The public and foreign policy

FOREIGN POLICY news do not carry a lot of weight in the news agenda. People generally think that the issues usually couched in diplomatic jargon as too nuanced for them to see the immediate relevance.

This is easy to understand as the Philippines is a small country with few international issues that can easily engage the public. How often have I heard it noted in the past by officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) that the Philippine press is too parochial and cannot be interested in giving time to properly report on foreign policy. Even Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) news, the regional neighborhood, with its cluster of economic, trade and cultural issues is often left unreported, unless there are ceremonial events.

And yet, Filipinos are everywhere in the world. Whether we like it or not, globalization is the context of even our most domestic policies. I feel that media must begin to break these blinders and boundaries, if only to improve the prospects for more learning in our society, learning not just for the people, but where it is most needed, for elected leaders and those entrenched in the bureaucracy. The weaknesses of our political system and  governance lies in political style and custom, keeping most of the business of policy making and politics still rooted in values of a feudal society.

True, parochialism is a burden of most peoples, a natural limitation, perhaps. It afflicts ordinary people even in a country like the United States whose involvement, or lack of it, is considered a paramount factor in the outcome of various crises. But the leaders in developed countries are globally connected, and even the most parochial are forced to reach out and learn about the world out there to help them to keep up with change.

Conventional criteria for news includes proximity as a measure of its relevance; ruling out foreign affairs among the “beats” carrying priority in news budget discussions.

The Philippine claim to an area many Filipinos simply refer to as the Spratlys is an exception. With three other ASEAN countries as claimants, the dispute strikes deeply at chords of emotional response, as shown in the coverage of two recent developments.

The first was the Philippine’s submission of its Memorial before the Arbitral Tribunal of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in the Hague, over the case filed in January 22, 2013. The announcement was made by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario on March 30. One day before the announcement, a confrontation between Philippine civilian vessel and Chinese coast guard ships ended without violence; but the two-hour stand-off fully dramatized the tension inherent in conflicting claims. The latter was probably timed to enhance the relevance of the first, a technical announcement that could have been easily suffered short shrift by editorial hands.

In a PJR Reports monitor in 2008, CMFR noted the dependence of most media coverage on the political exchange between legislators, relying mostly on what he or she said. In more recent reports, the news involved mostly high drama on the waters, with small fishermen shoo-ed away from fishing grounds by larger Chinese vessels/, or, in the most recent case, the mission to re-supply the BRP Sierra Madre, a Navy vessel grounded there since the late 1990s to stand for Philippine sovereignty.

Most Filipinos have now formed strong opinions about the legitimacy of the country’s claims. Much of what we hear express belief in the legitimacy of Philippine claims and the appropriate path chosen by government to seek arbitration in the proper UN forum. Most Filipinos may not know the names of the different reefs and shoals, but there is a pretty strong certainty that these lie within our seas.

Coverage of the various incidents helps the public appreciate the foreign policy questions involved in the claims. The country maintains friendly relations with other claimants, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam. And even with China, which has been the most visible and vocal party in the area, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken care to preserve all channels of communication.

Media must sustain the efforts to provide context. It is critically important in foreign policy news. Note the background given by 24/7 news to the take-over of Crimea by Russia in the Ukraine.

The Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility (CMFR) noted the detailed infographics and historical background that VERA Files provided to the Spratlys issues in 2008. Last year, when the Arbital Tribunal set the date of March 2014 as the date of submission for the Philippine Memorial, the Philippine Daily Inquirer published in Talk of the Town, a detailed piece to contextualize the development, giving full background on the claims and the issues involved. Last week, Lynda Jumilla’s Beyond Politics featured two very low key resource persons in the program (April 1, 2014). Prof. Jay Batongbacal of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea and Prof. Rommel Banlaoi, security analyst of the Center for Intelligence and National Security Studies. We hope to get more of the kind.

I think the formats could have used more effective visualization, although the efforts were not entirely absent to make data easier to understand. More can be done, given the innovations in software available, media must exert itself to help a public to follow and absorb complex stories. Most people are already bogged down by so much information, and easily distracted by more accessible trivia and entertainment.