inking the fire
Much of what we have today are news concerning the flukes and flaws of the government. The media-- be it in print, radio, or other forms of audiovisual communications-practically revolve around these stories; stories that are possibly detrimental to the society. Hence, the government sees mass media, along with all the people behind it, as ‘civil enemies’ rather than allies. This is rather acceptable, knowing that the primary role of the media is to serve as watchdog of the people. With this in mind, the government and the mass media seem to be engaged in an on-going cold war. They [government] use media in order to communicate to the people how good or how successful they are in running the country. However, this treatment is only a case in point. The government is treating media in another way if it [media] has done otherwise the government’s intent. The government obviously wanted a biased reporting; otherwise, it leads to media repression. This ‘other way’ may be in the form of press shut down or worse, the killing of journalists all over the country. In fact, the Philippines has already become one of the most dangerous country for a journalist, discouraging millions of potentials to work and serve the people.
This media repression has happened since the beginning of Philippine journalism. From the old times to the Martial Law up to the Arroyo administration, hundreds of journalists are on their toes guarding their lives just because they wanted to bring people the truth. The recent proclamation of the 1017 re-affirms this view on Philippine journalism. The government treats the media as ‘dispensable’ entity, with which losing media practitioners is not their or even the country’s loss and whatever happens to these practitioners is because of their own doing. The government might as well call Philippine journalism as yellow journalism. This seemingly hasty generalization has affected not only the content and methods of media but most importantly, its purpose for its existence.
Journalism is supposed to be a practice of not only the skill in writing but also critical thinking and nose for newsworthy topics. It was never easy and there is a small chance for it to be. The mere fact that this practice requires sacrifice and dedication only proves that the media goes unappreciated-specially by the government.
The time when things in journalism will change is unpredictable… in fact, no one really knows if it ever will. Why, does anyone?