Media

I KNOW only too well that freedom of speech is a hallmark of a robust democracy, and we are most fortunate that our country’s mass media currently enjoy this freedom to a remarkably high degree. I must say, however, that some of our national TV networks have lately been carrying this freedom of expression too…

MANILA, Philippines—In the past few weeks, the TV landscape has been rocked by the aftershocks of a scandal that erupted after Jan-Jan, a 6-year-old boy, performed what was described as a “macho dance” in the TV5 game show “Willing Willie.”

MANILA, Philippines – The European Union’s new ambassador is urging the local media to highlight positive news even as he acknowledges the importance of exposing unsavory developments in the country, particularly in government.

Vexed by the onslaught of criticisms it has been receiving lately on the government’s failure to prevent the recent bombing incident in Makati and address the rising criminality in the country, Malacañang yesterday slammed the so-called “noisy minority” for allegedly politicizing the issues that are currently confronting President Aquino’s leadership.

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines  – Pakistan has replaced the Philippines as the “Deadliest Country For Journalists” this year.

Philippine media, especially television, will have to account for the big Information Gap in our country. Media are the principal means for acquiring information and a look at those top rating television shows will show that more emphasis is placed on what the Filipinos want rather than on what they need to know.

LOTTO CRAZE: When I wrote last Sunday about the Grand 6/55 Lotto whose jackpot had soared to P741 million and the bettors were going crazy, my email feedback also climbed 10 times and my Yahoo inbox groaned.

CEBU, Philippines – Mass media has long been recognized as an important source of information on HIV/AIDS.

The good and the beautiful should be highlighted in local newspapers instead of intrigues and the negative, President Aquino lectured reporters yesterday on his arrival from a recent visit to Japan for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum Leaders’ Summit citing the penchant of local media to delve on his romantic flings and highlighting stories…

FOR the second time in as many foreign trips, President Benigno Aquino III lashed out at the Philippine press, telling Filipinos working in Japan they probably “do not get all the news” because of the Philippine media’s heavy emphasis on negative reporting.

MANILA, Philippines—Filipinos spend more than an hour each day on their social networks, talking to “friends” they are not even close to and reading updates that they don’t consider all that important or relevant.

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The ranking of the Philippines in the World Press Freedom Index has dropped to 156 this year from 122 in 2009 mainly because of the massacre of 32 journalists in Maguindanao in November last year.

Philippine comic books have nurtured talent for international TV and animation blockbusters, but the once-mighty industry is fighting to survive as it comes up against the Internet and other new media. Comic books that dominated the Philippine publishing industry just a couple of decades ago are now largely relegated to photocopied titles sold in a…

MANILA, Philippines – Television continues to lord it over all media in the Philippines, but Filipinos are watching less of it as a result of changing lifestyles and habits, a media poll group said Friday.

FILIPINOS, particularly the younger ones, have stopped the habit of reading newspapers because of changing lifestyle and other platforms.

SINGAPORE — Advertising spending in the Philippines and in 11 other key Asia-Pacific markets rose strongly in the first half as economies emerged from recession, research firm Nielsen said on Thursday.

A top government official, meeting with a group of senior journalists over lunch yesterday, inquired: Since we’re all Filipinos who want what’s good for our country, why can’t media just report the good things that government is doing, instead of always looking for what went wrong and criticizing?

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police has announced the publication of a security handbook for journalists, which contains tips on how media practitioners can detect and thwart threats against their lives.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

OVERSTEPPING: The media were among the victims of the hostage-taking fiasco at the Luneta last Aug. 23 — mainly with respect to news coverage allegedly interfering in, or even obstructing, negotiations and rescue operations.

I expect our friends in the media, especially in radio and print, as well as the block-timers and those in community newspapers, to monitor their own ranks. May you give life to the basic principle of your vocation: to explain vital issues; to be fair and truthful; and to raise the level of public discourse.…

WARNING SHOT: What, or who, prompted President Noynoy Aquino to fire a warning shot across the bow of media in his State of the Nation Address last Monday?

It is interesting that President “Noy” and his crew made special mention of the media by asking it’s members to “police its own ranks”. Knowing that P-Noy is very at ease with the media, one has to step back and wonder what exactly was the point in all that.

A friend scoffed, a bit haughtily I thought, when he read about how the President’s newly formed Communications Group (I know, the name sounds so generic and so nonspecific although it does have a businesslike ring to it) intended to use Facebook and Twitter as communications platforms to bring Malacañang and P-Noy closer to the…

Malacañang’s new Communications Group has started to hit the ground running on its bid to promote a two-way communication stream between the government and the public through a “feedback mechanism.”

Reporters’ query on sex education curtly dismissed REPORTERS covering the Department of Education (DepEd) decried a statement made by Secretary Brother Armin Luistro, who was reported to have said that that he does not need the help of media in going about his duties at the agency. “Education Secretary Brother Armin Luistro is either misinformed…

The murders of two journalists triggered a fresh wave of outrage yesterday over a relentless assault on media practitioners in the country, which is now known as the second most dangerous place worldwide for the media, given the many killings of journalists.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – A radio commentator was shot dead in Davao Oriental late Monday, the latest attack on journalists, officials said.

BARELY an hour after he was proclaimed president-elect, Benigno Simeon Aquino III distanced himself from imposing a national policy on two major issues: reproductive health and freedom of information.

Are we really simply a bunch of oversensitive humorless bleeding hearts who take offense at the most innocuous comments, or on the contrary, the problem is precisely that we do not assert ourselves enough, that we have gotten used to being ridiculed, embarrassed, humiliated in the global stage that the bullies in this world have…