Veloso survives gallows for now, but not poor headline writing

As the country woke up to the great news that Mary Jane Veloso’s execution had been postponed, the President’s Daily Inquirer had a nasty scoop: nope, the poor domestic worker was actually dead. Because as the paper’s banner headline screamed, “death came before dawn” for Veloso whose scheduled execution by firing squad had whipped up a storm of condemnation here and even in Indonesia.

Did the PDI know something that the rest of us didn’t? What were they thinking? We know.

This is what happens when people running a traditional news medium go reckless while trying to cope with the demands of the 24/7 news cycle. They resort to guesswork while forgetting about what they and their colleagues had been preaching all along: never assume. And who was it who told us to get the story right first?

The mighty PDI editors could argue that the brutally misleading headline referred to the eight other inmates who were not as fortunate as Veloso and another convict, a French man. The body of the story itself was probably accurate. But taken together, the headline and the text of the story made the unmistakable conclusion–Veloso had been executed.

Veloso’s plight had all the elements of a great copy. Driven away by poverty back home, she pushed her luck abroad but only to be duped (as her defense claims) into becoming an unwitting drug mule. She was jailed and sentenced to death while those running the drug syndicate remained free, a victim of ugly circumstances and for which she was condemned to die.

But then came the 11th hour miracle, one that PDI’s print edition could no longer accommodate because of the inherent limitations of the medium. What could possibly prevent the execution when another PDI article declared that President BS Aquino’s “last chance” appeal and strategy had failed?

Well, PDI might have given up on its hero, BS Aquino, but the strategy, coupled with a Filipino recruiter’s decision to turn herself in, apparently worked. Guess the paper failed to guess that.

The Veloso execution fiasco should encourage PDI editors to put more trust in the news organization’s online platform (and even its trailblazing radio station) to deliver real-time news.

It reminds us of the infamous “Dewey Defeats Truman” blunder by the Chicago Daily Tribune of ages past. But we know PDI is going to survive its latest gaffe and continue (whether bitter Rappler likes it or not) dictating the national news agenda.

So influential is PDI that an event is not a story until it comes out in the paper, its editors love to boast.

We submit: take it from PDI, Veloso was executed until the paper says she wasn’t.

Online ‘journalism’ goes to the pits

We were supposed to be dead and buried, silenced for good, resting in peace six feet under, with the realization that all was good in Philippine media.

Not even the self-centered, souvenir-laden, Me Journalism of a coverage of the Papal visit by select reporters on board Shepherd One, not even the mouthpiece reporting of major media outlets on the Mamasapano fiasco, could resurrect us from the dead.

Well, guess what. We’re unfortunately back, thanks to ABS-CBNNews.com and bitter rival GMA News Online, the same news platform that once singlehandedly terrorized the English language.

Someone over at the Kapamilya’s online newsroom decided to play around with singer Nikki Gil and her much-publicized virginity. Her promise to surrender Bataan only to her fiancé, a businessman curiously named BJ, gave ABS-CBNNews.com’s headline writers enough material to fool around. The result:

The news website later edited the headline, but not after it triggered feverish online traffic at the expense of its network’s own talent.

We’re all familiar with the dark side of social media, the fact that it also serves as a big stage for inanities. As shown by GMA News Online, there won’t be any shortage of lunacy in our Facebook feeds, especially this Holy Week.

This kili-killer story on Ina Raymundo’s allegedly dark armpit has lowered the bar even more on “news stories” culled from the “social media” beat. We don’t know if GMA News Online’s competitors could ever go any lower, unless the Sabado Nights sex icon posts an Instagram photo of her other armpit and another online hater finds it even darker.

Speaking of bashers, we suspect the armpit critic is a minor based on her social media accounts. In which case GMA News Online should have been more forgiving and simply ignored the “story.”

But news organizations under pressure from the competition would go to great lengths to generate online traffic. So thanks to Raymundo’s armpit, GMA News Online found something to report about. We hope they would produce a follow-up to a running story that now requires expert opinions to deepen the furious debate on whether Raymundo’s armpit is indeed dark, much like the online debate on whether a dress was gold and white or blue and black.

