In Medias Res Archives | Page 4 of 26

Depoliticizing the Filipino

ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE suggests mass disaffection with Philippine politics in the wake of the scandals that regularly appear in the Philippine media.

The media and the martial law period

TO THEIR credit, some radio and TV stations as well as broadsheets have been commemorating the declaration of martial rule in 1972 by airing and presenting special reports every September.

NO ONE — certainly not the journalism community and the public it serves — benefits from the attempts to make it seem as if the killing of journalists in the Philippines is not as big a problem as both national and international journalists, press freedom and media advocacy groups...

Hu Shuli: Investigative Reporting in China

It was wonderful to welcome Hu Shuli once again to Manila, on the occasion of her receiving her Ramon Magsaysay Award.

The Aquino assassination: The challenge to media

As the crowd cleared, we went into the lobby, by now fully informed that indeed the returning politician had been shot upon arrival. Members of the press who had accompanied him were briefing other reporters in the lobby. Ninoy’s sister, Lupita Kashiwahara told me in the airport, Talk to...

PNoy on second term: Loss of context and meaning

THERE WERE two parts to PNoy’s answer to the question that fired up such heated reactions to the idea of a second term for PNoy. Apart from some political allies in Congress, reactions were mostly of dismay or alarm, with snarky comments from usual quarters about anything that has...

Rethinking the ‘Trial by Publicity’ rule

IN ONE more demonstration of the Philippine military’s incapacity for anything resembling objective judgment, which results in its chronic inability to distinguish between victims and victimizers, the retired generals of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, through the Association of General and Flag Officers (AGFO), their 800-strong organization, decried...

City in gridlock

Everyone knew how traffic held the city in a standstill on Monday, August 4. If one did not suffer the long hours going nowhere, everyone knew someone who did. It was social media that had people exchanging notes on how long they had been stalled in different areas of the...

The FOI watch

He didn't mention it in his fifth State of the Nation Address, but President Benigno Aquino III has included the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill in his list of 26 priority bills he has forwarded to Congress. The version of the FOI bill the list refers to is presumably...

Obiter Dictum and the Impeachment Motions against President Aquino

President Aquino delivered his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) to members of the three branches of government. He was welcomed to the august hall of the legislature with extended applause, and 85 times handclapping cheered him as he spoke. Outside, militant activist groups protested in greater...