No matter what platform you’re using, your audiences always come first.
That’s what Kapamilya executives, led by ABS-CBN chairman-CEO Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III, reminded over 700 communication students nationwide at the Pinoy Media Congress Year 6 held at the University of Santo Tomas last Feb. 22 to 23.
Gabby, with some of ABS-CBN’s division heads and other esteemed speakers, delivered industry tips, issue analysis, eye-opening presentations and inspiration to the delegates of the two-day event, organized yearly by the Philippine Association of Communication Educators (PACE) and the network. This year’s presentations and discussions revolved around the theme “Engaging People and Media Participation for Change.”
Gabby delivered the keynote address, and I am sharing his thoughts, which centered on a provocative subject — that one true global power called media — through this column.
“It is hard to imagine a force more pervasive, with no single, titular head, and no physical space,” he said. “Yet media can now engineer historical milestones. Media helps topple dictators. Media reunites lost families. Media accelerates research for better lives. Calling it a revolution is an understatement; what we have is a world that is changed forever. Our lives changed forever. Who changed it? You did. Before traditional media realized it, it was you — every single person who texted a vote, tweeted gossip, confirmed a friend on Facebook, joined a game show, played an RPG (role-playing game), uploaded a song, blogged an opinion, or ‘YouTubed’ a video of your cat — you now comprise the greater majority of news, information, entertainment and content out there.
“We try to categorize the phenomenon as interactive media, participative media, social media, immersive, consumer-generated, crowd sourced — but the whole thing is too universal to label. You are everywhere. You hold the power. You are media. All of us are now in media. It would be impossible to measure the dramatic impact of your embrace of the web, but your power does not end there. Even in traditional media, you played the biggest part in compelling the players to evolve. Take cinema: to survive, Hollywood turned to 3D, but they now have to contend with indie — basically, your self-made movies. Television is still the most popular medium, but more than any other time in the industry, we listen to you: by measuring your viewership in ratings by-the-minute, and by responding to your every comment in e-mails, interviews, texts and tweets. Evicted housemates rise to stardom. Bloggers are invited to press conferences. Citizens become investigative reporters.
“The media you helped make is at the beginning of its Golden Age. Imagine the endless possibilities! So is it all go, go, go from here? Happy, yippee, yehey na tayo? I feel it is time for some sobering reflection. What is this great power called media that we all have in our hands? What are the implications of broadcasting anything and everything about your world? In the words of a wise superhero: With great power comes great responsibility. O, saan galing yan? Tama, Spider-Man. From World Wide Web to the spider web tayo. So what are your great responsibilities as guardians of this powerful weapon? Perhaps I can offer three words, three simple guideposts on which we bind our discussions in the coming days:
“1. Truth. First word. I will borrow from you, mga taga-Uste: this word remains unchanged since ancient times. It is the battle cry of kings and popes, the aspiration of poets and philosophers — and since 1611, the motto of the University of Santo Tomas. What’s the word? Tama, “veritas.” Truth. Current media gave us unprecedented power over truth — be it objective information, political exposés like Wikileaks, or the emotional sentiments of a teenager on Blogspot. Have we always been responsible?
“I just read in the news about a recent incident: Logan, a female journalist covering the revolution in Egypt, was sexually assaulted by the angry crowd. Now a man in the US named Rosen — also a journalist — instead of sympathizing with his colleague, tweeted that the woman is a warmonger, and that the attacks on her were no different from those done on other women. The tweet was derogatory, and it brought him widespread condemnation. He apologized and resigned. Yet the damage was done. People were hurt. Or some of you may remember, about a year ago, the student violinist whose roommate published online a video of him kissing another person. He later committed suicide. Or UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s PR mistake. In one of his appearances, a lady approached him to complain about public services. He nodded nicely, but when he entered his car, he shouted to his staff, who was the A-hole who allowed the woman to approach him? Eh nagkataon, nakabukas pa ang mike niya. He lost the next election.
“We now live in a connected universe that, at its extreme, can enable a mentally unstable student to shout out that he will die in a blaze of glory. Later, he will massacre people in his college. More commonly, we sometimes YouTube or tweet about other people, just for fun, and then justify to ourselves that anyway, totoo naman iyong tinweet ko, di ba? As any newsman will tell you, handling the truth is never simple. There is such a thing as information so private that it is best left between God and man, some knowledge better left to adults, some meant only for compassionate families and friends, and a few so sensitive that, heard by the wrong ears, can result in thousands of deaths.
“2. Service. We in media are supposed to be watchmen of the truth. Now that everyone is in media, who watches the watchmen? O, saang pelikula iyan? Watchmen, siyempre. The pursuit of truth compels us to ask the question, for what intention? This is where a second word comes in; a word I will then borrow from my father, Eugenio Lopez Jr., the founder of ABS-CBN. That word is service. As a passive consumer of media content, you can consume all forms of media out of curiosity, escape, entertainment, enlightenment, and any other reason that is yours and yours alone. It is your right. But once you provide the content, even if the content is yourself, once you project yourself to your public — whether it be your friends on Facebook, your constituency or your esteemed colleagues in Congress — you have a great responsibility. Every word you utter and every act you commit must be motivated only by the paramount mission of service.