Human of the Year: The Newbie Journo

The year is about to end and it’s time to pay tribute to that person who made a significant and indelible mark in journo-town. We’d like to depart from tradition this year to give a group of journos the attention they so desperately deserve. They’re no Maria Ressa, for sure. But there’s no stopping them from believing that they’re the next best thing that happened to journalism, the next Glenda Gloria or Carmela Fonbuena.

Meet the Newbie Journo, our Human of the Year for 2014.

There was a time when greenhorns knew their place and patiently bore the daily grind ’til they were ready for primetime. Those days are gone. Armed with MacBooks, digital recorders, and imitation Moleskine notebooks, they storm their beats and fear no one, not even the turf-conscious cartel veterans.

One look at their social media accounts and you’d get what we mean. Unlike their veteran counterparts who started their careers with Wordstar or the Underwood, the newbies arrived in the age of Facebook and Twitter. And boy, do they know how to use ’em! Like their opinions mattered, they supply the Twitterverse with a steady stream of status messages on anything from EDCA to the Binay Hacienda.

You can see it in press conferences where they make sure to hog the spotlight and premise their questions with their own “expert” opinions as if they’re the second coming of Amando Doronila. But they are, we suspect, afflicted with the “Karen Davila Syndrome,” a condition that makes one look and sound intelligent by merely parroting the views of subject-matter experts. In the case of the Newbie Journo, he also does a fast reading on an issue so he can present himself as the smart guy in Q&As.

These kids are also well-travelled (having junketed to a grand total of two Southeast Asian countries perhaps) and are thus able to contribute to the foreign policy debate. Their grammar, however, is the kind that would make Luis Teodoro see red and regret giving them their diplomas, unless they came from that poor excuse for a J-school on España, in which case the old guy would cringe.

Unfortunately their geopolitical know-how does not translate to their copy, even if they think they got Kim Jong-un’s nukes with their “toldas” and “exclus”. It’s really more like Saddam’s missing WMDs. The NFA will have a hard time solving the rice supply deficit with the sacks of rice they still need to consume to earn their creds.

To compensate for the talent deficit, they turn to selfies at work or with politicos, making their job look more awesome and glamorous than it actually is.

Just a few months on the job, the newbies are ready to change the world. Imagine what three or four years would do to their egos.

The sad part though is as they get popular in their own Google circles, their skills are very much far behind.

Rated PG: Reporters go ‘rawr’ over raffles

‘Tis the season to be jolly for many of our colleagues in media.

“Journos” unheard of since the last “buffet press conference” reappear in the flesh contributing to the exponential growth of media population during the holidays. They “orbit” beat parties with laser-like focus on enjoying good food and of course, winning raffles. It’s like a belated trick-or-treat with strong emphasis on treat. No one loses in most media raffles, a practice that emboldens reporters’ sense of entitlement.

We actually pity our colleagues for having to carry all those goodies during the hellish holiday commute. It’s a back-breaking chore really. Imagine the weight of those flatscreen TVs, iPads, iPhones, washing machines, grocery packs, and Christmas hams. Even Santa’s reindeer would complain! If only donors would be considerate to deliver raffle prizes to journos’ homes. Nanalo ka na, pagbubuhatin ka pa?

It’s all part of Christmas tradition and you can see why many journos look forward to the “ber” months. It’s the season of getting.

But make no mistake. Journos especially those in prime beats can also be discriminating. With inflation comes inflated demands, though not necessarily an improvement in taste.

No wonder Arnold Clavio, a paragon of virtue, ranted about a senator’s raffle prizes in a recent Christmas party. In a blind item in his morning radio program, Igan ridiculed this senator (clue: he’s a fan of Coup Ledesma) for giving away slippers and towels, taking the cause of poor journos victimized by this grave injustice.

It could indeed be appalling for someone like Igan, a champion of “air on board” practice where broadcasters are paid to read ads during radio programs. He and Mike Enriquez have mastered this lucrative enterprise, adroitly weaving paid ads into their normal news reading.

