Tag: journalism

Facts matter in the Philippines, but only the facts that favour its elite

November 29, 2017November 29, 2017 benign0 5 Comments

The irony in the clique of “social media influencers” who hosted an event dubbed a forum on “Truth, Trust, and Democracy in the Age of Selfies, Trolls and Bots” just flies over people’s pointed heads. The event was organised “by the Journalism for Nation Building Foundation (JNBF), Rappler, and other stakeholder groups”. This is not…

Media, Politics, Society

Mainstream media vs DDS bloggers: a ‘war on truth’ that could destroy both sides!

November 17, 2017 benign0 16 Comments

For all the calls for a crackdown on “fake news”, it seems even the world’s most respected “journalists” just can’t seem to help partaking in a bit of the troll party where all of this orginates and gets passed around. Within the last 24 hours, two seemingly respected personalities in the mainstream industry of conventional…

Media, Politics

Die-hard bloggers behaving badly: anti-‘disente’ taken too far

November 14, 2017 benign0 5 Comments

The key to sustained consistency in media practice (whether in mainstream or otherwise) is to compete on content and quality — not on narcissistic stunts and attention-grabbing circuses. On the mainstream front, this is how Rappler did itself in — because it made itself the news rather than focusing on just reported it. Of course…

Media, Politics, Society

Rappler contradicts its own brand story by clinging on to mainstream by-laws

November 10, 2017November 10, 2017 benign0 3 Comments

If Rappler people were true dyed-in-the-wool hipsters, believers in the real essence of “online journalism”, and secure in their organisation’s position as a self-described nexus platform for online “thought leadership”, then it wouldn’t matter to them how they are classified — much less even bothered the least bit by what “Die-hard Duterte Supporter” (DDS) bloggers…

Media

Harry Roque should speak in plain language to avoid confusing Filipinos

November 7, 2017November 7, 2017 benign0 11 Comments

The on-going hoo-ha over certain fears that certain spokespersons would “throw hollow blocks” (or cinder blocks, a popular low-cost building material used in the Philippines) on the heads of certain noted reporters from one of the big mainstream media outlets who, in turn, is threatening legal action against certain pro-administration bloggers for suggesting such an…

Culture, Government, Media

Filipinos were taught FAKE Philippine history for 30 years!

November 2, 2017November 2, 2017 benign0 11 Comments

Back in the heyday decades of Yellowtardism in the 1980s and 1990s, mass communication was pretty much a one-way street. The ability to efficiently reach a mass audience was a capitalist monopoly — held by those who possessed the means to organise enterprises that could build and operate what today are regarded as conventional broadcast…

Media, Tech Talk

Thought leaders are at the top of the intellectual food chain, near the bottom are ‘investigative journalists’

November 1, 2017 benign0 4 Comments

The media and the partisans who presume to constitute the Philippine National “Debate” may have succeeded at dividing the Philippines into Dutertards and Yellowtards and, they presume, maintain a lively chatter that, they say, is the heart of a vibrant “democracy”. But whilst this chatter is generating a lot of noise, none of that noise…

Media, Politics

Support Rappler! Why? Coz God’s Gift to Journalism cannot surivive on DATA alone

October 31, 2017October 31, 2017 benign0 7 Comments

Why should we “support Rappler”? Good question. Rappler is, supposedly, a business venture. It’s got investors who expect a return on their investment that is proportionate to the risk they’ve taken parking that money in Rappler’s books (i.e. more than, say, what they could have earned in interest had they invested those funds in a…

Media, Money Talks