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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

By Jose Arispe Edma Jr.

Journalists do live a glamorous life. You ask why, well, that¶s a very interesting question, ladies
and gentlemen, good evening. Can you repeat the question please?

Why do journalists live in excitement every day? It¶s because they¶re a lot of things. Like
doctors, their facts should be accurate and precise so they don¶t kill off people, though in their
case-- a person¶s reputation. Like lawyers, they protect their sources the way attorneys do their
clients. Like scientists, they learn something new in the field every day. Like cops, they are there
to watch for something off coming from those big guys up there in their seats. And like actors
playing victims, they get to escape possible torture and .38s, though not necessarily in that
order.
As a 4th year Journalism student, I expected bullet-dodging for our finals but it hasn¶t come up
in the curriculum. With all of that stretching in the road right in front of me after graduation²the
cold precision of a news story, different people with different agenda, and the power I can wield
with only my pen (or keyboard)-- it just goes to show that a journalist¶s day is and always will be
full.

Which brings me to this: what we are taught in class won¶t always be what one expects after the
party balloons and graduation gifts are put away.

If I ever wander away from my BIG dream of working for a glossy magazine (without the
Mexican background, the braces, glasses and the mousy brown hair) and become a REAL
hardcore journalist with the vest, camera and the old brown polo (wink, wink), I¶ll have some
specific problems. I know that working in a mag will entail the same but it is way serious for
those who are following the real, hard road to watchdog greatness.

When I¶m out there in the real world, a newbie journalist soon to cover stabbings, local elections
and the occasional grandpa flashing his wrinkled noodle to school girls, I¶ll be opening myself to
these«

Behind Door No. 1 is sensationalism. µTis the one where someone dies (for example) and Mr.
Journalist tries to write it off as if that person¶s death is the saddest, most tragic death the world
has ever seen since Michael Jackson¶s. And he¶ll make it as if that person¶s killer is the most
deranged, evil monster the pits of hell has ever produced to torment humanity.

In short, he¶ll be making a soap opera instead of a simple news story. Then he¶ll compose the
most shocking, vulgar headline to attract readers. He¶ll even go crazily creative and ask his
editor to put a picture of Francine Prieto in a bikini beside it.

That¶s one special problem in journalism; when you blow a story up and push the more
important ones to the backseat. Which is wrong. As a journalist, he has to cut the cheese and
prioritize what the audience needs²a real news story with all the major info.

Our Mr. Ephraim Aguilar discussed that way back-- when Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng
terrorized Manila like two guys high on meth-- almost all news stories were sob stories of people
in calamity¶s aftermath. It would¶ve been fine, yes, but it gets tiring after two weeks of the same
old, same old.

Why didn¶t the major broadcast companies focus on what the government did or didn¶t do to
prevent and manage the disaster? Why show Marian Rivera packing relief goods and pass it off
as news? As a media practitioner, he has to report deeper things than human suffering; he has
to scratch that surface and dig until that issue is perceived in a different light and the more
worthwhile issues are exposed.

Then, right off the bat is bribery. A media practitioner¶s earnings are anything but caviar and
Cabernet Sauvignon. He¶s lucky if he can afford a new pale blue polo to replace the old brown
one. That¶s why the people in media are prone to bribes.

Ah« It¶s amazing how an envelope loaded with cash from a kindly politician (and with the
elections right around the corner too!) can make the difference. Take the money given; make
the politician or another person with something to gain look good and smell fresh. Oh, sleek
compliments there, a good word there. Take the cash though, and that person owns you
forever²with the emphasis on OWN.

Dirty now, a politician¶s little lap dog instead of watchdog, the poor media practitioner is now
taking sides. Impartial no more² losing the neutrality that society needs, the only possible
solution to that is obvious.

Don¶t take it.

A shake of the head, a polite refusal is way better. It¶s always possible that the envelope-man
will dog our fellow media practitioner into submission, in which case Mr. Journalist will have to
make a firm stand. Although that won¶t involve announcing to the world at large with open
hostility, ³I will not be bought!´

If that fails, just take the damn money, especially when you suddenly feel threatened and
envelope-man¶s eyes begin flashing lasers. Staying alive will always be the µin¶ thing for
journalists.

Just don¶t make a habit of it.

Convergence is up. Is it possible that newspapers will be a thing of the past? Will parents regal
their children with stories of how they used to read news on printedpaper? ³Once upon a time,
the Filipino people read newspapers´, the parents will tell their kids; and the kids will exclaim,
³No way! How soo uncool!´

That¶s another problem: convergence. Media and technology are both evolving. It¶s now a digital
age, when everyone have it easier. One doesn¶t have wait for the paper the next morning to
catch what¶s latest. They won¶t even have to turn the radio dials when it¶s all right there on the
Net.

Even non-journalists can participate in the media and report their own news stories via videos or
photos. They can be citizen journalists! Except they don¶t know how real journalism goes and
the element of impartiality may be lost.

This one¶s easy because the tri-media (according to Mr. Henry Maceda and Mr. Jonas Soltes,
and I happened to agree with them on this) will stay on. Even with all the technology taking
over, people will always, always keep to the old ways. Media practitioners won¶t even worry
about losing their jobs. In the far future when the tri-media is finally obsolete, media practitioners
still have that new media to fall on. It¶s more of an opportunity than a loss, in Mr. Anacito
Dematera¶s opinion (and I happened to agree with him too).

Suitable working provisions are in it too. I¶ve heard in class about media men and women
working like dogs all day but without even a scrap of meat to chew on after. It¶s crazy when
you¶re expected to work in your little corner of the office that looks suspiciously like a bathroom,
if you¶ll notice the painted-on tiles on the walls, and work as hard as you can but with hardly any
pay.

The horror!

If that happens, it¶s always better to leave and look for another job in another media company,
where it¶s more comfortable. Unless bathroom-offices are your thing.

Needless to say, a journalist¶s life has some problems, but still charged with excitement. And it¶s
even fun to experience those but still come out the winner.

It won¶t be easy but«

When and if I go that path, expected problems and all, I like to think that I¶ll turn into a better
person and media practitioner because of it.

(A Finals essay for Mr. Ephraim Aguilar in Special Problems in Journalism.)