Last time we checked, news sources were under no obligation to provide raffle prizes for newsroom or beat parties. But journos can be pesky solicitors, using their news-gathering skills to collect gadgets, appliances, and “pangkabuhayan” packages from even the most obscure government offices. It’s a different hat they’re wearing for solicitation work, their persona far from the messianic journos that they are whenever they lecture government officials on how to run government and root out corruption.

ABS-CBN boss Ging Reyes has a gentle reminder on how her reporters should behave in this “season for giving and receiving gifts.”

She pointed them to the company manual’s provision saying that Kapamilya journos “may accept seasonal gifts of nominal value according to Philippine tradition and practice.”

“However, gifts above P2,500 should be declared to your supervisor,” the manual adds.

More importantly, Bossing Ging exhorted her “team” to “hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards for journalists” and be “prudent” to “avoid situations that may raise questions on how we uphold our own code of ethics.”

It’s a step toward the right direction and we hope everyone got the memo.

A journo’s guide to instant news sources

It’s a slooow news day: no “botcha” confiscated in Balintawak, no python caught in the ceiling of a Galas shanty. Nothing’s on the CCTV too and Miriam Santiago’s not in the mood for her usual pickup lines.

But you need to churn out something–anything–for the highly demanding 24/7 news cycle. Unless you want Rapplerettes, God’s Awesome Gifts to Journalism, to roll over you, leave you eating their space dust.

Who do you call then?

Bring out that rolodex ‘coz we have a few names in mind, those camera-shy news sources most unwilling to be interviewed because they detest any form of media exposure. But in fact, they’re all over the place like journalism’s version of 7-Eleven, open 24 hours for reporters in need of quotes or sound bites.

They all deserve a place in our “Mount Rushmore of Talking Heads.”

1. Harry Roque

For anything that concerns international law, Harry Roque is the man. Wake him up in the middle of the night and he’ll probably have a template condemnation of EDCA, VFA, or Mutual Defense Treaty. Damn you, Uncle Sam!

He’s also known to promise exclusives to certain reporters, who do not necessarily have any idea that they would actually share them with the rest of his favored pack.

We were deeply impressed with Roque’s October performance at Camp Aguinaldo where he confronted lowly military guards, demanding to confront Joseph Scott Pemberton. We thought the outburst was unnecessary but that’s how you ensure maximum media mileage. For good measure, Jeffrey Laude’s German boyfriend and sister jumped over the fence. Great job, Harry!

2. Ramon Casiple

For instant political analysis, the professor is just a phone call away. The guy’s stock knowledge of conventional wisdom is too much to be contained inside the classroom. He has a way of packaging common knowledge or barber shop talk into something smart and academic. But listen closely and you’ll probably realize, “Teka, alam ko na yun ha!”

3. Tony Leachon

Dr. Eric Tayag used to be the loudest voice on public health issues as chief of the National Epidemiology Center. He branched out into dancing to promote health programs and we couldn’t fault the man if he was very much into the groove.

The megaphone now belongs to the talkative Doc Tony, media’s instant commentator on anything health-related. He has built a wide network of media contacts, feeding them with angles and “exclusives.” Lately he’s all over the place commenting on Ebola and controversies at the DOH.

For his unaparalleled concern for the health sector and dedication to media interviews, we won’t be surprised if he gets a call to serve at the DOH, probably as Secretary Ike Ona’s replacement.

4. Dante Jimenez

Last but definitely not the most quiet is the founding chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption. Ping Lacson once said that Jimenez would “jump at every opportunity” to be on cam. Or something to that effect.

But who can blame Ka Dante? He’s got the rare gift of producing “quotables” and steering stories to his favor. He knows what reporters want and he’s only too happy to produce the quotes they need.

Tip: If you want to win a VACC award, interview him often. You’re welcome.

Honorable mentions:

Too bad we could only pick four, but equally deserving are Liling Briones, Ben Diokno, Astro del Castillo, and Edmund Tayao. Wait! We almost forgot all-time Kapamilya favorite Josephine Aguilar.

Atom reprises ‘wet’ role in ‘Ruby’ coverage

It’s showtime!

