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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Good News versus Bad News By Antonio C. Abaya October 25, 2002 It can be argued that things are not as bad as they seem. Media merely makes them look so. Indeed, if one were to abstain for, say, one month, from reading the newspapers, listening to the radio, watching the TV news and talk shows, and perusing the postings of the egroups on the computer, one would have a totally different picture of the country. Some friends swear that if you were to go to the provinces and isolate yourself from media, as they have done, you would come back to Manila, if you really want to come back, refreshed mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It is so peaceful and relaxed and clean and non-confrontational in the countryside. I can believe that, but with the caveat that the countryside you are referring to is not the environs of the Bondoc Peninsula or Basilan or Zamboanga or the Sulu Archipelago. I myself found the Batanes Islands the most idyllic spot in the country when I was invited by Bitay Lacson, then chair of President Ramos� anti-poverty commission, to tag along on an inspection trip. Batanes was, in 1996, and probably still is, our unspoilt Eden, with spectacular scenery, unique indigenous dwellings, and gentle people, all the more remarkable because there are not too many of them. Many otherwise scenic places here are spoilt by the population explosion, and its attendant jeepneys, tricycles, sari-sari stores, gawdy adverts, and loud stereo jungle music. And people, people, people everywhere. But I digress. ***** An Internet viewer of this column, a committee co-chair from the Management Association of the Philippines, requests that this column give more space to �hopeful, good news� on the prayer that if media �were to give more attention and space to good news rather than bad ones, we might have more real good news.� Philippine media is admittedly a bad-news media, essentially because it is a profit-oriented media. Good news just does not sell as many copies and attract as many listeners/viewers as bad news. When the government builds ten bridges in the provinces, the news would be buried, unread, in the inside pages and would not likely be mentioned at all in the TV newscasts. But when one bridge is blown up by the NPA or the Abu Sayyaf, the news would be headlined on the front page and would hog the attention of TV and radio networks. Under a liberal democratic regime, there is no way that the government can attempt to reorient media towards good news without being accused of manipulating it as a step towards martial law and authoritarian rule. Additionally, Philippine media is a direct descendant of American media, which is inherently anti-government, having begun its life as mouthpiece of the revolution against British imperial rule. The media in communist and other authoritarian societies is a good-news media because it is used as a vehicle for uniting the people behind the government or �to build socialism.� Thus media in such societies accentuates the positive and ignores or deliberately hides the negative. In such a media environment, those ten new bridges would be glorified in glowing terms, while the blown-up bridge would be ignored, or, if mentioned at all, would be cited as an example of the wickedness of the enemies of the revolution. So, what do we prefer, the bad-news media that we have, or the good-news media that, say, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and the People�s Republic of China have? It is not possible to have both; in open competition for the public�s attention, bad news will almost always drive good news to irrelevance. ***** But it can be argued that Philippine media outdoes itself in highlighting the bad news. Several times a week I deliberately watch early evening TV news to get a feel of what information the masa are getting from their TV sets. I used to watch GMA-7�s Saksi, with Mike Enriquez and Vicky Morales, but stopped doing so as explained in my column of October 21, 2001 titled GMA-7 Saksi sa Kagaguhan. So I watch instead ABS-CBN�s TV Patrol with Korina Sanchez and Henry Omaga Diaz. In contents, the two newscasts are indistinguishable from each other. That is because they are competing with each other for audience share and are continually trying to outdo each other in retailing and detailing the most lurid and sordid news involving a daily litany of saksakan, barilan, bugbugan, patayan and gahasaan, with a special voyeuristic delight in the rape of minors and the plight of caught-in-the act GROs trying to hide their embarrassed faces from the unforgiving eye of the TV camera. Neither program is interested in reporting new discoveries in medicine, or breakthroughs in science and technology, or new books being published, or art exhibits and music concerts on tap for the public. Just saksakan, barilan, bugbugan, patayan and gahasaan, in addition to the pronouncements of pompous politicians and gory images from the latest bombings, spiced towards the end with juicy tidbits about the private lives of showbiz fornicators. In the controlled good-news media of Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and the People�s Republic of China, this daily diarrhea would not be allowed to pollute the minds of the viewing public. In the free-for-all bad-news media of the Philippines, this is the daily fare that is served to the masa. No wonder they grow up or remain stupid and ignorant. Philippine media can arguably be said to be the best argument against �absolute freedom of the press.� ***** This article appears in the November 18, 2002 issue of the Philippine Weekly Graphic magazine. |
