Noy: Newspapers give readers high blood pressure

MANILA, Philippines - Unlike other newspapers, the Manila Bulletin does not give its readers high blood pressure.

Thus said President Aquino during the broadsheet’s 114th anniversary on Sunday, citing how it was able to live up to its motto as the “exponent of Philippine progress.”

“I’ll share with you an anecdote: how those I encountered said they read the Manila Bulletin because, unlike other newspapers, yours did not elevate their blood pressure,” Aquino said, recalling his speech during the paper’s anniversary two years ago.

He said the newspaper has “consistently” given its readers a “true accounting of the facts, and reason enough to be optimistic,” and did not resort to the other newspapers’ “propensity to trump up the worst news possible, causing them to despair.”

Aquino has been calling on media to reject negativism and highlight the achievements of his administration, lamenting that both local and foreign media tend to overlook positive stories.

The President also made a new pitch for responsibility and discernment from the media through sober reporting, noting, “the Manila Bulletin has always lived up to this.”

“This is what I have always asked of media: to raise the level of public discourse, instead of fueling unnecessary speculation and negativity that contribute to national apathy,” he said.

However, the President clarified he does not mean that the media should report only the good news.

“The progress of our country can only be accounted for when it is measured against, and in spite of, the challenges that we have endured,” he said.

He said the Filipino people have “chosen the path of positivity and solidarity,” citing the thousands of volunteers who offered help in the wake of the massive devastation brought by Super Typhoon Yolanda.

“The naysayers, the irrational critics, the vested interests who measure their success through their ability to sacrifice the well-being of the nation to pursue their own, selfish agenda – all of them have been left in the dust by a nation that no typhoon, no faction, and no irresponsible columnist can break,” Aquino said.

He said the people “have proven themselves more united, more discerning, more cooperative, and in particular, more committed to making change permanent than those who once tried to take advantage of them.”