Category: media

plagiarism and, uh, karen davila? is that you?!

while it was great that upon cory’s death pinoy tv was swamped with docus that revisited her exalted place in philippine history, one docu, Laban ni Cory,  produced and aired many times by ABS-CBN 2 from august 2 onward, raised my ire and my eyebrows.

my ire because some of karen davila’s narrative spiels covering the period of the snap elections through to EDSA sounded oh so familiar, so very close to, if not my very own words in, Himagsikan sa EDSA — Walang Himala! and yet there was no attribution, as though karen davila herself researched and wrote the stuff (wow ang galing), something that took me all of twelve years, lol.

I
KAREN DAVILA:

(010) Sa paniniwalang sila ang tunay na nanalo sa eleksiyon, isang victory rally ang inilunsad sa Luneta nina Cory at Doy, na dinumog naman ng mahigit isang milyong tao.

(013) At bilang tugon sa malawakang dayaan sa eleksiyon, inilunsd nina Cory Aquino at Doy Laurel ang civil disobedience campaign, Himinok ang taong bayan na huwag magbayad ng koryente, tubig, at iboykot ang media, bangko at iba pang kompanyang pagaari ng mga tuta ni Marcos. Marami ang sumangayon at sumunod sa panawagang ito. Wala pang isang linggo mula nang unang manawagan ng boycott si Cory nameligro ang ekonomiya ng bansa at nataranta ang mga negosyante.

HIMAGSIKAN SA EDSA–Walang Himala! page 40 last paragraph

Ika-16 ng Pebrero, sa isang “victory rally” sa Luneta na dinumog ng mahigit isang milyong tao, inilunsad nina Cory Aquino at Doy Laurel ang kanilang civil disobedience campaign. Nagpilit si Cory na siya ang nagwagi sa eleksiyon at nangakong pupuwersahin niya si Marcos na magbitiw, sabay hinimok ang taong-bayan na sabayan siya sa pagsuway sa mga utos ng diktador — huwag magbayad ng koryente at tubig, iboykot ang crony media at crony banks, gayon din ang Rustan’s Department Store, San Miguel Corporation, at iba pang kompanyang pag-aari ng mga tuta at katoto ni Marcos.

page 42 paragraph 2

Wala pang isang linggo mula nang unang manawagan ng boykot si Cory…

page 41 paragraph 1

Nataranta ang malalaking negosyante, gayon din ang multinationals …

II

DAVILA:

(022) Kakaiba na noon ang ihip ng hangin. Palaban na ang taong bayan, sabik sa pagbabago at may natatanaw nang pagasa, salamat sa biyuda ng isang tao …

HIMAGSIKAN page 42 last paragraph

Salamat sa biyuda ni Ninoy, kakaiba na noon ang ihip ng hangin. Mapanghimagsik na ang timpla ng taong-bayan, punong-puno bigla ng pag-asa, sabik sa mga naamoy na pagbabago, noong bisperas ng EDSA.

III

DAVILA

(063) Naghudyat si Ver ng all out attack sa riot police, sa marine artillery, sa mga helicopter gunship, at mga jet bomber.

(067) Naririnig din si Marcos sa radyo. Isinusumpang lilipulin ang mga rebelde.

HIMAGSIKAN page 135 paragraph 2

Sa Fort Bonifacio, naghudyat sina Ver at Ramas ng all-out attack sa riot police, sa Marine artillery, sa mga helicopter gunship, at sa mga jet bomber. Naririnig si Marcos sa radyo, isinusumpang lilipulin ang mga rebelde.

IV

DAVILA

(070) Pumosisyon ang mga sundalo at nagkasahan ng mga baril. Subalit walang atakeng nangyari. Lumapag ang mga chopper sa Crame. Isa-isang lumabas ang mga pilot, may hawak na mga puting bandila at naglalaban sign.

HIMAGSIKAN page 138 paragraph 4

Napakagat ng labi ang mga sundalo, nagkasahan ng mga baril, pumosisyon.

page 139 from last paragraph page 138

Isa-isang lumalabas ang mga piloto, may hawak na mga puting bandila at nagla-Laban sign.

