Raffy Alunan Reveals the Reason Why Philippine Media Derail the Philippines Progress
Veteran public servant and former Interior Secretary Raffy Alunan III posted a very revealing statement on Facebook about the state of Philippine journalism and how it affected the country as a whole.
Raffy Alunan started his story by narrating an incident during his visit to Japan as Secretary of Tourism as he was able to discover the reasons why it is hard for Japanese to promote the Philippines in Japan and the culprits are the Filipino media.
The senatorial candidate who loses during last year's election, Alunan revealed that according to his Japanese counterpart during his time as Tourism secretary noted that our local media love to sensationalized stories which is the main reason why foreigners are afraid to visit the country.
Once the sensationalized news was picked up by international media, the story became credible but at the expense of negative impressions of the country.
To understand better what Raffy Alunan wanted to reveal, just scroll down and read his full statement.
Here's the Complete Post of Raffy Alunan III:
When I was Secretary of Tourism, I flew to Japan to work out ways to bring in more tourists from there. My counterpart told me they were having a hard time promoting the country.
Our local media, he said, loved to sensationalise stories, particularly crime and scandal stories, complete with screaming headlines and photos, oftentimes with tentative details and speculations, never accurate that people could really learn from. And when the story dies out, he said that somehow the press recycles it and noted that they liked to pit people against each other. Very divisive practice he said. Bad for nation-building.
Our local news is picked up by the international press. And if the stories are irresponsible - devoid of professionalism, prudence and circumspection - the impact on foreigners is negative. He said the Japanese were fearful to come here because of it. In Japan, he said the papers would report their crime stories in the middle pages, sans gory pictures, sensational headlines and only reported the basics - who, what, where, how, how many, why, etc.
That was way back in 1991. A few years later, I sued a national daily with natural tabloid instincts for placing on their front page headline story that I was responsible for the release of a notorious killer in Mindanao. I was shocked out of my chair because I didn't know the fellow at all. I checked the inclusive dates when that supposedly happened, and saw the glaring mistake immediately. It took place when I was blissfully working in the private sector selling to the local textile industry and Philippine goods abroad. I was not in government. I was mistaken for somebody else.
I asked Atty Rene Cayetano, father of Sen. Alan Peter, to lawyer for me. He succeeded to have that paper recognise and acknowledge its gross mistake. But you know how it recanted and apologised a year later? Surely, it was not in the front page with equally eye-grabbing headlines. It was buried at the corner of a page somewhere in the middle of the paper in small print. So much for ethics, decency and fair play. And you know what the cavalier response was on the side? "Don't worry, in the future we will also print your side?" What? After the damage is done? What kind of responsible journalism is that?
25 years later today, 2016, has anything changed? Do we have a responsible, professional press? Does it deliver informative news that enable the cause of nation-building? Is it development oriented? Is it sober, reliable and trustworthy? These are questions that require deep reflection. And if the answer is no, something has to be done. We cannot go on like this open-ended like a bunch of uncaring nitwits.
Source: Raffy Alunan III FB Page
Raffy Alunan started his story by narrating an incident during his visit to Japan as Secretary of Tourism as he was able to discover the reasons why it is hard for Japanese to promote the Philippines in Japan and the culprits are the Filipino media.
The senatorial candidate who loses during last year's election, Alunan revealed that according to his Japanese counterpart during his time as Tourism secretary noted that our local media love to sensationalized stories which is the main reason why foreigners are afraid to visit the country.
Once the sensationalized news was picked up by international media, the story became credible but at the expense of negative impressions of the country.
To understand better what Raffy Alunan wanted to reveal, just scroll down and read his full statement.
Here's the Complete Post of Raffy Alunan III:
When I was Secretary of Tourism, I flew to Japan to work out ways to bring in more tourists from there. My counterpart told me they were having a hard time promoting the country.
Our local media, he said, loved to sensationalise stories, particularly crime and scandal stories, complete with screaming headlines and photos, oftentimes with tentative details and speculations, never accurate that people could really learn from. And when the story dies out, he said that somehow the press recycles it and noted that they liked to pit people against each other. Very divisive practice he said. Bad for nation-building.
Our local news is picked up by the international press. And if the stories are irresponsible - devoid of professionalism, prudence and circumspection - the impact on foreigners is negative. He said the Japanese were fearful to come here because of it. In Japan, he said the papers would report their crime stories in the middle pages, sans gory pictures, sensational headlines and only reported the basics - who, what, where, how, how many, why, etc.
That was way back in 1991. A few years later, I sued a national daily with natural tabloid instincts for placing on their front page headline story that I was responsible for the release of a notorious killer in Mindanao. I was shocked out of my chair because I didn't know the fellow at all. I checked the inclusive dates when that supposedly happened, and saw the glaring mistake immediately. It took place when I was blissfully working in the private sector selling to the local textile industry and Philippine goods abroad. I was not in government. I was mistaken for somebody else.
I asked Atty Rene Cayetano, father of Sen. Alan Peter, to lawyer for me. He succeeded to have that paper recognise and acknowledge its gross mistake. But you know how it recanted and apologised a year later? Surely, it was not in the front page with equally eye-grabbing headlines. It was buried at the corner of a page somewhere in the middle of the paper in small print. So much for ethics, decency and fair play. And you know what the cavalier response was on the side? "Don't worry, in the future we will also print your side?" What? After the damage is done? What kind of responsible journalism is that?
25 years later today, 2016, has anything changed? Do we have a responsible, professional press? Does it deliver informative news that enable the cause of nation-building? Is it development oriented? Is it sober, reliable and trustworthy? These are questions that require deep reflection. And if the answer is no, something has to be done. We cannot go on like this open-ended like a bunch of uncaring nitwits.
Source: Raffy Alunan III FB Page
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Raffy Alunan Reveals the Reason Why Philippine Media Derail the Philippines Progress
Reviewed by Anne Reyes
on
September 10, 2016
Rating:
Reviewed by Anne Reyes
on
September 10, 2016
Rating:
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