Musings on teleserye, movies & the news

Once in a great while, we have the opportunity to think back and do some readings, watch some movies and television teleseryes, and lose ourselves in the magic of the moment.

We read somewhere that when BBC Filipino international anchor Rico Hizon was asked how he kept abreast of happenings in his country, he answered quickly “by watching teleseryes.” It is very true that the often quickly dismissed teleserye is one of the best custodians of a country’s history.

Movies, good or bad, record our dreams and aspirations. We watched the film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) and truth to tell, we were confused. Based on the story of James Thurber published in 1939, it spoke of a daydreamer who travels the world to see his dreams to its fruition. And this means searching for photojournalist Sean O’ Connell (Sean Penn) who holds the answer to this secret.

Few read newspapers these days. We confess to being among those few who like the touch and scent of paper, and keep our favorite headlines, columns, etc. in a special place. Being a columnist of The Philippine STAR Entertainment section, we look forward to each day to find out what the other papers carry. Nowadays, healthy competition is still alive — GMA, ABS-CBN, TV5; Ateneo vs. La Salle; and Bulletin, Inquirer and STAR.

We have been watching the competing networks’ coverage of the Vhong Navarro case, have found their approaches very different and we are glad. How boring it would be if they all sounded the same and looked the same.

Compared to several years ago, a whole lot has changed in the realm of journalism and entertainment. The phenomenal indie movement, for one, had much to do with bringing mainstream entertainment to rethink its programming. Another is the appearance of the social media, which has all but swept everyone into its new vocabulary of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Viber, selfie and what have you. The borders separating the print medium from TV and radio and live entertainment and its numerous modifications are quickly being erased.

At a recent event of Prime Foundation (Pete Roa Integrated Media Endeavors) in cooperation with Ateneo de Manila University, we witnessed the awarding of The 1st Prime Television Awards to Cheche Lazaro, Pia Hontiveros and Winnie Monsod. Prime president Boots Anson-Roa shared that this was the brainchild of Prime member Nestor Torre Jr. editor of the Saturday special of the Inquirer, in keeping with Pete’s interest in media education.

How were the honorees chosen, we were asked. Torre replied that sadly, standards in media have been diluted and students today must be provided with clearer touchstones with whom to identify.

To student audiences from the Assumption, Ateneo, Miriam, St. Mary’s QC, New Era, UST, Letran, UP, St. Joseph’s, Pamantasan, and La Salle-Benilde, these awardees gave their talks on Broadcast Media as a Purveyor of Change, sharing stories with accompanying visual materials. To say the least, the presentations were one big lecture. After the lectures, the awardees were given their immensely appreciated trophies courtesy of glass sculptor Ramon Orlina.    

Cheche has been a broadcasting longer than her co-awardees, and would have a litany of experiences that would take many hours and fill up many pages. Cheche currently hosts Probe Profiles on ABS-CBN, Wednesdays at midnight. Solita “Winnie” Monsod has been teaching at the UP School of Economics for the longest time. She has a column with the Inquirer and Bawal ang Pasaway kay Mareng Winnie airing Mondays, 10 p.m. over GMA 7. Veteran broadcast journalist Pia Hontiveros, known for her Strictly Politics over ABS-CBN, has moved to Solar TV where she is now chief correspondent and primetime news anchor. She also hosts a political talk show titled news.Ph aired Wednesdays, 7 p.m.

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