In Medias Res Archives | Page 18 of 26

Significant and relevant government information

The crisis of journalism that we hear so much discussed in many media-oriented circles takes many forms. Many are rightly concerned about the closure of news organizations and the struggle to keep journalist jobs open in the US. Others are concerned about the crisis of information which involves...

9/11: Casualties of terror

AS IN past years, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and on the Pentagon in Washington DC has been focused on their cost in lives lost and on those the victims left behind. The events of that...

An outrageous dream (Updated)

THE FIRST image inspired by the government’s plan for its television network is one that indulges the miracle of soaring, yet wingless, ambition. In particular, the inspiration comes from the idealization of PTV (People's Television Network, Inc.) as a BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. tells the...

Plagiarism in high places

THE PRACTICE of plagiarism among public officials is evidence of among others, the terrible state of government, especially of lawmaking or what passes for it in this country. Sen. Vicente C. Sotto III’s speech on the Reproductive Health bill, a critical as well highly controversial bill, is the most...

Cruel month

April is the cruelest month. —TS Eliot SEPTEMBER’S THE first of those months of the year that end in "ber" (September, October, November, December)—its onset signaling, so local wags say, the beginning of the Philippine Christmas season. Sure enough, your favorite mall usually makes it a point to pipe "Rudolph the...

A plague of plagiarism

LAYING ITSELF open to thievery being so temptingly and readily accessible, the Internet must have by now fostered a plague of plagiarism. If not enough cases have come to light to support any claim to such a scale, I imagine it’s only because little watching, let alone policing, is...

Time enough

THE PHILIPPINES now has its first woman Chief Justice in the person of Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. It’s a precedent- setting appointment, but wasn’t really all that surprising in the Philippine context. Until she was disqualified because of the disbarment case against her before the Integrated Bar of the...

‘Everything is eventual’

I NEVER met Jesse Robredo. But from what I’ve known about him—from his pronouncements, from the news, and now from the testimonials given upon his death—I feel I’ve known him enough to feel a desperate sense of loss myself. In particular I feel gratified by his relentless crusade against...

Jesse Robredo and Press Freedom Cities

It is clear from the outpouring of messages on social and traditional media that the public has recognized Jesse Robredo’s gift to the Filipino people, their government and the culture of Philippine politics. Genuine praise has come quickly and generously, even during the vigil when his fate was still...

The persistence of impunity

STATE RESPONSIBILITY was writ large in the Ampatuan Massacre when it occurred in 2009. Not only were the immediate suspects members of the ruling dynasty in Maguindanao. They had also prospered because they were the reliable allies of the Arroyo administration, the fingerprints of which were all over the...