V

DAVILA

(076) Ala singko ng hapon, sa kabila ng banta sa kanyang seguridad sumaglit sa EDSA si Cory …

(081) Sa main entrance ng Philippine Overseas Amployment agency o POEA building nagbigay siya ng maikling talumpati sa mga taong nagtipon sa kantong iyon ng Ortigas at EDSA. Pinuri ni Cory ang mapayapang pagkilos ng mga tao…

HIMAGSIKAN page 165 paragraph 1

Bandang 5:00 ng hapon, nagpakita sa wakas sa EDSA/Ortigas si Cory Aquino, na Sabado pa ay hinahanap na ng mga Coryista. Sa main entrance ng Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) building, sa kanto ng EDSA at Ortigas, siya dumaan kasama ang kanyang pamilya at mga tagapagtaguyod.

paragraph 5

Sa kanyang talumpati sa mga taong nagtipon sa kantong iyon ng Ortigas at EDSA, pinuri ni Cory ang mapayapang pagkilos ng mga tao …

the docu’s closing credits list the writers and researchers.   i expect the researchers cited their sources of info, it’s part of the job, and  if so, who decided not to mention na lang these sources, the writers or the hosts?   na okay lang naman as long as magaling sila and they can write the material in their own words.   but even then, dapat ay mayroon pa ring acknowledgement sa dulo ang sources of information na hindi pa common knowledge.

kung hindi pala sila ganoong kagaling, dapat ay inamin nila by writing-in “ayon kay…  sa librong so-and-so….”    or maybe it was karen davila who couldn’t be bothered with “ayon sa’s”, akala niya ay makakalusot?   whatever, whoever, wittingly or un-, she committed plagiarism by lifting and appropriating my words for her own use without a by-your-leave or a thank-you,  how unprofessional, how dishonest, how disgraceful.

nakakataas ng kilay kasi it doesn’t take much time and effort to cite and acknowledge sources.   unless of course the idea is to give the impression that hosts and writers of ABS-CBN News & Current Affairs productions are all-knowing and sufficient unto themselves?

so, okay, now that i’ve vented, what next?    what do i expect?   well.   iniisip ko nga.   an apology?   too easy to shed crocodile tears.   credits on the docu?   rather too late, unless of course they have plans of selling dvds, in which case, okay, credits, and a share in the profits?

suggests a writer friend:  like a lawyer can be disbarred, a beauty queen forced to abdicate, ask for the head of the plagiarist in the form of dismissal or suspension.   or how about punishing the culprit by having her write a million times in longhand a very long mea culpa — the equivalent of 20 years of keyboarding chores or tendonitis.   oscar lopez could also buy the next edition of your book to give away to all libraries nationwide.

sounds good, all of the above ;)

postmortem: horrid media owe marcos kids a public apology

i thought that imee and bongbong marcos (with wife lisa araneta) showed a lot of class by showing up at cory’s wake, probably at the behest of their mother, who herself had the delicadeza to stayaway.

though it was clearly an ordeal for the marcos siblings (nakatutok sa kanila ang mga camera every step of the way) they nevertheless went through the paces with as much poise as they could muster.   nice of the aquino grandsons to meet them, take them to cory, and sit with them in an an empty front pew.   and yes, what a relief when ballsy finally came out to greet them, shake hands, beso-beso, small talk.   a show of good manners and right conduct all around.   cory would have approved.

when ballsy had exited frame, imee and bongbong left the pew tagged “family” and moved to another, some pews behind.    they must have thought the media cameras would finally leave them be, but no, the media know nothing of good manners and right conduct!

the media behaved absolutely horrendously, gathering around, thrusting microphones and tape recorders at the sibs, asking what they said to ballsy and what ballsysaid to them — an assault that no other guests had been subjected to, and which succeeded only in driving the marcoses away.   was that the point?   how bastos.

my sympathies to imee and bongbong, who did not deserve to be embarrassed so.   cory would have been horrified.

those media people and their bosses — attention, ANC! — owe the marcos kids a public apology.

michael & the big bad media

i’ve always been a huge fan of michael jackson, even when he turned white and sorta whacko, just because at his peak he was so f*cking sensational — the greatest entertainer yet that this planet has ever seen, bar none.   when he died and his music videos were all over cable tv and the internet, i was only too happy to wallow and be dazzled anew by michael’s magic.

not that i could forever ignore the usual bad press that he continues to get from big bad media with small minds that just can’t get over the cosmetic changes — as if michael were the only one — or the drugs, or the sexual ambivalence — as if, as if — and of course the child molestation allegations — never giving him the benefit of the doubt, guilty until proven innocent.

the pedophile tag broke michael’s spirit.

MJ’s career saw his thrilling and spectacular rise from the Jackson 5 stardom in the 1970s to cultural mega icon in the 1980s. The two decades that followed were not as bright as they proved to be a disaster for his personal life and public image. In the 1990s, while he was no longer as big a cultural force as in his “Thriller” days, he did continue to sp(in) out hit singles and albums; however, a child molestation charge in 1993 marked his gradual falling out with the American audience appalled by his supposed indiscretion with minors in his Neverland ranch in California.He reportedly agreed to a settlement initiated by the father of the alleged victim to a whooping tune of over $20 million. Ten years later, he faced another child molestation charge, this time brought to court but which ended up in the singer’s acquittal. The stress he suffered from the trial and the negative publicity the 2003 accusations brought forth reportedly got MJ hooked on prescription drugs.

but what if none of it was true?   what if the boys just made it up?

