The Wild, Wild Press

There are times when former Senator Rene Saguisag reminds me of the late Senator Claro M. Recto who was known, during his era as the quintessential Nationalist and the Great Dissenter. Recto was never afraid to state his opinions publicly even if it was against popular opinion. He was even willing to tangle with the two icons of his era, Ramon Magsaysay and the Catholic Church.

The present media narrative is trying to convince the public that we now have a beleaguered presidency. We have columnists and radio commentators that are openly attacking the President.

But armed only with a blog, a colorful use of language and a legal education spent in San Beda and Harvard, he happily confronts popular radio and television commentators in established broadcast stations and even writers in so-called mainstream newspapers. Saguisag might be mistaken as a Don Quixote tilting at the windmills.

Saguisag does not mince words when in his latest circulating email, he says:

“PNoy is Ampaw? Lame? All he had done was to work for the ouster of a Chief Justice and now three Senators are in jail. Without martial law at that and with a Wild, Wild Press validating that media is the plural of mediocre (Rocky Bridges), knowing all the answers which are hopeless contradictory. Columnists galore confirming Arthur Hoppe’s definition that a columnist such as I scan the papers, finding something I don’t understand and then I proceed to explain it.”

But it is true that press coverage of the president and the government is often superficial, oversimplified and overblown, thus providing the public a distorted view of presidential activities and policies. There is often trivialization of the news which often drowns out the more important matters which can leave the public ill informed. The preoccupation of the press with personalities, drama and disasters does little to help the public understand the complexities of presidential decision making, and the tradeoffs involved in policy making. For example, how do we satisfy the anti-coal stand of the environmentalists with the need to put up power plants, with coal powered plants as the cheapest and easiest to put up?

But media normally prioritizes audience rating when it comes to coverage of topics. Therefore, traffic on EDSA will receive more coverage on radio than the global competitiveness of the Philippines. Along with television news illustrations of conflicts — combat, demonstrations, floods.

However, it is important we realize that, despite its flaws, a free press does have benefits for the people. After all, the same press that trivializes the news and provides superficial coverage of policy issues can also be the same press that exposes abuses of authority and PDAF scams.

Also, there are similar complaints about an irresponsible press in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries where there is freedom of the press. Only in countries like Russia and China are public official satisfied with the press. Even in Thailand it is a crime for the press to criticize the monarchy.

Besides, in the end the public will eventually discern which segments of the press are responsible and which ones that are wildly biased. In the final analysis, just like Ramon Magsaysay and Corazon Aquino, it will be history — not media — that will determine the legacy of P-Noy.

All about SONAs

Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau has written several interesting insights and stories on State of the Nation Addresses or SONAs which are worth sharing even with non-American audiences. These SONAs seem to have become mandatory exercises in countries all over the world especially those with a presidential system.

Favreau says that SONAs tend to help move public opinion. His favorite part of the address is the inclusion of stories of ordinary people whose lives have moved us in extraordinary ways. This is the unifying feel good part of the speech that seeks to inspire the nation through public recognition.

There are of course people who will mock these stories as overly sentimental and political ploys. But Favreau says: “...but I think that our politics and the media give us enough reasons to be cynical every other day of the year. For one hour tonight, we get the chance to be inspired together. To me, that makes all the fuss worthwhile.”

Presidential speeches are expected to be substantial. But memorable speeches are remembered more for their themes and for specific phrases that conjure images that are oftentimes beyond words. We may have forgotten the exact speech, but who can forget the phrase “The Filipino is worth dying for”?

During the snap election pitting Corazon Aquino against the Marcos martial law regime, her belief that democracy would prevail over martial law terrorism was captured in a short paragraph when she said: “When the Marcos men threatened me — Cory, isang bala ka lang — I stood my ground and answered — Marcos, isang balota ka lang!”

In the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was considered to be among the best at burning phrases into the memory of the public.  Perhaps, his greatest phrases was his enumeration of the Four Freedoms: “The first is freedom of speech and expression. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way. The third is freedom from want. The fourth is freedom from fear.” These four freedoms have sometimes become better known than the Bill of Rights.

P-Noy’s most memorable lines continue to be  about his themes of the rule of law — walang wang wang — and his anti corruption crusade — Daang Matuwid.

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