Star chika, minute patrol!

True to the nature of this column, I have long planned to write about two evolving idiosyncrasies, which, judged by our preference for these, and perhaps for a lack of more appropriate terminology, may later on be deemed as cultures. Currently, they are perfectly complementing each other. These are the cultures of entertainment and of rumor. By an entertainment culture, I mean our seeming bias for the showbiz evidenced by the way we ogle around movie stars. On the other hand, our apparent appetite for rumor is developing to be some kind of a culture. What is tragic is that these two are being vigorously pushed, side-by-side, by the influential might of radio/television networks ABS-CBN and the GMA.

I do not know if these two companies are conscious of what they are doing but by carrying in their daily news programming such segments as the Star Patrol (ABS-CBN) and Chika Minute (GMA 7) they undoubtedly project the lives of show biz characters and the kind of personal relationships distinct among people in the world of make-believe as legitimate news items as say the Presidential Proclamation 1017. Perhaps more. How else do you take the heavy plugs these segments are given outside of the news programs themselves but an attempt to coax the viewers to wait for them as the news unfolds.

I hesitated to print my observation on this subject because I thought I would be carrying this column to an extreme. I didn't want to be, like Don Quixote, fighting windmills, in a manner of speaking. But, when I saw on the tv sit-com hosted by Cito Beltran entertainment icon Bhen Cervantes himself, expressing disgust at the same segments mentioned above, (although he said it in a definitely more refined language and civil manner) I decided that I should take the proverbial bull by its horns.

At the outset though, I must pat the back of the tv news producers for successfully disguising rumor or plain advertisements as legitimate news stories. They are doing such a tremendous job of applying cosmetics to a rumor or highlighting one facet of an ad as to make them appear a scoop. Take this report for instance which I picked up for a segment. The reporter talked of a then forthcoming television show, naturally, in her channel, where two young movie stars, after a ballyhooed successful tandem in a prior series, were to be paired anew. Her news was that after the two teenage figures went separate ways, their next project would bring them together again.

While viewing the "report" I could not help questioning its value as such news story. To me, it was not proper to convert a simple advertisement plug of a show into a report worthy of airtime. I came short of calling it a deception. The camouflage was an insult to our mind unless we deserved it.

Whether we like it or not, there is a constant bombardment of this kind of "stories" presented as segments in legitimate news programs. The mixing of propaganda with hard-core report has somehow led us to our hero-worshipping of movie stars. And because their lives are the natural focus of Star Patrol and Chika Minute, we have reached the point that we can no longer distinguish the line between escapism and reality. We are so much attached to screen personalities that we have come to believe in their super human capabilities.

Take the case of Sen. Lito Lapid. His tremendous exploits as an action star would not even qualify him to be mediocre lawmaker, yet we have, by reason of media's endearing him to us, placed him in the hallowed halls where a Salonga and a Diokno, both nationalists, once prowled with their intellectual profundity.

Of course, market forces greatly influence the programming of these media giants. They live as advertisers continue to channel thru them sponsorship revenues. They must, however, realize that they are not just tools of commerce and trade. Rather, they should start helping create a nation which is able to place reality and entertainment in their proper perspectives. They can start it by removing from their legitimate news programming those which I perceive as such useless segments.