In Medias Res Archives | Page 9 of 26

Media’s indeterminate power

ECHOING THE late "Muppets" creator Jim Henson, a Manila TV network invites viewers to watch the Filipino movies it regularly airs by saying that life’s like a movie. Unfortunately it isn’t. Only in the movies—and, one might add, in the soap operas that daily attract millions of watchers all over...

Media doing harm

Among the fundamental responsibilities of journalists is that of minimizing harm. As an ethical principle it applies to the entire range of issues and subjects journalists are called upon to report, comment on, and interview. The assumption is that whatever the press reports and comments on almost inevitably has an...

Human rights, press freedom, and the FOI bill

THE FREEDOM of Information bill filed by the Right to Know. Right Now! (R2KRN) Coalition is likely to pass the Senate, if experience during the 14th and 15th Congress is any gauge. The version filed by then Congressman Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada III passed the Senate in both Congresses with...

Messages

Janet Lim-Napoles’ surrendering to no official lower than the President of the Philippines; Mr. Aquino’s being part of the convoy that brought her to the headquarters of the Philippine National Police where she preferred to be in custody; and her transfer to the same detention facility in Laguna where...

People Power for long term change

The public outrage over the reported abuse of pork barrel allocations recalls other passages in recent Philippine history when abuse of power in government provoked the people’s seething anger. Tempered by insight and understanding, this shared fury gave rise to concerted action, and in time, a movement, as citizens...

Beyond Janet Napoles

WITH AROUND 400,000 protesters descending on the Luneta – not to mention others turning out in fair numbers elsewhere around the country and some parts abroad – Monday felt, positively, like another day of great unburdening. The feeling was unmistakable in the brightened faces and strong voices in the...

CSR and the media

Although the Philippines is a particularly disaster-prone country year 'round, both because of its geographical location (it sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and is directly in the path of Pacific-generated storms) and the flawed and even non-existent environmental policies of the governments that have ruled it, it...

An exercise in incoherence

I CAN only guess at the objective of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) "roundtable" with Janet Lim Napoles, the primary object of a five month inquiry by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for her involvement in what has now been called the "pork barrel scam." I do not know...

Napoles loses it

JANET LIM Napoles asked for it, and she got it: a meeting with (Philippine Daily) Inquirer columnists, editors, and reporters. The latter agreed, thereby giving Napoles the rare opportunity to present to its entire staff, including its publisher, her side of the story re her supposed plunder of government...

Paradigm shift in the killing of journalists

THE NUMBERS alone should be cause for concern. The killing of journalists is continuing, with 134 killed in the line of duty out of a total number of 201 killed since 1986. Sixteen have been killed since 2010, when Benigno Aquino III assumed the Presidency—on a promise, one might...