Broadcast media fomented the “Poleteismo” controversy
“Tila lumalalim ang issue tungkol sa RH bill. Mula sa simpleng debate ngayon idinadaan ng ilan ang kanilang pananaw hinggil sa issue sa pamamagitan ng iba’t ibang art forms (It seems the RH bill issue is deepening (sic). From simple debates, a few are expressing their opinions through various art forms,” XXX continued.
“Isang exhibit sa Cultural Center of the Philippines na may kaugnayan sa issue ang pinatutukan ngayon sa XXX ng isa nating kababayan. Tila kasi lumampas na daw sa freedom of expression ang mga artists na may gawa ng mga art works doon at nababastos na raw ang imahe’t paniniwala ng mga Katoliko. Kung bakit? Narito’t panoorin ninyo (A concerned citizen flagged XXX about a certain CCP exhibit related to the RH controversy. It seems that the artists abused their freedom of expression, and the religious images and beliefs of Catholics were violated. Why? Let’s watch),” the report continued.
Claiming to be acting on someone’s complaint, an XXX team went to the CCP last July 14 with the usual hidden camera. The grainy undercover camera footage showed images from Cruz’ exhibit such as those of wooden ashtrays with phalluses and a crucifix with a condom. The report did not bother to explain that such images were part of a collage of images, that they were Cruz’ commentary on the culture of idolatry among Filipinos, which includes reverence for pop icons like the late Fernando Poe Jr.
Newspaper reports
PJR Reports also looked at the newspaper reports on the Cruz controversy. The reports that followed the XXX episode also failed to mention that “Poleteismo” was only part of a larger exhibit (“Kulo”). Most of them also focused on the more controversial parts of Cruz’ work, without the overall context and theme of the installation.
A few reports did attempt to provide background information. But these were drowned by the rest of the newspaper reports without the context news reporting needs for events to be understood.
Too late
Cruz tried to clear up the mix -up the media had once more created, but it was too late; the damage had been done. Quoting his interview with 24 Oras, the Manila Bulletin reported Cruz as saying in Filipino: “They looked at fragments of the piece rather than the whole. If you look at the whole installation and in my personal view, it was not my intention to offend anyone.” But not only did XXX take liberties with Cruz, his work, and the CCP. It also intentionally fed them to the lions by calculatedly pandering to the worst sentiments of the more conservative clergy and laity.
Before ABS-CBN 2 could clear up where its connecting “Kulo” and the RH bill came from, assuming it intended to do that, the art installation had been taken out of context and had earned the ire of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and some Catholic organizations and individuals.
Cruz’ alma mater, the Catholic-run UST, denounced his work and disowned him. “Concerned citizens” even vandalized parts of the exhibit. Cruz and CCP officials also received death threats while being subjected to insults and ridicule over blogs and social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
[…] Broadcast media fomented the “Poleteismo” controversy by PJR Reports staff […]