The Manila Times

New major players in the media block

THE 2022 elections have greatly diminished the credibility of major media players, many of whom boldly cast their lot to express — with some not trying hard not to anymore — their biases toward certain candidates. I am proud to say that this paper is one of those that kept the faith with its commitment to fair and balanced journalism, even in our opinion pages. This is something that cannot be said for many other major dailies and broadcast networks.

Rappler, for example, barely had any space devoted to contrarian opinions when it came to the Marcoses or the Dutertes. The last time Rappler interviewed me was ages ago when I joined a petition against then presidential candidate, now senator Grace Poe. I have been told that there is a secret ban against my guesting in a major network reportedly because they see me as rabidly pro-Marcos, which is a patent, bald-faced piece of fake news.

Many years ago, I was canceled in the online platform of a major network as a regular opinion contributor for writing a column that was critical of then President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino 3rd. So, I know firsthand how institutions that declare their being in pursuit of fairness and balance, and without prejudice against or preference toward any political personality or party, can actually do the exact opposite by censoring an opinion piece.

Even before the elections, people who were so disappointed with the partisan biases of mainstream media, particularly online and broadcast, fled in the direction of social media and other mainstream media outlets that have lower levels of subscription compared to the major players. The shift in preference has been further cemented by what happened in the recent elections with the manifest bias in the election coverage of major networks and platforms.

This was given more impetus by the disgraceful, shameless and unprofessional performance of prominent broadcast journalists on election night when they failed to contain their sheer disgust, through their facial expression, body language and even words, at the emerging results which obviously were unfavorable to their personal partisan interests.

Consequently, people who voted for Marcos are beginning to move over to networks like SMNI and Net 25. The presence of pro-Marcos voices in social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and even Twitter has further intensified, even as trust in online vloggers has increased further. In an election where a substantial number, at least 31 million, voted for Marcos, with a significant number intensely loyal to him, this mass migration away from established mainstream media platforms toward alternative mainstream and social media spaces has a good chance of tilting the balance toward the emergence of new major players in the media block. Also promising to make a presence is the Villar-led network that took over the frequency of ABS-CBN.

It is, however, alarming that we might see a shift away from mainstream media that is biased against Marcos Jr. toward a new set of players that will be biased toward him and against his enemies and those who persecuted him, his family and his allies. This is a very real fear considering that to many people, including those who are pro-Marcos, fairness is not about balance but about absence of criticism.

This is a cultural predisposition that is deeply embedded in our worldviews. Many of us do not know how to take and make criticism, and to accept defeat. Our mindset has been conditioned to think that to be fair means not to criticize. What could lead us to transcend this cultural baggage is an incessant barrage or tropes, narratives and images of balance in the way we deal with contentious issues. Critical thinking should be mainstreamed in people’s minds. This can be achieved through the educational system. And media should have played a crucial role here.

Unfortunately, media broke its covenant by comporting itself not as an adversarial but objective watchdog of government and public conduct of institutions that impact our lives, but turned themselves into partisan critics. There is no room for cultivating balance, fairness and critical thinking when what people see is the inordinate focus on the flaws of Marcos Jr. and the evils attached to his surname’s brand, but there is no interest to peek into the flaws of Vice President Leni Robredo and to inquire into the mythology that was constructed to represent her. No major network ever sent a reporter to Bicol to pry into the veracity of the narratives being produced about Robredo to check if they were not misrepresentations.

Yet, we also do not want to see people gravitating toward other media platforms, mainstream or social, that will just reverse the bias and will become apologists and sycophants of the incoming Marcos administration. And right now, there is a greater chance that people who preferred Marcos and lost faith in mainstream media will flock to these new major players in the industry with the expectation that they would be less critical of Marcos Jr. The less critical, the better.

This is not the kind of media that we need, even if that is what many would want. The challenge therefore is how to make people see and appreciate the role of fairness and balance not just expressed in rehearsed spiels recited by news anchors at the end of news reports. On one hand, mainstream media tainted by their public display of bias has a lot of work to do to regain people’s trust. On the other hand, new major players that are set to receive the windfall from a shift in people’s preference will have to make a choice. Should they just repeat the same mistakes of the giants they are set to replace and nurture their own biases, or should they be faithful to the tenets of their profession and show those who failed before them how to do proper journalism?

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2022-05-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://manilatimes.pressreader.com/article/281505049829131

The Manila Times