Media should be humble to be objective

Sometime ago, media practitioners reacted almost uniformly to a survey that reproached the press for giving too much negative news. Promptly dismissing the charge, they asked why blame the media when they are only the carriers of news, and not the newsmakers.

I, of course, agree with that statement. But I think we will be missing a lot if we remain in that kind of reaction. It's quite clear that there's a lot more than just that the press simply carries the news.

The matter of presentation, the style and tone, the selection of news, the treatment of facts and data, the color and spin, etc., are very significant concerns that go beyond plain carrying of news.

In short, there's a whole range of ethical and moral questions involved in transmitting the news to the public and specially in expressing opinions. It's often a motive-and-intention game involved in this activity.

In fact, it's most often in these aspects that the media are usually judged by the public. That's just how the cookie crumbles in this life. There's no such thing as "straight news". A lot of other things go into that so-called "straight news."

These are where they can be seen either to be fair, objective and balanced or biased, subjective and partial. These are where the character of the media people, the leaning and slant of the media outfit, etc., are known.

It is in these aspects where we can determine whether we have mature, sober and reasonable people involved or rather reckless, shallow, even plainly malicious and polluted ones.

Some are just reeking in self-righteousness, giving the impression that they cannot be wrong, and openly abusing their privileged position in the media.

To do their job well, media men should constantly realize their inherent need for honesty, integrity and maturity. They have to work on these requirements always, understanding that their formation never ends.

Given their delicate responsibility and the heavy pressures weighing on them, they should have a clear grasp of relevant moral principles as well as the habit of constantly purifying their intentions.

They should also have a good control, not suppression, of their emotions, allowing reason to dominate always. Like everybody else, they have to be humble so as to be objective. Pride simply distorts things.

More importantly, they should have a well-defined vision and culture for their job. Sad to say, many fail in this area, clearly showing that they are just drifting to where the wind may blow them.

I get the impression many don't have a clear understanding of the common good. They appear guided only by what instantly provokes, what instantly gratifies, what instantly sells.

Thus, they are prone to sensationalizing and to being used and manipulated by powerful interest groups.

They have to understand that media should not only mirror and reflect events. They should also form and direct minds and hearts. This dual character of media should not be made to compete with each other.

If they don't know how to blend these two together, then they don't have business to be there, since they can most likely be irresponsible reporters of events or shameless propagandists and spin masters for some groups.

Like everybody else, media people should take every opportunity of receiving suggestions and even corrections to make a thorough and humble examination of conscience. Good results can only come from this.

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