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Manila
Auxiliary Bishop Bernardino Cortez warns of violence and
vulgarity in media. According to the good bishop:
“Giving undue importance to violence and vulgarity are
the things that should be avoided by the mass media. . .
. Although both are realities of life, sometimes they
are given undue prominence which gives the idea that the
media may even be promoting them.”
Well
said, Bishop Cortez. I have been stressing this point
for a long, long time, but precisely we should remember
that it is not only violence and vulgarity but the
promotion of lies and half-truths which may be
attributed to some people in media who have abandoned
their objectiveness for the sake of sensationalism.
“It is
up to us to call for better content in the media. As
media consumers, we can make our voice heard also
through the choices we make. If we are media creators or
producers, the decisions we make should be in favor of
bringing forward positive, true and uplifting
perspectives and role models through and in our work,”
continued Bishop Cortez.
It is
unfortunate that many media practitioners who claim to
be professionals and exponents of truth are themselves
the ones who oftentimes doctor their reports in order to
create sensationalism and doubts which mislead the
public who read and listen to them. In many instances in
the past, responsible reporters I know tell me that
their reports are often reworded once they reach the
editorial desk to suit the editorial agenda of the
paper. And it is not unusual to read in newspapers
reports that are different from the facts. To my mind,
media have become less of an exponent of truth but more
of editorial convenience. It appears that Bishop
Cortez’s warning reflects the readers’ discontent, and
before we come into the winter of our disillusionment
with media, let us first enlighten ourselves with the
evils of disinformation.
****
Good
news! When so many things look dour, like the issues on
rice, oil, the shrinking pan de sal, increasing
electricity rates and many more, we are glad to read of
things positive about the country, this time on child
health care. According to the latest report of the Save
The Children, a US-based group, the Philippines is tops
among 55 developing countries in the area of providing
children with basic health care after cutting child
death rate by half since 1990. The more affluent
countries in
Asia like
Hong Kong and
Thailand are still making more progress than the
Philippines,
but rest assured, the government is pushing just as hard
to achieve an excellent grade when it comes to health
care not only of children, but also of adults.
****
What
happened in
Burma
(Myanmar) can happen anywhere, as it happened once in
New Orleans. Tropical cyclone Nargis which hit
Burma
was a powerful low-pressure system capable of generating
energy 10 times as strong as the atomic bomb used
against
Japan, according to reports. Thousands can die of some
calamity that can be anticipated, people can have
forewarning of its intensity and force, yet still be
unprepared of its Armageddon devastation. Such
calamities are wake-up calls to put in place government
forecasting capability and disaster preparedness in
tandem with organized support of the people. Unlike
property destroyed, lives lost can never be replaced. We
grieve for those who died and those who are still
missing and most probably already dead, and we can only
pray that help will come promptly.
****
In the
face of a looming rice shortage, especially if the next
rice harvest fails to make the numbers, the President is
probing all possible scenarios and available sources to
improve our future options. However, every time there is
something like this in the papers, the detractors try to
shoot down these ideas while trying to declare that the
government is becoming impotent in coping with the
worst-case scenario. We can afford to laugh because we
know that the President is honestly working to find
solutions, and we are assured of this. But wait, if the
fencesitters and the President’s critics would only lend
their valuable help, don’t you think the opportunities
for resolving a food crisis would greatly improve?
Unless, of course, they have no bright ideas to
contribute in the first place.
****
Archbishop Rosales declared that gays dressed as
Santacruzan queens insult our sense of piety and are an
affront to the sanctity of the Virgin Mary. Many clerics
agree with the Manila archbishop in saying that
Santacruzans are religious in nature and they must be
observed as part of our sacred religious traditions and
culture. Not so, says Archbishop Oscar Cruz, gays can
join but they should dress decently. There was a time
when the word gay meant to be upbeat, to be happy. Those
were the days. |
