MEDIA is funny. Obviously, not all
the time, but I must
say, very many times.
A public thing and invested with the sublime and delicate
duty to report the truth in the highest standards of objectivity and
fairness, it plays a precarious role as it has to contend with a swarm
of demons, both big and small.
It has to gather data and make stories everyday, verify
the facts, process them for presentation, hope that they attract
attention and sell. Deadlines have to be set and met, and the balance
sheet should be in the black, not red. It’s both public service and
business, and the right blend has to be discovered.
It’s this nature and character of its work that gives rise
to the possibility of shallow, incomplete, one-sided reporting, and
the often irresistible temptation to indulge in sensationalism and
other gimmicks to grab attention from people.
There’s always the tendency to improvise, to exaggerate,
to emit instant, not well-thought-out knee-jerk reactions to news
events. The line between straight news and opinion, between reporting
and taking sides is often blurred.
And worse things can happen, as questionable ideological
motives and hidden agenda of some media practitioners can come in,
coloring the media’s perspectives. This has happened before. It
continues to happen today.
How many times some of us, who have the inside track of a
particular story, would say the reporting did not hit it bull’s eye In
fact, often we would say not only was it incomplete, but it already
contained distortions and biases if not outright lies and malice.
For sure, this is not unique only to the media. Everyone
of us is subject to more or less the same constraints, limitations and
pressures. But the media suffers them a lot more. We therefore have to
understand it more. We have to help it in any way we can.
But those in media should undertake a rigorous and abiding
sense of self-examination and checking. It’s nice to know that many
outfits have installed appropriate offices of the ombudsman and the
like to carry out this internal task. We just hope they fulfill their
duties well.
I remember when the Church a few years ago was enmeshed
with a good number of allegations of sex scandals involving some
members of the clergy in some countries, I got the impression that the
media was making things worse not only for the Church but actually
also for everyone.
Clearly, the scandals were serious. They cried to heaven
for justice. And the Church authorities were doing their best to
grapple with the issue. It was crucifixion time for the Church.
There were clear attempts to corner the Pope himself then
in these scandals. And other wild accusations and claims were made.
Someone even made the suggestion that because of these scandals,
religion should also be eliminated. Religion only distracts us from
our real problems, he said.
That was truly an overkill! It was simply over.
I thought the world was big enough to accommodate all
sorts of people, and we just had to learn to be tolerant with each
other, no matter how different and in conflict our views might be. But
no. The press, portions of it, seemed to give normality to some
intolerant voices.
It looked like the press delighted in engaging in
nitpicking and fault-finding. There seemed to be some kind of feeding
frenzy over the Church predicament, a gloating over the pains and
hurts of an entity with long standing in the world.
Things were made to appear as if the Church had absolutely
nothing good to offer to mankind, that it had always been a villain, a
fox dressed in sheep’s clothing. The turn of events seemed to reveal
an agenda to destroy the Church. I suspect there was a powerful group
behind all this.
I always thought it was most unkind to kick someone when
he was already down and in agony. But it seemed this perversion is now
the new normal promoted by some parts of the media, especially the
foreign ones, that unashamedly showed fangs and claws and spat
cobra-like venom everywhere.
On one hand, I was amused to watch all these developments.
It was funny to see a kind of combat between two different parties,
acting on two different levels, using different weapons, and aiming at
different objectives. It was a terrible mismatch.
On the other hand, I sank into pity and sadness to realize
this happened in our supposedly knowledgeable and already mature world
of ours.
We all need to get a good grasp of this kind of situation!
say, very many times.
A public thing and invested with the sublime and delicate
duty to report the truth in the highest standards of objectivity and
fairness, it plays a precarious role as it has to contend with a swarm
of demons, both big and small.
It has to gather data and make stories everyday, verify
the facts, process them for presentation, hope that they attract
attention and sell. Deadlines have to be set and met, and the balance
sheet should be in the black, not red. It’s both public service and
business, and the right blend has to be discovered.
It’s this nature and character of its work that gives rise
to the possibility of shallow, incomplete, one-sided reporting, and
the often irresistible temptation to indulge in sensationalism and
other gimmicks to grab attention from people.
There’s always the tendency to improvise, to exaggerate,
to emit instant, not well-thought-out knee-jerk reactions to news
events. The line between straight news and opinion, between reporting
and taking sides is often blurred.
And worse things can happen, as questionable ideological
motives and hidden agenda of some media practitioners can come in,
coloring the media’s perspectives. This has happened before. It
continues to happen today.
How many times some of us, who have the inside track of a
particular story, would say the reporting did not hit it bull’s eye In
fact, often we would say not only was it incomplete, but it already
contained distortions and biases if not outright lies and malice.
For sure, this is not unique only to the media. Everyone
of us is subject to more or less the same constraints, limitations and
pressures. But the media suffers them a lot more. We therefore have to
understand it more. We have to help it in any way we can.
But those in media should undertake a rigorous and abiding
sense of self-examination and checking. It’s nice to know that many
outfits have installed appropriate offices of the ombudsman and the
like to carry out this internal task. We just hope they fulfill their
duties well.
I remember when the Church a few years ago was enmeshed
with a good number of allegations of sex scandals involving some
members of the clergy in some countries, I got the impression that the
media was making things worse not only for the Church but actually
also for everyone.
Clearly, the scandals were serious. They cried to heaven
for justice. And the Church authorities were doing their best to
grapple with the issue. It was crucifixion time for the Church.
There were clear attempts to corner the Pope himself then
in these scandals. And other wild accusations and claims were made.
Someone even made the suggestion that because of these scandals,
religion should also be eliminated. Religion only distracts us from
our real problems, he said.
That was truly an overkill! It was simply over.
I thought the world was big enough to accommodate all
sorts of people, and we just had to learn to be tolerant with each
other, no matter how different and in conflict our views might be. But
no. The press, portions of it, seemed to give normality to some
intolerant voices.
It looked like the press delighted in engaging in
nitpicking and fault-finding. There seemed to be some kind of feeding
frenzy over the Church predicament, a gloating over the pains and
hurts of an entity with long standing in the world.
Things were made to appear as if the Church had absolutely
nothing good to offer to mankind, that it had always been a villain, a
fox dressed in sheep’s clothing. The turn of events seemed to reveal
an agenda to destroy the Church. I suspect there was a powerful group
behind all this.
I always thought it was most unkind to kick someone when
he was already down and in agony. But it seemed this perversion is now
the new normal promoted by some parts of the media, especially the
foreign ones, that unashamedly showed fangs and claws and spat
cobra-like venom everywhere.
On one hand, I was amused to watch all these developments.
It was funny to see a kind of combat between two different parties,
acting on two different levels, using different weapons, and aiming at
different objectives. It was a terrible mismatch.
On the other hand, I sank into pity and sadness to realize
this happened in our supposedly knowledgeable and already mature world
of ours.
We all need to get a good grasp of this kind of situation!
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