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ABS-CBN’s 12-foot icepick

ABS-CBN booboo

I know it’s tragic enough that Charice’s estranged father had to catch up with the November 1 memorials to the dead, lying inside a coffin with an ice-pick stab. But it’s doubly tragic that an ABS-CBN news item early this morning had him killed “with a 12-foot icepick.” What did the writer have in mind, a bamboo skewer for lechon vaca?

And it’s triply tragic for media showbiz reports to spread vile rumors about Charice’s alleged reactions about his father’s death. What do showbiz reporters wear for Halloween night anyway, a repulsive bat’s face? Or do they simply come to the party as they are? What is it with Metro Manila media these days anyway?

ABS-CBN booboo
I know it's tragic enough that Charice's estranged father had to catch up with the November 1 memorials to the dead, lying inside a coffin with an ice-pick stab. But it's doubly tragic that an ABS-CBN news item early this morning had him killed "with a 12-foot icepick." And it's triply tragic for media showbiz reports to spread vile rumors about Charice's reactions about his father's death. What is it with Metro Manila media these days anyway?
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Lessons from the underground press of the martial law era

“Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.”

That quote might be a startling, almost cynical take on the meaning of press freedom. But it was a respected American journalist, A.J. Liebling, who coined the now-famous aphorism. The terse statement was supposed to emphasize the harsh realities of capitalist ownership behind the noble expectation that journalists freely exercise their right, nay, fulfill their duty, to always provide the public with honest information and informed opinion.

In any case, little did Filipinos realize just how painfully that saying would apply to them on September 23, 1972. On that fateful Saturday morning, we all woke up to find no newspapers delivered to our doorsteps or sold on the sidewalks. We twiddled our radio sets (in my case, set just right beside my pillow, the better to hear the early morning news), asking with great puzzlement why they only emitted static noise on that morning.

Continue reading “Lessons from the underground press of the martial law era”