The “Media Circus”

IF THE media were truly a mirror of society, then we must be the most irrepressibly frivolous people in the world, hooked on having and making fun, attaching to every activity the function of endless entertainment.

Okay, so that makes me a killjoy and nobody likes having one around.

But it’s not only the dour types who have been turned off by the incessant dramatization of the arrest and detention of Bong and Jinggoy! These nicknames don’t help at all. How can one be serious given public officials with these names.  It is peculiar to Philippine broadsheets, this use of childhood monickers in reports about public officials in the news.. We did not think anything of calling a Supreme Court Justice DingDong – but foreign correspondents then expressed bafflement at the media sticking to its use in reports on statements or decisions of no less than the High Court.

The press will resort or revert to fluff at every chance. CMFR once “jeered” the inordinate amount of amount of media space and time given to a Filipina beauty placing third in some world beauty contest. Banner headlines, columns of front page text, huge photos bleeding into margins, banal interviews with her relatives left out much of whatever else was happening at the time from the news agenda.

Our critique earned us the scolding from some quarters who saw it simply as zero intolerance for congratulatory cheer and prideful pleasure.

“Media Circus” served as the title  of a book by Howard Kurtz, a well known American journalist. His book criticized the American press for its news treatment of important global and national events. The phrase itself has been used to describe excessive media coverage that is disproportionate to the importance of the news itself. Such treastment can distort the meaning of what may be a significant issue or development.

In recent weeks, I have been asked what I thought of the moment by moment tracking of movement and motion on the process of serving warrants of arrest for Senators Revilla and Estrada. Media teams had staked out the different sites involved, their homes, the PNP headquarters and the Sandiganbayan Court. The press knows the drill, taking as many photos and footage, recording statements and reactions for soundbytes, even holding their subjects to a pose or freezing a wave or other gesture..

The editorial process decides how much of this can be used in the light of other  reports. The decision results from consultation with others who are tracking other developments. Sure, there are stories that could dominate the front page. But the two senators’appointments with the law is not one of them. The story is important, but the theatrical treatment suggested a form of staging for effect, perhaps to tug for public sympathy. Whatever, the reportage has trivialized the story of an extraordinary development in Philippine politics.

The front page can only carry so much news. The same can be said of TV news formats. These inherent limitations require editorial judgment about the stories to include in the news of the day. More creative graphic design in print has challenged this judgment favouring attractive and appealing layouts at the cost of relevance and significance.

Focusing on one story and fluffing up its treatment betrays the purposes of the press, to name two: to provide news to the public as citizens (Kovach and Rosenstiel) and to provide the intelligence of the day (Hutchins Commission).

Giving the one event singular domination of the day’s news causes the public to miss out on the intelligence of the day. To choose to fluff up one story by treating charged public officials mainly as the showbiz celebrities that they are is to fail in the responsibility of the press to provide citizens what they need to know.

There are many who are satisfied with such info-taiment.  They want nothing more substantial in their news diet than entertainment and distraction.  News has made it a purpose to  provide for the public’s need to get off the dreariness of the  daily routine as they cope through the difficulties of life. They don’t want to read about  news that forces them to think or to learn about or understand something complex. I am aware that surveys and other tools for measuring audience share show their interests converging on the light stuff, seeking vicarious thrills by being allowed to peek into the lives of the rich and powerful, the famous and notorious.

As commercial enterprise, media organizations could reduce all news and public affairs sections and operate primarily for recreation and variety, food, fashion and lifestyle, and entertainment news which has already expanded its share of news schedules.

But the press is also a social and political institution. It has been called the fourth pillar of democary. The obligation then is to keep the news as separate enclave with a specific function in the world of media. Set this important function apart from other media purposes and protect it from the ratings game; just as the Constitution protects its freedom. Clearly, the protection of press freedom is not based on the business of making money.The basis for such protection is the public’s need to know and a democracy’s need for an informed citizenry.

Journalism has to popularize, not what is already popular, because there are many other media sources to feed this kind of hunger. The press has to learn to make what is relevant interesting, so there can be meaningful public dialogue about public issues.

The Filipino’s capacity for fun and games has been touted as a global brand, with some considerable measure of national pride. But perhaps, before we surrender the news to the media circus altogether, we also need to work on the heavy and dreary stuff, if only to help us grow up as a nation.