Arroyo's media cheering squad

-- Neal Cruz: Press doesn't exist to be cheering squad of gov't

The thrust of their argument is that there is too much "negative" news and not enough "positive" news in the media. They echo the claim of the Marcos martial law administration that media should be a partner of the government in nation building.

There should be a balance between the "good news" and the "bad news," they said. A congressman-panelist complained that the media did not report the six bills he had filed in Congress. In short, they want the media to praise them and be their cheering squad.

Let me clarify the role of the press in a democratic society. The press does not exist to be the cheering squad of the government. It exists to be critical of the government and its officials. It exists not to point out the "good and the beautiful" in the government, but to point out the faults and blemishes in it. A public official shouldn't expect to be praised for doing a good deed. He is supposed and expected to do that. That is his job and duty. And a good deed is its own reward.

But when he does wrong, then that should be pointed out so that he would know that what he did was wrong and so that he can correct it. And so that the public will know what the official they voted into office did or did not do and can replace him when the next election comes around.

The odds are so heavily in favor of the government that it does not need the press to backstop it. On the contrary, it needs the press to hold it in check and criticize it when it abuses its powers. It has the funds, the many agencies supported by taxpayers' money to promote itself. It even has some pseudo-journalists in its pockets.

On the other hand, the public has nobody on its side but the press. The press is the eyes and ears of the people. It tells them what they should know. It can be compared to an ombudsman, who exists as the watchdog and prosecutor for the people.

In other words, our society needs something to balance the immense powers of the government. And that, in its own limited way, is the role of the press. That is the "balance" that everybody should be crying for.

Neal adds:

One of the panelists asked: What about accountability? The government accounts to the people, what about the media?

Two of the professional journalists (God bless them) replied that media account to the public, too, and more quickly than do the public officials. Politicians account for their actions usually only during the elections every year. But the media account for their actions every day, every hour, every minute. A media outlet that loses its credibility quickly loses readers and viewers. The public is very discerning and can be quite unforgiving.

Witness what happened to the media during the martial law regime. The press published only "positive news" about the government and rarely any "negative news." What happened? The public did not believe the establishment press and patronized the underground press such as the Inquirer and We Forum. The same thing will happen if we follow the clamor of Ate Glue and her defenders to accentuate the "good news" and play down the "bad news." Nobody would believe the media and a new underground press would be born.

Yup. Look at what's happening to Philstar, Manila Standard, Manila Bulletin etc.

-- Conrad de Quiros: Standards

Read the whole thing.

-- NEWSBREAK has a major 4-article story in the military's role in GLORIAGATE

a) Suspicious Operations by Aries Rufo

b) In the Shadows by the Newsbreak team

c) Madame Operator (Part I) by Miriam G. Go

d) Madame Operator (Part II)