Category Archive for: media

Not that it isn’t being pointed out by more and more people, which has also made our mainstream media practitioners totally defensive, but there are some glaring media mishaps that seem important to mention — before we (i) forget, and just so it’s here for future reference.

The Karen Davila Headstart interview with Justice Antonio Carpio on July 14 2016 happened as expected. They talked about the West Philippine Sea dispute, the decision of the international arbitral tribunal in favor of the Philippines, and where to go from here. I will not talk about the line of questioning of Davila, or the answers of Carpio, but everyone should be reading Sass Rogando Sasot, from whom I’ve been learning a lot about this dispute and have been sent in various directions towards understanding this whole thing better. (Here’s a good start, too.)

What I will direct you to is this transcript of the Davila-Carpio interview, where you will find one question that comes from left field, and barely even make sense.  (more…)

ridiculous #MediaCrisis

It has gotten ridiculous, the way this noisy elite on social and mainstream media has looked down on, put into question, scoffed at, anything at all to do with incoming President Rodrigo Duterte.

Don’t get me wrong: we should be discussing at length and in depth all his major campaign promises because he is willing to risk the presidency to fulfil these. This requires that we be on our toes, and engaging in relevant discussions about the death penalty, human rights, and federalism.

But instead of levelling up the discourse, this noisy elite is grasping at straws. Without the #Du30 press conferences that used to give them — and mainstream media! — much glee because it would give them so much to harp on (the more controversial the better), there is less to complain about now.

And so we are at the point of talking about the inaugural menu and whether or not it can be defined as simple. They are at the point of drawing connections where there are none, if only to prove that Duterte is who they think he is — whatever that might be — regardless of what he says or does. (more…)

There were two dominant reactions to the proposal of a People’s Television in the last column.

One was a belief that what was meant was Marcosian Martial Law television. The other was a yawn – it has been said before, planned before, imagined before, and nothing ever came of it.

What it is not: Marcosian TV
It bears repeating that nowhere in that column about a People’s TV did I assert that it should be similar to or go in the direction of Martial Law TV, which existed primarily on censorship and the repression of free speech, and the use of culture as a way to propagate government propaganda. (more…)

It has gotten such a negative reaction, the statement of incoming Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar, that the Rodrigo Duterte government will print its own tabloid, build a website, and do a weekly presidential TV and radio talk show.

The naysayers in our midst with no sense of hope nor creativity, rebel rousers interested only in the cause of discrediting everything this new government plans to do, have laughed at the idea, not to mention raised fears by referencing Marcosian times – the better to sow distrust in our hearts. It would do us all well not to believe them. (more…)

It seems important not to let this pass. Tuesday, June 8, was the deadline for all those who ran for public office to submit their Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) to COMELEC. The Liberal Party has missed its deadline, and is asking for a 14-day extension. As per COMELEC rules:

The 08 June 2016 deadline shall be final and non-extendible. Submissions beyond this period shall not be accepted. COMELEC Resolutions Nos. 9849 and 9873, Minute Resolutions Nos. 13-0775 and 13-0823 are hereby repealed, insofar as they allowed the belated submission, amendmentand/or correction of campaign finance disclosure statements and reports and the imposition of late penalties for the 2013 National and Local Elections. [n]

(more…)