If not for Typhoon “Ruby,” which the President’s Daily Inquirer has alarmingly compared to “Yolanda,” we would not have witnessed a fitting sequel to the “Guy in the Rain,” last year’s pre-Christmas blockbuster of a coverage starring ABS-CBN’s Atom Araullo.

The boy wonder is back, this time reporting Sunday morning from Eastern Samar where Ruby first made landfall. As was expected of an Atomic coverage, he defied nature’s wrath, reporting in all his royal wetness while battling strong winds from what appeared to be the balcony of a building.

It must have been very chilly out there for Atom Boy. But all we could think of was his hotness, like a fireball that couldn’t be extinguished even by a superstorm, especially when he removed his bull cap to show off his disheveled hair moments before he reported live for “Salamat Dok.”

We consider ourselves lucky. We waited more than a year to witness that same guy who chose to stand out there in the rain in Tacloban in the service of the TV Patrol viewer. The Twitter intelligentsia, led by the smart and loquacious Bianca Gonzalez, was all over Atom, praising his courage and dedication.

Fast forward December 2014. It’s another wet Atom, this time with an enormous supply of facial hair, on our TV screens. As usual, he chose to get very wet for that in-your-face feel of reporting, when he probably could have picked a better spot.

Had it not been raining during his standupper, we would have offered to be his production assistants and given a couple of sprays or an ice bucket. Atom had to be wet. There was no other way.

Unfortunately, he set the bar  for “Me Journalism” so high that even he could not outshine himself. His Yolanda “stunt-upper” is the gold standard for disaster reporting, a perfect 10 for showmanship.

Wet standupper is to Atom what “shawl” reporting is to Abner Mercado. 

We find it ridiculous that other reporters sent out for Ruby coverage seem to be trying their darn hardest to mimic Atom. It simply cannot be done unless they pick that that right spot, that perfect moment right before a storm surge for their standupper. The last man standing will be the new Atom, the undisputed box-office king, and Bianca will be like parang “OMG!”

PNoy paper turns Poe endorser

From the President’s Daily Inquirer to Poe’s Daily Endorser.

By now it should be crystal clear who mighty PDI wants to succeed its patron saint, President BS Aquino, in 2016. It’s none other than Grace Poe, a senator whose main qualification is her late father FPJ’s enduring popularity.

Believing they’re kingmakers, PDI editors have begun devoting their trademark “suggestive journalism” to boosting the chances of a Poe presidency. Notice the Yellow Paper’s Oct. 28 banner story about her privilege speech, a relatively inconsequential story by PDI’s high standards and which could have been buried in the inside pages on any given day.

Even the most ethically challenged papers in North America and Europe do their endorsements on their op-ed pages, not disguising them as banner stories.

But Poe’s “lament” on poverty was a perfect fit in PDI’s pre-election narrative, a storyline that began with peddled “exposes” (which might actually be true) about Vice President Jejomar Binay’s much talked-about “corruption.” Any other public official facing such serious allegations would have been banished to political limbo. But Binay’s chances in 2016 are still very much alive. His performance and trust ratings dropped 15 points, but they still stood at 66 and 64 percent, respectively, last month.

Indeed, the malignancy of the corruption allegations has not vanquished Ate Kuring’s “maligno.”

By the looks of things, Binay’s detractors would need more media lumberjacks other than PDI to fell Binay’s presidential ambition. They seemed to have gotten one in the Kapamilya network, which aired Poe’s privilege speech on poverty live on ANC, a teaser included.

We wonder if Sen. Cynthia Villar, one of the most exciting and eloquent orators in the Senate, would have gotten similar TV exposure.

The PDI narrative goes like this: Binay is corrupt so he shouldn’t succeed the spotless presidency of BS. But he’s still on track to win anyway, unless we could find an alternative.

Enter Poe, the U.S.-educated adopted daughter of the late Filipino action hero. She’s got a spotless public service record because there’s basically no such record to speak off yet. (Sounds familiar, BS?)

Dropping all pretensions, PDI asked in an accompanying story: “Will Poe be an alternative to Binay?” #AlamNa!

