Napapansin niyo ba, tuwi na lang may nagaganap na scandal in government at nagkakabukingan, thanks to snoopy news resporters, sa huli media ang nasisisi at napag-iinitan. Remember the senators’ cars? The congressmen’s uzis? Media didn’t get facts right daw, media sensationalized things, media was irresponsible.
Ang latest, yung iskandalong Antonio “Speedy” Gonzalez at Malou Apostol – akalain niyo, sabi raw ng administration, media ang may kasalanan. Sobra raw ang pagkakahayag at pagkakakulit ng media. Sabi sa Chronicle (Chula M. Rodriquez 23 April) government officials noted that “media almost went overboard” in the Gonzalez-Apostol story.
Sey ni Secretary Joe Concepcion, media could have been more circumspect about it. Dapat daw tineyk into consideration hindi lang yung news value ng story kundi yung injurious effect on others, like the wife and children.
Excuse me lang, ’no, pero bakit ang media ang hinahanapan ng simpatiya? Bakit hindi ang Malacañang? Bakit hindi si Speedy? THEY chose to handle things that way. Media simply reacted, in its many different ways of reacting. Natural, naging laman ng front pages, TV newscasts, editorials, columns, at komiks. What did they expect?
Dapat daw naging circumspect. Ibig sabihin, dapat naging mas maingat, mas mahinahon, mas banayad ang media sa pag-report ng balita at pagtuligsa sa administrasyon. Sey ko naman, media was circumspect enough before the resignation. I’m sure the affair was common knowledge long before it became public. Pero hindi natin nababasa sa mga pahayagan o nababalitaan sa TV, hanggang grapevine lang, hanggang bulung-bulungan lang.
As a rule, hindi naman inuurirat ng media ang private lives and loves ng government officials, mostly out of respect na nga. Ibang-iba sa treatment that showbiz figures get. Take the Edu Manzano – Maricel Soriano affair. Nang mabuking ito ng media, kahit pa may-I-deny at may-I-no-comment ang drama ng dalawa, tabloid news agad sila, and later, broadsheet news na rin. That didn’t happen to Speedy. Not until he himself revealed the affair to media.
Siyempre ibang usapan na when he chose to go public at sa kanya na mismo nanggaling ang kuwento. Siyempre open season na. Sensational news deserves sensational treatment. Speedy asked for it and he got it.