Media hypocrisy

LET me share to our readers what a lady said about our local media, echoing her support against those who have nothing more important to do than attack a friend who has not done anything wrong against them. “Thank God we have a free media,” she said.

Indeed, we have a free media in the city, so free that every practitioner is free to say what they like and how to deliver it–the truth, the lies, their biases, not minding the risk of exposing their hidden agenda and why they do it. Attack anyone of them and they’ll gang up on you like Mafia. They have such camaraderie feared and shunned by many. But they are also capable of destroying each other when their own interests are at stake.

I was told there is prestige in it. In some way, I agree. But with prestige, there should also be honor. Without honor, prestige is nothing.

“Freedom of speech” is a slogan in placards, aired on the radio and TV and yelled in the streets. Funny how I was told to stop writing just because we differ in opinion! And no one from the media came to my defense. Not the Mafia, anyway.

A columnist is always at the mercy of its editor-in-chief. His column can be changed for many reasons. Wrong spelling is one which happens all the time. Wrong grammar is another. But the nastier one is when it is edited to suit his/her desire or to protect a person, an interest or as paid for. How?

That is why it is imperative to maintain a good rapport with one’s superior, so they say. Otherwise, your column will be commented upon and your person ridiculed in other forum even before it saw print. A late columnist was mad about it and complained why it was so.

Hypocrisy in the media–no one will admit that. Some would like to project themselves as moralists, attacking others for their perceived wrongdoing but silent on much bigger sins, not to mention their own skeletons. They see the mole but the mountain. They can see through the eye of the needle but can’t see through a wide-open gate.

Yes, Maam, we have a free media. You can bet your a** that as soon as this article sees print or even before this saw print, a barrage of attacks against this columnist will be all over in social media and in their favorite page.

Believe me, Ma’am, they are aplenty. The names so common you won’t miss them. And I was warned that they will “pakaulawan” me. But they already did before. What more can they say of me, my mining connections again, and that I have hidden agenda?

I will not dwell on where you’re coming from, Ma’am. It’s pretty obvious and I understand that. Somebody said, “Mao na nga dili ta mu uswag kay ang insakto himuon ug sayup aron ang sayup maoy mahimong insakto.”

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Why do vehicles run out of time even when the distance is so short? This is what always happens in Kauswagan intersection as in some other areas in the city. Motorists are allowed to line up three, sometimes four rows. When the traffic light turns green, all three or four rows of vehicles start to move through a two laneoad in a hurry to beat the others to move first. The result, it slows the flow of traffic because there would always be a chance to block the others from moving forward.

I am not surprise that our traffic enforcers in that area get criticized for doing nothing to correct it or just play dumb. It’s time to study the situation there and implement corrections.

The attitude of our motorists will surely make you shake your head.