Our journalists, even the best of them, are still digging dirt, which is what they have been doing since journalism was invented in Rome in the form of the handwritten Acta Diurna, or Journal Act, my translation (en.wikiquote.org).
Instead of digging dirt, which is negative, why not, I say, dig dearth, not the one that is dirty but the one that is lacking, the one that is contributory?
Joshua Hammer writes of Maria Ressa & her media struggles arising from her Rapplerreports ("The Journalist Vs The President, With Life On The Line" (15 October 2019, New York Times, nytimes.com):
Maria Ressa, editor of a popular news site in the Philippines, has incurred President Duterte and his supporters’ wrath by investigating his extrajudicial killing campaign.
Of course! If you dig dirt, the dirt can fall on your body instead.
I would rather dig dearth. Here's to reinventing modern journalism!
Journationalism.
Journationalism.
Is not the process from journalism to nationalism natural?! No, not the "nationalism" that Senator Lorenzo Tañada exhibited in his times, of which he said:
Nationalism is the primal virtue of the citizen; that virtue which prompts him to place the common good of his people above private and personal good, above the interest of his party, that virtue that makes him willing nay, glad to sacrifice himself that the nation may live.
When I was younger, I admired Tañada; now that I am 79, that to me is a limited view! Sen Tañada was speaking along party lines; I must speak along national development lines, party lines blurred or non-existent.
To be practical about it, to me:
Development is helping the poor farmers rise from poverty and staying up there! (Check out my other blog, Ani at Kita, https://ianikita.blogspot.com.)
If your political party or your group believes in that, welcome to the common struggle. If not, you are part of the problem!
(Yes, if you keep on digging up dirt, you are part of the problem too!)
On Wednesday, 16 October 2019, I saw Miriam Grace A Go's email, "Challenges Of Local Governance We Don't Always See." She is the News Editor of Rappler. She reports that all the new mayors of Metro Manila: Cainta, Rizal (Kit Nieto), Pasig City (Vico Sotto), Makati City (Abigail Binay), Quezon City (Joy Belmonte), and Valenzuela City (Rex Gatchalian) – have been outgoing with their media releases and "not from the good, old daily story chasing by journalists." Miss Grace says, "All these are good for our local governments, but not good for journalism in my view."
Instead of complaining that the young leaders of Metro Manila have taken over the functions of mass media, Miss Grace, I already invited you to practice:
Journationalism!
Journalists now have to reinvent themselves and look for The Really Good News for the citizens. Like, check out if Secretary of Agriculture William Dar has distributed farm machineries and made loans available to farmers in Metro Manila?!
You don't want to be a nationalist? Then be an internationalist:
Fight climate change!@517
No comments:
Post a Comment