In Medias Res Archives | Page 12 of 26

Internet perils

When it comes to journalism in the age of new media, the same rules about sourcing that have been around for sometime still apply: choose your sources carefully, double check what they say, verify their claims from documents and other sources, and never rely on anonymous sources.

Election doldrums

In a country where people have called themselves "election-crazy," we seem to have lost it. There is little visible excitement, and I do not think it has to do only with Comelec’s limits on political ads. Earlier in this electoral season, I noted that media had not yet found the...

Elections and the crisis of information

ELECTIONS ARE the only means through which an allegedly free people can delegate their sovereign powers of governance to leaders they can trust to enforce their will. Electing the right officials isn’t the same as removing the wrong ones, whom they can oust through direct action, recall through a petition...

PR time

ELECTIONS ARE among the best of times for public relations organizations and practitioners. Philippine politicians need favorable media exposure, or exposure whether good or bad. Being mentioned in the media keeps the politician in the public mind if not its eye, and it doesn’t usually matter whether the mention...

Journalism or stenography?

IT CAN do so, but CMFR has never claimed as the basis for its monitor and critique of media performance the journalism experience and qualifications of its staff, only the same right as other citizens to express their opinions on institutions that claim to be serving and speaking for...

Enough

ONE COULD argue that whatever happens to Kris Aquino matters. Not only is she the daughter of Ninoy and Cory Aquino; she is also one of the sisters of the current President of the Philippines, and one of the highest paid and most well known TV and movie...

Part of the solution

SPECULATING ON the reasons for a suicide and attributing it to a single cause is a common and misleading habit of the media. The media also tend to make it seem as if killing one’s self vindicates the suicide, which is not only wrong, but also dangerous. In one case,...

Habemus Papam! The Papal Conclave in the Age of Media

I GUESS it was bound to happen. We have witnessed what the news can do with a religious and spiritual event. Sure, the papacy has global political impact, but that would be missing the point of the conclave.

Coalitions wanted

Non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, have been recognized in the laws of many states as expressions of the right to association, but have also come about because of the political and other deficiencies in society. Since the fall of the Marcos dictatorship, every election in the Philippines has been the occasion...

The continuing past (Updated)

AT A lecture I gave recently to journalism students, the discussion, until now focused on the principles of news writing, was detoured by someone in the audience toward a grammatical subject – tense sequence. It is not a subject off too far, really. After all, news writing is storytelling,...