“Of course, everyone in media is driven by many goals. Self-expression, yes. Seeking social connection, yes. Fame and fortune — every celebrity wants that — yes. Profit, yes. But as my father said, only good service is good business. In the coming days, we will hear inspiring case studies of media doing something dramatic for change — the Pasig Run, Boto Mo Ipatrol Mo, among others. In the past days, we have also heard of acts that give us pause. After a popular TV host lambasts his innocent colleagues on air, how many young viewers will mistake it as responsible and gracious expression? After a public figure accused of corruption commits suicide, how many people will be made to believe the contention that suicide is an act of courage worth emulating? Sooner or later, all of us in media ask the question, am I saying this for the truth or for the lie? If I am not doing this to serve others, then why am I doing this? Whose ends do I serve?
“3. Choice. To the future generations of youth who never saw a world without the Internet, never had a home without TV, never lived a day before the cell phone, never handled a research project without Google — who teaches them how to navigate this unprecedented explosion of options, this big bang in the communication universe? So here comes the third word: choice. We must help the Filipinos make the right choices in which information or entertainment they will allow to enter their homes, their hearts and minds. People can always choose by impulse, instinct, ego or urge. We make a hundred such choices every day. But in truth, the right and important choices are never taken lightly. We must reflect on why we choose what we choose, for ourselves and for our children. Some of you may not agree, but think about this: there are social scientists who observe that younger generations handle information with less and less critical thinking. More and more young people simply select information, edit, combine, mix and match, repeat.
“The danger is when mere information replaces genuine reflection. Without reflection, we do not understand the secrets of our hearts. We do not get to ask ourselves the difficult existential questions that define our humanity: Why am I here? What is worth living for? How do I love? If media nowadays is a collection of all your choices, then media will be greatest — if and only if each and every one of you made the right media choices all the time. But you can only make right choices if these are choices you made with deep, sincere, selfless reflection, coming from the part of you nearest to the Divine — your heart and soul. So, sino ang maghuhubog ng ating puso at kaluluwa?
“The Filipino youth used to turn to several institutions in his search for meaning: family, school, church, media, community and government. Family is always the root of human formation. But how many Filipino families have been torn apart by the OFW exodus? Who is left to teach our children that they have dignity and importance in this world? Good education transforms people, giving them skills of discernment, and an intellectual framework for enlightened thinking. But as more and more Filipinos opt for practical courses that assure immediate jobs, like care-giving or hotel service, who will teach them the humanities, ethics, the philosophies?
“How will they learn that there is a consciousness bigger than their selves, a meaning in life beyond food on the table and a salary at the end of the month? There was a time in our history when public servants became heroes. From them, we found icons of conscience, justice, and clear considerations of right and wrong. But how do we regard politicians now? Sometimes as no more than celebrities. Just recently, a foreign magazine lamented that Filipinos seemed more interested in President Aquino’s love life than his position on issues.
“What does that say about us as a people? I am sure the Church constantly reflects on its roles as we in media have our own difficult questions as well. Not one institution can do the job of youth formation, all alone. O, quiz na naman … guess the title of this movie. In this sci-fi film, Will Smith is interrogating the hologram of the dead professor. But the hologram said, ‘The problem, my friend, is not the answer. You must ask the right questions.’ O, anong movie yan? I, Robot. Correct. Will Smith was able to save the world when he asked the right questions.
“Nowadays, who teaches the youth how to ask the right questions that, who knows, may save the world? Questions to ask while standing on higher ground, with a clear moral compass in one hand? Sana questions na hindi lang ‘Ano ang status mo: single, in a relationship, or it’s complicated?’ Sana, hindi lang ang tanungin ay Google. To the formators in this room — media practitioners, educators, church people, and, of course, parents — let us combine our efforts to teach our children values with which they reflect and discern. They must learn to choose their media participation well, or else they will have no control over such a seductive and dangerous power. What you cannot conquer eventually conquers you. It is not true that everything out in media is and should be free. In a way, we pay an incalculable price.
“As we attain mass intimacy, how do we respect privacy? As we gain indiscriminate openness, how can we avoid doing anonymous damage to others? While we are more socially networked, in our hearts, are we not more alone? It seems strange that the keynote address you hear is a cautionary view of the very industry to which we all belong. But I believe that we will be better equipped for the world changes in media if we are aware of our potentialities to swing between right and wrong. More significantly, I say all these because I have great trust in the young. You are an empowered generation. But your power must be matched with values. What are values? Values are God speaking to you, using your heart as a microphone. Nurtured in the right values, you will reflect, discern and draw your own lines. In media and in life, you will find answers to questions the older generations have been unable to answer. In the same way, the world will turn, and one day, your own unanswered questions will be answered by generations after you.
But for now: three words, one question: Truth, service and the well-discerned choice. Are we committed to them? If you answer yes, we can end this address again with a line from a classic movie: May the force be with you.”
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E-mail bongosorio@yahoo.com or bong_osorio@abs-cbn.comfor comments, questions and suggestions. Thank you for communicating.