The Yellow Paper wants us to gamble on her, instead on a corrupt Binay presidency. PDI is probably right, but its shameless endorsement of Poe and its single-minded attack on Binay are not exactly serving the cause of journalism.

Perpetual Gloria apologist Rigoberto Tiglao called PDI’s anti-Binay reports a “travesty of journalism” and he’s probably right, what with PDI’s fondness with single and tainted sources so long as they fit the news agenda. But coming from Tiglao? Heller?

We suggest he devote an entire column (on the front page at that) criticizing his paper’s own brand of “hate journalism,” how it pursues its own agenda much like the way PDI does in the service of BS and now, Poe.

‘Cheating’ lover trends. Guess what Philstar did next

In the age of social media, what is news?

For better or for worse, no longer does it have to be about the parting of the Red Sea, man’s landing on the Moon, or journalism’s salvation through the valiant efforts of Rappler. Thanks to social media, “news” can now be anything from a white trash unhappy with her curls to the “19 Reasons Why You’ll Never Guess What Happened Next.”

Whatever clicks among the mighty netizens is news.

Philstar.com knows this for fact and takes it to heart. That’s why it wasted no time to deliver a piece of news way more important than the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Seaman catches GF cheating on him, rants on Facebook. Whoa!

We actually followed this captivating story and like the mighty netizens, we were instantaneously turned into love doctors and Guardians of Morality. We cried a Pasig River for the poor guy who’s toiling in a distant land only to be cheated on. (@&$#^%^ – Di ka kagandahan no!!!)

Oops. Sorry. That’s our Tulfollian side getting the better of us.

We’d like to commend Philstar.com for its Pulitzer-worthy account of the “trending” story. The President’s Star’s digital platform couldn’t sit idly and miss out on all the hits and clicks that the story had to offer.

People now “own” the news, right? That’s the “democratization” of information for you. It’s now every netizen’s business to know what goes on in other people’s relationships, and trust mainstream media to catch up and cash in.

What’s “viral,” this is the new news value. So to borrow a line from a classic Kris Aquino movie, “Lord have mercy!”

‘Crying’ BS a big hit at SONA

A phantom tear and a cracking voice were all it took for Yellow Media to fall, quite predictably, for President BS Aquino’s latest political gimmick that was in full display during SONA No. 5.

Faced with growing public discontent over BADAP and a rising economy that is more imagined than real for majority of Filipinos, BS Aquino and his media strategists ditched the “Coke Zero Love Life” play book and cooked up something more daring by his standards. Let’s try crying…on national TV…amid BS’ declining popularity. Take note, try.

But all those body fluids had probably dried up ‘coz of heavy smoking so we saw only a hint of tear drop behind those glasses. Really, we watched the video clip over and over again but couldn’t safely conclude that His Royal Yellowness’ tear ducts had indeed cooperated.

Good thing there was Kris, the youngest and least talkative of the presidential sisters, the box office magnet who can’t pull off a dramatic scene sans Visine. For her Kuya Noy, we thought she finally managed to shed real tears in an acting tour de force deserving of a FAMAS Lifetime Achievement Award.

But the big story still was BS Aquino and how, in the glossy account of the President’s Daily Inquirer, his words “left not a dry eye” in the building. We know PDI, the yellowest of the Yellow Media, was prone to hyperbole in the service of BS. But not a dry eye? Talaga lang ha?

All the drama led news organizations like PDI to mindlessly parrot the words of BS, not bothering to confront his “facts” and instead settling for the narrative crafted by his political strategists and speech writers.

The nation was treated to a mindless enumeration of BS accomplishments that sounded eerily similar to those of Gloria Arroyo, aka SONA Punching Bag, who really started the trend of listing the number of TESDA scholars and CCT beneficiaries as SONA-worthy “achievements.”

BS should do his cray-cray act during rush hour at the Ayala MRT station, or at any of the kilometric queues at the LTO, SSS, or GSIS so he could really feel the agony of his “bosses.” Or at the wet market where there is remarkable growth–growth in the prices of rice and garlic. Then he should ask them if “noon” is the same as “ngayon.” The answer should really tear him up.

