EDITORIAL - Bleeding the Iggy story to death

When will the media stop feeding on the family conflicts that arose from the death of Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo? Ever since Arroyo died in London last month, not a day passes without media dishing out the latest installment in these after-life conflicts.

There is not a newscast by any network that does not carry an Arroyo item that, without meaning to disrespect the dead with a pun, the coverage has simply become a giant overkill. One can actually drop dead from the ennui.

Worse, the stories have less or nothing to do with Arroyo himself than they are about the fight between two women over the rights to his memory, and whatever that entails. The media has converted the death of Arroyo into a telenovela.

Has the media lost its sense of decency? Has the media no sensitivity at all for the very personal and tragic details of Arroyo’s choices and relations? What matter of public interest is served by the daily media parade of broken family lives?

Admittedly, there are large segments of the population that thrive on intrigue and scandal and clearly these are the target audiences for the unending heaps of trivia about which Arroyo wife or partner laughs or cries on a given day.

But the sheer endlessness of the serial has become its own best reason for the networks to abandon the folly. Even the intrigue-lovers and scandal-mongers have their satiation levels. In case the network bosses don’t know it yet, there is now puke all over the place.

There are far more pressing issues affecting the nation that deserve more airing for public information and awareness than who finally gets what from Arroyo. The focus media has given to this story is simply too much. The story does not sell anymore.

No wonder people sometimes have a very low regard for media. For if the bleeding of this story is any indication of media’s level of intelligence and appreciation for what is relevant and valuable, then such low regard is indeed richly deserved.