Journalism 101 for P-Noy

President Noynoy told business leaders and investors that the media are to blame for highlighting negative reports and downplaying good news.

There they go again, airing the same old complaint that the media   gives more stress on bad, rather than good news.

When a dog bites a man, that’s not news; but when a man bites a dog, that’s news.

When a policeman helps an old woman cross a busy street, that’s not news at all because it’s his job to serve and protect the citizenry.

But when a cop robs a citizen who just came from a bank, that’s news.

And if you ask why it’s news, you’re stupid.

That’s Journalism 101, Mr. President.

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When the President blames his subordinates, instead of himself, on an issue of national significance, like the Mamasapano fiasco, his action becomes big news.

But when he takes the rap for the mistake of his subordinates, that’s minor news, if at all, because every great leader is expected to do that.

In other words, something out of the ordinary or unusual gets in the headlines while a commonplace occurrence, like rain during the rainy season, does not merit even a one-liner.

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In Davao City, a petty crime such as a citizen being robbed in broad daylight on a street becomes big news in the community because it’s not an ordinary occurrence in that practically crime-free city.

But in Metro Manila, a cop who beats up a man who happens to stare in his direction is no longer news because abusive policemen abound in the metropolis.

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Now, tell me if the following report is news:

In Bauang, La Union, the police and members of the Coast Guard look the other way when dynamite fishers blast the fish out of the sea.

A concerned citizen, Rose Bradfors, has complained to the Office of the Mayor, to the police and the Coast Guard about the rampant blast fishing offshore in Bauang town.

But nobody listens to her, says Bradfors, a Filipino married to a Swede.

Every day, Bradfors claims she hears 20 explosions from her house by the sea.

Once, she says, the Swedish ambassador to the Philippines came to visit her home, heard the explosions and left in a huff.

She blames the police station in Bauang, the Coast Guard station in the province and the 101st Maritime Police station in San Fernando town for ignoring her complaint.

I called up Chief Insp. Benjamin Diagan, Bauang police chief, and asked him to comment on Bradfors’ complaint sent to Isumbong mo kay Tulfo, a public service program aired on radio dwIZ.

Diagan said he and his men haven’t arrested a single blast fisherman because every time they approach dynamite fishers at sea, the latter would throw the improvised explosives into the sea.

Diagan said the explosives would have served as evidence.

He admitted confiscating the fish which were blasted out of the sea, but he said they were not evidence.

Duh.

Diagan, a ranking police official, doesn’t know the law. That’s news.

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Chances are, the policemen and members of the Coast Guard who allegedly supply the blast fishermen with explosives, are the reasons why illegal fishers get away with the practice.

Almost always, the police or the Coast Guard protect illegal fishing.

Many years ago, fishermen in Taytay town, Palawan province caught big fish and seafood by the thousands by poisoning them.

The sea off Taytay, a fishing town, teems with marine life.

The then police director of Palawan supplied the chemicals to make poison, according to residents of the town.