Luis V. Teodoro Archives

We will not surrender our freedoms

Today, Independence Day, we renew our pledge to serve the people, to continue speaking truth to power, and to guard and defend freedom of the press and of expression from all threats.

Covering the Pandemic

Covering the CoViD-19 Pandemic

The Silent Media

Native Advertising: Not just a Problem of One

Business as Usual: Media Publicize Undeserving Candidates

By Luis V. Teodoro THE SIGNS are already there. It’s still business as usual for the media, and it doesn’t augur well for the outcome of the May 2019 elections. That exercise is crucial for two reasons. Assuming that it will be fair, honest and fraud-free, and that...

Curbing Fake News

By Luis V. Teodoro THE DANGERS to free expression and press freedom of Senate Bill 1492, which would penalize any person, group or media organization that deliberately spreads “fake news,” are so apparent one wonders if its sponsor and supporters in the Senate have seriously considered its Constitutionality–or, for...

The Media and Terrorism: Critical Failure in Critical Times

By Luis V. Teodoro THE DIFFERENCE between the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) interpretation of the June 2 Resorts World Manila incident as a robbery attempt rather than an act of terrorism and that of House of Representatives Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who said it was a terrorist deed, is the...

The Media and Martial Law: Never Again

By Luis V. Teodoro PRESIDENT RODRIGO Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao thrusts upon the media several responsibilities. These include closely looking into the reasons for the declaration, monitoring its implementation towards making sure that the rights of every citizen are not violated, and challenging any attempt to prolong martial...

After the Fact: Context is All

By Luis V. Teodoro LYING ABOUT issues and events of public concern has been going on for far longer than most people think. In a world of untruth the news media have two major responsibilities: that they don’t spread lies, and that, armed with the skepticism the power...

“Fake News”: Neither Rare nor New

By Luis V. Teodoro PUBLIC INTEREST in “fake news” surged in 2016 when then candidate for United States President Donald Trump accused a reporter’s newspaper of disseminating false information. President Trump frequently accuses the liberal US news media, particularly The New York Times, of spreading lies about him...

Reading Western Media

By Luis V. Teodoro THE WESTERN media, according to one view, are the benchmarks of accuracy, fairness and impartiality. They are the watchdogs of government, the actions and policies of which they monitor in behalf of the citizenry so that the power delegated to the politicians by a sovereign...

Against Technicism

By Luis V. Teodoro IS THE journalist only a technician skilled in reporting the narratives of the powerful? Or are journalistic skills — the capacity to look for and to tell a story, and to momentarily engage viewers, listeners or readers — only part of the resources he or...

Reforming Government Media

By Luis V. Teodoro THE REFORM of the government media system mostly consisting of radio and television networks has been tried at least once. But an announcement of the government intention to do so also came much later, after three administrations– the Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo regimes– had...

A Journalism of Consent

By Luis V. Teodoro IN HIS book Public Opinion (1921), the US journalist and public intellectual Walter Lippmann argued that for democracy to work, the consent of the governed must be “manufactured” by those who have the interest and the knowledge to look into the complexities of public issues...