Since Jackson’s passing the Internet has been all a-buzz with reports that Jordan Chandler, the boy who accused Jackson of molestation in 1993, has recanted his story for the second time and is seeking forgiveness for the allegations he made against Jackson. Curiously, this latest developmenthas yet to be confirmed or denied by any major U.S. news organization. The lack of mainstream media scrutiny has fueled speculation about the media’s lack of motivation to publicize the story. “If the media discloses that the accuser lied about being molested, it clears Michael’s reputation. If the charges are removed from his public record, Michael Jackson will achieve a level of martyrdom that no other person has achieved”, that’s a widely voiced response to the quiet storm brewing online and in the streets.

can’t help wondering how it might have changed things for michael, and the world, if those malicious charges had never been raised against him, or if the media had been less credulous, less eager to believe the worst, never mind sales and ratings.    maybe michael would still be around.

scandalizing the media

i join women’s rights advocate dr. sylvia estrada-claudio in bemoaning the way the media are handling the hayden kho scandal (anc media in focus), wallowing gleefully in the stories being revealed about kho and belo, kho and halili, kho and his friends, kho and the wife of one of these friends, and what about the sexy comedienne, kaya pala siya iritang irita tuwing matatanong tungkol kay hayden…  among many other juicy items…  and, surprise surprise, the media that never takes sides — pa-objective kuno — are now taking sides, mostly the side of halili the woman betrayed violated exposed, championed by the notorious lolit solis, no less, who is screaming for kho’s head…  na nabusan ng tubig, what a scene, pero bakit parang hindi siya nagulat, was he expecting it, was it staged to show how hated he is, kawawa naman, ang cute pa naman…   i hear a bading radio anchor wanted to rush to the senate and help the mother make punas punas hayden, lol…

but seriously, the media should stop feasting lang on the scandal and, sabi nga ni dr. claudio, move on, maybe start talking sexual ethics naman.   yes  let’s get beyond who’s more baboy, who’s more guilty, because c’mon they’re all guilty of one mistake or another that contributed to the mess.   too much misplaced trust all around, i would think.   everyone was being naive, failing to anticipate, and protect oneself against, a fall-out.   so yes let’s talk sexual ethics (or the lack of it). just please not the self-righteous anti-hayden ethics of lolit.   rather, a sexual ethics that’s appropriate to the sexuality of the times, where both men and women are more adventurous and aggressive, and they have a right to be, freedom of expression and all that, as long as it’s private and consensual and walang ibang taong nasasaktan, and with full awareness of the additional risks involved in these days of AIDS and STDs, digicams and the internet, and the huge dvd market for erotica and porn.

and puwede ba, lubayan na si vicky belo.   i heard someone asking on startalk, dapat bang tanggalan din ng professional license ang doctora dahil nagpakuha rin siya ng sex video?   ano ba.   ang dapat tanggalan ng lisensiya ay ang mga kaibigang doktor na allegedly responsible for making and selling copies of and uploading the videos without the consent of hayden and the different women.   if we are making excuses for katrina halili, why are we not making excuses for vicky belo?   besides when it comes to sex, kanya-kanyang trip ‘yan.   i can imagine how being video-ed while making love, and then watching the video after, can be a turn on for some couples.   especially narcissists, ‘yung mga gandang-ganda sa sarili nila, would get a real kick out of seeing their beautiful bodies in the physical throes of lovemaking.  which doesn’t make them immoral.

as for the sexual deviance angle that karen davila insists on pursuing vs hayden kho, medyo masalimuot na usapin ‘yan.   because really, deviant in relation to what norm, the norm imposed by the church, or the norm of our sexual nature?   davila hasn’t a clue.   why not follow up na lang on belo’s appeal sa kababaihan: pag may girlfriend o committed na ang lalaki, huwag nang tuksuhin, huwag nang patulan, or at the very least, huwag seryosohin.   indeed.   what was katrina halili thinking, all is fair in love and war?   what was she hoping for when she settled for being just the “other woman” in hiding?   that it would be temporary?   that eventually, hayden would give up vicky for her, mas bata kasi siya at mas maganda?   or that eventually vicky would give hayden up and she katrina would be next in line?   well, she gambled and she lost.   media should stop glorifying her.