Speaking of Media

Who’s afraid of media?
“Even though 1017 has been lifted, the war with the media continues. The administration is now focusing on specified action involving charges of inciting to sedition against journalists who continue to be critical.
“The war of attrition has just begun.”
– Amando Doronila, Philippine Daily Inquirer, March 6

“I’ll admit, I’m scared. I’m scared that we journalists don’t enjoy the support of the public on this issue. I’m scared that should I be picked up by authorities, we won’t find anyone behind us.”
– ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs department’s Luchi Cruz Valdez, Inquirer, March 15

“The moment any government intrudes into media, then the only thing between the government and its policies on expression and communication, is the citizenry itself. The citizenry, unlike the media, doesn’t even have the advantage of being able to band together, institutionally, when it’s threatened by the state. Each citizen wanting to assert his or her rights can be ruthlessly suppressed once media is out of the way.”
– Inquirer columnist Manuel Quezon III in his blog, “Why defend the press?”

“Actually, the state does not have to seek control and supervision of media because it would only open the state to charges of dictatorship and censorship. I believe that the implementation and penalties of the libel law in the country should be strengthened. There is no need to restrain or muzzle the freedom of the press. Besides, in democracies, the press is considered a critic of the government and, therefore, an adversary.”
– Jesus Sison, Malaya, March 15

“They (Palace and its allies) are so paranoid that they always say that anyone or any entity that speaks, prints or airs its own mind against the government is either a destabilizer or a terrorist. After raiding The Daily Tribune and Abante and canceling Ngayon na, Bayan and Buhay Manggagawa programs in dzRJ, Malacañang is now training its sights on the Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN.”
– Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas secretary general Danilo Ramos, The Daily Tribune, March 15

“We urge President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to respect the professional right and duty of our fellow journalist to report political events without fear or favor.
“In declaring our solidarity with our fellow media practitioners in the Philippines, we are confident that they would stay the course in defense of their rights and continue to play their part in upholding the nation’s democracy and freedom as enshrined in the Constitution.”
– Asian Journalists Association, March 15

“Whenever beleaguered governments turn to tyranny to cling to power, the first target has always been the Press, believing that control of the free flow of information means control of the Truth. But, as our experience with dictatorship has proven, nothing can truly contain the Truth.”
– Article 3 Alliance, March 15

“The INSI (International News Safety Institute) calls on the Arroyo administration to stop these attempts to silence the press and uphold the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.”
– INSI, March 15

“To force journalists to fret over the integrity of their right to privacy, their freedom of communication, their freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, is to force them into a situation that no citizen of the country, regardless of profession, should have to endure. The constant state of disquiet and even alarm resulting from this is not only a disservice to an independent profession, it is an attack on the broader liberties that are guaranteed as rights, not privileges, by the Constitution.”
– Inquirer editorial, March 16

“The current moves being made on the media by the government may boomerang on the President by making her look more and more tyrannical. This is an image she surely does not wish for herself since it puts her on the slippery slope of eventually falling into the mold of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos who completely crushed the media when he finally declared Martial Law in 1972.”
– Max V. Soliven, The Philippine Star, March 16

“…good governance and economic progress allow a true democracy to flourish in an environment that allows responsible journalists to do their job as best they know how. It is a mistake for a leader to look upon media as the enemy. Despite what is often referred to as an inherently adversarial relationship, government and media are actually working toward the same goals, albeit probably in different ways.”
– Ricardo V. Puno Jr., Star, March 16

“… I have to say that I cannot imagine how anyone, even Lee Kwan Yew or Dr. Mahathir or Mao Zedong or Fidel Castro, can possibly build a discerning, independent-minded, self-motivated, self-respecting, educated, proud, informed, literate and achieving nation out of our masa when the two TV channels most viewed by them feed them nothing but garbage. Freedom of the press, Filipino-style, is truly depressing.”
– Antonio Abaya, Manila Standard Today, March 16

“I watched the docu Paglaban sa Kataksilan twice, and I wondered why a government preaching ‘balance’ in media would produce such a one-sided show. If it were produced or shown by a private media organization, it would be liable for libel, for it libels many prominent personalities, soldiers and civilians alike, accusing them of being coup plotters and subversives.
– Neal H. Cruz, Inquirer, March 17

“Pardon me if I sound jaded when it comes to freedom of the press.… I have seen media outfits embark on fishing expeditions against private individuals. I have seen national publications publish outright lies. I know media practitioners who extort from business establishments and private citizens. Some opinion writers have never heard of conflict of interest.
“When a journalist is killed, we immediately cry it is an attack on press freedom. It is ironic that we in the media are afraid to call a spade a spade when it comes to reporting the truth about our own. Alan Dizon, news photographer of a Cebu paper, was murdered because of activities outside of his work.
“Cebu-based broadcaster George Benaojan was considered an ‘untouchable’ when Billy Bibit was customs collector of Cebu. Benaojan’s and Dizon’s being mediamen and getting killed put them in the statistics of groups whose objective it was to prove that press freedom was under attack. Extrajudicial killings must always be condemned but let us be truthful about the personal circumstances of the persons killed. When we make martyrs and heroes of the undeserving we insult the deserving.
– Marit Stinus-Remonde, Times, March 14

““It is simply too self-serving for media to claim that freedom of the press is for its protection alone. That would be in contravention with the basic democratic principle that no person, class or sector shall enjoy preferential treatment under the law. There is freedom of the press because there is public interest involved. The press enjoys protection so it can remain free to serve the public. And when it violates the public trust, it has no right to hide under the cloak of press freedom.”
– Connie Veneracion, Standard Today, March 21

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