues  in one sentence: “It is more difficult to deal with media than to bathe a leper.”