Briathrail // Albert 2MNG

This was imported from my old Tumblr blog posts.

(Watch his line of reasoning here)

Well, maybe he has some little degree of affinity with TV5, given he pulled Martin Andanar from there to be his media-related Cabinet man.

In any case, these three big networks (along with CNN-PH, sadly) is looking from the outside in, as repeated attempts by their media personnel to score an exclusive insider feed at the big inauguration ceremony at Malacanang has been rebuffed quite clearly (EDIT 06/27: It seems some form of olive branch has been extended, as Andanar recently said that Duterte has approved the request of broadcast networks for access to his inauguration, but from a “strategic location” on the grounds of Malacañang, wherever that is, but I’m pretty sure it’s not inside the Rizal Hall). And also, probably this will continue for the next six years. 

The mainstream media so far has made a public sad face, given that Duterte, before June of 2016, was a veritable gold mine of epic proportions when it comes to spontaneous verbal slips – see here (on rape), here (on womanizing), here (on whistling to females), here (on his schlong and self-pardon) and here (on the disabled). They must have salivated at the thought of having easy controversial evening news fodder for the next six years. And now, poof, Duterte taketh thy provenance away.

His trusted aides and spokespersons have tried to do some damage control, and on his part Duterte has clarified his earlier statement that he will no longer grant media interviews until the end of his term.

“If there are interviews, there will be many mistakes, there will be many criticisms. So no interview, no criticism, no wrong statements, no nothing,” he said when interviewed in Davao. But in a statement on Tuesday, Duterte explained that his remarks is only for “ambush interviews.” “It was not an interview. An ambush to which I replied that I will not allow interviews anymore now or in the future. That will be the drill until the last day of my term of office,” the mayor said.

From Manila Times

But that wasn’t enough to assuage the mediamen’s fears that Duterte would close the entire curtain, given that Duterte also closed off the mainstream media during his thanksgiving party. And especially not after he delivered his infamous rebuttal speech.

Asked about the statement of Reporters Without Borders, Duterte said the media should heed the dare. “Magboycott kayo! Make it the first time in this country. Do not cover me!” Duterte said. “Pu****ina sinabi ko mga ugok, pu****ina I can lose the presidency, my life, my honor. Just don’t fu*k with me. Huwag niyo na akong takutin. Boycott, boycott, leche kayo, e di mag-boycott kayo!” Duterte added.

From Philippine Daily Inquirer

But as the media networks started drawing up contingency plans, the people apparently will still have unlimited access to Duterte, all interviews, all the time. The caveat? You can still hear Duterte through a station with a notoriously bad TV signal.

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will not be holding press conferences in the meantime. Bong Go, Duterte’s executive assistant, made the announcement late Friday evening. Go said the mayor would course his statements, if any, through state-owned television station PTV-4. He said the incoming President made the decision to avoid being misquoted. The President-elect said he would just relay messages to Rocky Ignacio, a reporter of the the government-run broadcast network.

From CNN Philippines

So, to recap: Duterte got infuriated at the media for spinning his speeches to a degree not to his liking, and basically told them to f*ck off and don’t come near him if he doesn’t want them to. And, Rocky Ignacio must be one lucky reporter. PTV-4 should give her a raise and call him “Ms. Digong Exclusive” now.

And here’s the funny thing: I don’t agree with how he came up with his decision, or how he even delivered it, but I do agree with him on his end decision that the state-run TV should cover him first for the sake of his message not being diluted.

PTV-4 is there for a reason, aside from the state-run lotto results, no-gimmicks weather shows, and Ben Tulfo’s rage outlet. It’s the flagship government television network. I’ve been a long-time proponent of the government to start using the PTV-4 resources, aside from trying to improve its dismal TV coverage signal. And now, Duterte tapped a media man, Martin Andanar, to run the government media, and so far he’s doing exceptionally well.

So well, Japan eagerly committed 16 million pesos just to help with the improvements. Not bad. Although PTV-4 will also be obligated sometimes to show a few Japanese documentaries when Duterte’s not speaking.

My point is, it’s the government channel, the government should use it. If the government has something to say, it should be on PTV-4 first before we hear it from Mike Enriquez or Ted Failon. And besides, our taxes go there, too. I don’t want to see my taxes wasted on such largely unused resource. It’s there, so either sell it or use it. So if Duterte wants to use it as his media vehicle, good.

And the “mainstream media” can also point to themselves for this predicament.

On the TV side, GMA7 and ABSCBN has long cultivated a public image of being warring media entities with sometimes dubious takes on the day’s news, despite their “Serbisyong Totoo” and “Malasakit sa Isa’t-Isa” slogans. There’s one time they traded barbs over ratings manipulation. Also, their evening news shows are done cheesily, with unnecessary swoosh-y sounds, news anchors wearing excessive makeup, unusually large news sets, and sometimes dismal news graphics. The way they deliver the news are mostly fine, but what Filipinos got riled up on over the years is the fact that GMA7 and ABSCBN air differing takes on news. You watch this news on ABS, then watch the same news on GMA, and you will end up with two takes on a story (and maybe also if you watch TV-5 and CNN-PH), and you’ll be confused as to who says it the right way. 

Gone are the days where the newsmen wore decent clothes and right makeup, and sit on a desk, and tell the news straightforwardly. Now, the news anchors tend to have accents and emphasis on the news. Notice how they intone the news from the headline news to the run-of-the-mill news. See how their intonation drops?

For me, I watch CNN-PH first. Decent evening news.

And don’t get me started on the printed media side. Newspapers are a veritable source of news for cheap, but they’re sometimes guilty of splicing the interviews/transcripts to pieces that they think is “news-worthy” and leaving the crucial ones behind that may explain some of it. Tabloids also have an unsavory reputation of exaggerating the news, alongside vampires, freaks and almost-nude models in the front pages. I mean, it’s more worthless than a used toilet paper.

And that led to, somewhat in a bizarre route, Duterte and the media landing in a phase very familiar to people who have violently broken up and has no diplomatic way of patching the relationship.

And in the end, it’s a win-win for everyone except GMA/ABSCBN/etc. Duterte has PTV-4 to air his side of the story, the people still get to hear what the old man has to say, and that GMA/ABSCBN/Print has no alternative than to get their news feed straight from PTV-4 and air/write it as is – so they can’t dress up the monkey to their liking. The news should be straight the same across all platforms.

Duterte may have been riled up by the media because of his own mouth’s doing. But it ended up with him making a sensible decision of having to use PTV-4 as his outlet. So, wrong ended up right. Weird times. Oh wait, there’s still Trump and Hillary. Really weird times.