“He asked Philippine media to maintain credibility, integrity, fairness and accuracy based on the principle of getting the facts.”
by Ducky Paredes
The President had some good points in his critique of the media at the Philippine Press Institute’s 16th National Press Forum on “Media Accountability and Public Engagements” and Annual Membership meeting held at the Traders Hotel. Actually, it is not the work of the media to project a good image of his government or of the country; neither is it media’s task to project a bad one. In fact, on some of the points, the President should also examine what his government is doing.
For instance, on the recent state visit of the emir of Qatar, he said local media highlighted the fact that the visit was shortened by a day. Even if the agreements signed were also given space, the main focus was on the abrupt end of the State Visit, giving the visit a touch of the sinister.
The President explained that Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thaniis had to cut short his April 10 to 11 visit because of an emergency in his country.
I wonder though whether the Malacanang Press Office even had a press release explaining why the Emir was in such a hurry to get back home.
If the Emir had an emergency and no one told the reporters about it, how would the media know about it? I am sure no one in the local press had any access to the Emir or his people. In fact, the president’s speech was the first time I heard of an emergency in Qatar.
On his complaints about the false report of his being seen on a noon date while he was actually attending a meeting in Malacanang, he just has to expect more of this sort of false reports, every now and then. With the full blossoming of social media, because many of those tweeting will make mistakes, no one is safe anymore. Everyone, not only presidents, can become the subject of a tweet or a Facebook entry, which could well, be totally false.
Aquino also wondered aloud how it is that foreign media, and not the local media, recognize the reforms his administration has been implementing. The President cites Newsweek’s praises for the country’s taking a stand against China in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea issue, and Time Magazine’s article about the growing dynamism of the Philippines.
The President said. “I am not asking that you make up stories (kwentong kutsero) to make us smell good. But if we weigh things properly and think that every word affects the life of every Filipino, I am sure that we can more easily attain our collective dream for our country.”
He also said some of travel advisories issued by countries are based on negative reports by Philippine media. He is right that these negative reports drive away tourists and potential investors.
Our quick answer regarding foreign media reports: Perhaps, Malacanang took the time to talk seriously to the foreign correspondent, making available data they needed to write about the good news.
The unkindest cut was when the President compared us in media to the “Pilipinong alimango.”
Said His Excellency: “Nasa alaala ko pa po ang kuwento ng mga Pilipinong alimang0. Sa loob daw po ng isang bar, umiinom ang isang Amerikano. Pumasok ang isang mangingisdang Pilipino na may dalang timba na puno ng alimango. Ibinaba niya ito. Ang sabi ng Amerikano: ‘Buddy, your crabs are about to escape.’ Ang sagot naman ng Pilipino: ‘Don’t bother; they’re Filipino crabs. Before they get out they’ll be pulled in.’”
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In comparing how media was in his younger days and now, he seemed to idealize the past: Time was when, he said, “we hardly saw misspelled words, let alone wrong information” in newspapers.
“Nandiyan pa po kaya ang prinsipyo ng get it first and get it right?” he asked.
He asked Philippine media to maintain credibility, integrity, fairness and accuracy based on the principle of getting the facts.
“We are probably the only nation in this world that report out all the negative travel advisories about our country in our media. These travel advisories come from the perceptions of ambassadors who are having a tough time in the Philippines. Many of their impressions and opinions come from what the newspapers and television
Aquino said that if the media were just more “careful and balanced” in their reporting, more foreign tourists would visit the country. He said the target of attracting 10 million international visitors yearly by 2016 could be achieved as he noted that for February 2012 alone, the number of foreign tourists coming to Philippines surpassed 411,000.
He added that if we compute the February record of tourist arrivals and maintain that figure, we will be able to achieve more than 4.8 million tourists to arrive this year.
Noynoy says: “Just think how fast we can reach that goal if what we report is positive news about the Philippines rather than stressing the negative.”
On a particular story, the President reminded everyone how the media played up the news of carnapping incidents last year thereby making a bad impression to the country. Yet, when one of the culprits — Raymond Dominguez — was convicted last week, “nobody from the media hailed the government, the prosecutors or the police.”
Aquino said: “Magkatambal po ang ating mga tungkulin: Kami, bilang nasa gobyerno, at kayo, bilang tagapaghatid ng katotohanan. Ang pagtupad sa tungkuling natutuhan na po nating hilingin sa gobyerno, ay siya rin sanang pagtupad sa tungkuling puwede nating asahan mula sa lahat: Katapatan sa katotohanan, pantay na pagsusuri, at pagtutok sa kung ano ang makabubuti sa taumbayan.”
Since the IPI forum was revived 25 years ago, this is the first time that the country’s head of state addressed the annual gathering of owners, publishers and editors from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The event also marked the 48th founding year of PPI since 1964.
IPI was stopped during martial law, re-activated after the People Power Revolution, and incorporated in 1987. The National Press Forum gathers owners and publishers of the country’s 72 active publications in Manila.
PPI is a non-stock, non-profit private organization duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission whose principal mandate is to defend press freedom and promote ethical standards for the professional development of the Filipino journalists.
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hvp 04.25.12