| BUT, TONY, the really bad news is that the Philippines is in deep shit as can be glimpsed from your previous articles. Gras Reyes. [email protected] November 15, 2002 ��������������������������� DEAR TONY � When bugged, like you, by the good-news-versus-bad-news question, I tend to ask back: How about hard news? Regards. Johnny Mercado, DepthNews. [email protected]. November 15, 2002 MY REPLY: Yes, what about hard news, which I presume means news of events that really happened, as compared to innuendoes, exaggerations, rumors, disinformation, much of which also abound in Philippine media? But saksakan, bugbugan, patayan, barilan and gahasaan are hard news. It is really a judgment call on the part of the news editors or executive producers as to what hard news to emphasize in their papers or newscast. Unfortunately, as I have pointed out, their brains have migrated to their crotch or their armpit. ����������������������������� YOU WROTE: �American media, which is inherently anti-government,�..� You must be kidding. Pure stereotype. ��.having begun its life as mouthpiece of the revolution against British imperial rule�� That was a long time ago. Who is pushing today�s war against Iraq? Dumbo Bush AND the American media who are in cahoots with him! (because it suits their agenda). Isn�t it about time we dumped some of the old stereotypes and took a new look at the facts? That might paint a different picture of our reality and actually reflect it. ��No wonder (the masa) grow up or remain stupid and ignorant�..� You can say that again. Peter Ritter, Manila. [email protected]. November 15, 2002 ������������������������������ WHEN THE late, unlamented (US Vice-President) Spiro T. Agnew groused about bad news occupying too much of space in American media, someone challenged him thus: �Spiro T, publish a newspaper with only good news and I will publish one containing only bad news, and let�s see which sells.� Spiro became silent for a while and became silent eternally when he was convicted of graft. Ross Tipon, Baguio City. [email protected]. November 15, 2002 ������������������������������ DEAR TONY, I continue to read your column enthusiastically. This one in particular drives home the point I have made a program of writing about in my column regularly. May our efforts to get our colleagues in broadcast and print media bear fruit. God bless you, Tony. Rene Q Bas, Manila. [email protected]. November 15, 2002 ����������������������������..... I LIVED in the Philippines for three years in the 1990s and have returned now and then. My last visit was last April and May. The TV was even worse than in the 90s. The most inane, repetitive and stupid programs I�ve ever seen. It seems to be designed for idiots. I happened to watch the memorial for Rico Yan and felt physically ill. All those hypocritical eulogies for some dumb kid who had never had a serious thought in his life and who was totally devoid of talent. All he had was the kind of cute, bland face that Filipinos seem to worship. Filipinos have a totally distorted view of life and the interminable rituals of the priests were a form of religious torture. Robert Hanan, Queensland, Australia. [email protected]. November 15, 2002 ������������������������������ WHAT I DO is watch BBC, CNN, Fox etc. Anything other than bugbuban. saksakan, sigawan, etc etc on local TV. There are so many foreign stations, it�s possible to feel one is in London, WDC, Madrid, etc. The time is not far off when we will have something like over a hundred foreign stations to choose from. We also can just turn off the TV set. Vic de Jesus. [email protected]. November 14, 2002 MY REPLY: Yes, but if one is trying to understand why we are what we are, one must take pains to see what the masa, who make up the bulk of our population, are exposed to in our television and media culture. If the masa are stupid and ignorant, and they are, it is because of the kind of TV programming and movies that they are exposed to. Next to the trapos, it is the media (especially TV and the movies) who have ruined this country. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |
| OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to "Good News Versus Bad News" HI THERE, MR. TONY. From time to time, I receive your articles through my email and I�m very thankful for that. Here in Saudi Arabia we have this �The Filipino Channel� (TFC) and ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC). I don�t watch TFC�s slapstick comedies, even TV Patrol. I only watch ANC�s news and talk show programs. I get more educated info there. Talking about FPJ, is he serious in running for the presidency? Because if he is, talagang wala ng pag-asa ang bayan natin. This airhead has no shame�to his family, friends and the Filipino people. How can I say �I�m proud to be a Filipino� when the Eraps, Marcoses and FPJs of this world are being idolized by the airhead masa? FPJ, another idiot of an actor (another H.S. dropout?) running our country? Please, Susan, can you talk sense to your husband? Doesn�t he know his limitations? Oh my God, please deliver us from this MORON. N. P. Serrano. Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. [email protected]. December 01, 2002 MY REPLY. My sense is that Susan supports the MORON. You�d better direct your prayers to God or Allah or Whoever. ����������������������������� |