The truth is that after five years of “Daang Matuwid,” joblessness is stuck at 7 percent and growth has not reduced poverty. Growth is in fact tanking and held up only by the billions of dollars sent home by Pinoys overseas. If there’s anyone BS should really thank for saving his skin, it’s the OFWs whose dollars have kept central bank reserves in surplus.

But hey, we should be thankful ‘coz BS BFF Joel Villanueva is training lots of kids to be Starbucks baristas. And we should really be thankful for BS’ Cabinet secretaries for the really awesome job they did in Leyte. We’d like to nominate them for Anderson Cooper’s next “CNN Heroes.”

Governance and public service have so deteriorated in this country that BS Aquino wants us to be thankful for public officials doing their jobs. It’s like rewarding a jeepney driver for safely conveying passengers, or a cop for not picking your pocket when you asked for help.

That’s why all credit goes to the likes of Mujiv Hataman, a paragon of “Daang Matuwid,” the same guy BS appointed to an OIC position in 2011 with the assurance that he won’t run in the next elections. He ran anyway and won the ARMM gubernatorial race two years later. But who cares about broken promises when you’re a presidential barkada?

But if you’re a critic, you have no right to exist because the BS administration is a shining beacon of (self) righteousness. It can do no wrong. Plus, you’re a distraction to presidential multitasking akin to watching 200 TV channels at the same time. Imagine if BS woke up a little earlier for work.

BS is lucky the SONA media coverage has degenerated into a Hollywood-type red-carpet event, where there’s more meaningful discussion on gowns and couture and less attention to the “gut” issues. Next year they should fly in Joan Rivers to complete the matinee. Then we can all cry tears of joy for such a fitting finale to the saga of BS.

Payback time for Kabayan and Iglesia

For a while, we thought we were watching Net 25, the home of Ka Totoy Talastas and other devout Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) journos. We had to flip channels back and forth ‘coz we thought ex-Gloria veep Noli “Kabayan” de Castro had switched to the INC network to do wall-to-wall coverage of the centennial of the politically influential sect.

Kabayan owns the distinction of being the only journo to be endorsed by the Iglesia (not once, but twice) when he decided to jump to the other side of the fence and become a politico. Now that he’s done with politics and conveniently back in the media, the TV Patrol anchor is the bloc-voting INC’s latest ROI.

For the Iglesia centennial, Kabayan twice broadcast live from Ciudad de Victoria in Bocaue, Bulacan, site of the 55,000-seater Philippine Arena, this week, filing “spezal” (or spatial?) reports each time. Not content with his lengthy KSP (Kabayan Special Patrol) report on the INC arena’s engineering feat on TV Patrol last July 21, Kabayan’s journalistic instincts impelled him to come up with a second installment, a rare 4-minuter on something hitherto unseen on Philippine TV–the rush of vendors for a big religious event!

So enthralling was the story that Kabayan was shocked that a vendor from Quezon City had to take the long, tortuous route through four exits of the NLEx just to sell food items in Bocaue. The highlight of the Peabody-worthy report was the video of INC members erupting into a chorus to greet everyone: “Maligayang Sentenaryo! Yehey!”

And that’s not all. Kabayan promoted two ABS-CBN News Online infographics on the Iglesia before introducing yet another report on the centennial celebrations, this time, about the all-important locations of parking spaces for Iglesia faithful attending the centennial rites.

We’re eagerly awaiting Part 3 of KSP, where we hope Kabayan tells the entire nation how many screws were drilled into the Philippine Arena, because all Filipinos deserve to know.

This is all biblical: “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Gal. 6:7)

Ka Erdy and his followers made that wise political investment 13 years ago when they endorsed Kabayan’s senatorial and vice presidential run.

Today, they have a sympathizer in Ka Noli, a tireless worker in the vineyard of the Lord who’ll move heaven and earth in the Kapamilya newsroom to make sure that INC gets maximum TV Patrol exposure even at the expense of much more important news events.

P.S. Isang taos-pusong pagbati sa ika-100 taong anibersaryo ng Iglesia Ni Cristo (Pagbati mula sa Spin Busters)