It's time to gather my best 'Postscripts'

SENATE NOTES: Fans of Sen. Lito Lapid miss him. After Sen. Sonny Trillanes returned to the chamber despite his stiff neck and Sen. Ping Lacson surfaced after his breathing apparatus faltered, Lapid should also show up in the session hall if only to justify his salary and pork barrel.

As compromise, the crowd following Sen. Bongbong Marcos is suggesting the renaming of the Libingan ng mga Bayani by dropping the “Bayani” part. That way, the debate over his late father Ferdinand’s being buried there as a hero (“bayani”) will die down.

Kudos to Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who was gentleman enough to allow Mrs. Erlinda Ligot, jet-setting wife of the wealthy former military comptroller, to testify under the influence of valium while invoking her right to self-medication.

*      *     *

YOUR CHOICES: Before I bow out of the scene, maybe I should gather in a modest book the more significant “Postscript” columns I have written over the decades.

I can do that easily since my columns are filed away neatly both in my computer and in my www.manilamail.com website. I can sort them by subject, group the better ones into subject-chapters, clean them up, organize the chapters into a volume, then look for a good editor and an indulgent publisher.

Here is where I must solicit the help of my readers, hoping there are enough of them. Can you please email me your list of at least 10 “Postscripts” that have struck you as significant and well-written? To review them, please access www.manilamail.com.

*      *      *

SUNSET PRESS: In reply to some complaints, I must stress that I have nothing to do with the posting or non-posting on the PhilSTAR website of reactions to my “Postscript” columns. I do not approve or disapprove reactions for posting. I do not know who does.

Feedback, as we teach it in journalism school, is crucial, although not essential, to the basic communication process.

At the risk of sounding pedantic, let me dust off some communication principles in the hope of making readers understand better what we in media are trying to do.

I am belatedly doing this in inclement weather. The newspaper business worldwide is declining, a victim of paperless alternative electronic media that have sprouted all over like Mao’s thousand flowers.

*      *      *

THE ELEMENTS: Communication is the transfer of an idea from one mind to another mind through a medium.

Holding an apple, I tell you “This is an apple.” If you catch the message, my attempt to communicate has succeeded. The process is much like throwing a ball to somebody and his catching it.

There are four elements involved: The Source (me), the Receiver (you), the Message (“This is an apple”) and the Medium (the spoken words). You can juggle this basic process and apply it to various communication situations and different media.

In the print business, the writer of the story is the Source, the reader is the Receiver, the story is the Message, and the newspaper is the Medium. (Every item in a newspaper, be it a news report, an editorial, a column, a feature, etc., is a generic “story.”)

Every time I write a column and my reader understands what I am saying, basic communication occurs. It does not matter if the reader agrees or disagrees, or ignores what I have written.

*      *      *

TROUBLE-SHOOTING: The communicator must have all four elements working together. Remove or disable any one of the four elements (Source, Receiver, Message, Medium) and he ends up with miscommunication or a total failure of communication.

One practical use of this four-element system is in trouble-shooting.

To isolate the communication problem/s, we examine each of the four elements to see which element/s is/are not functioning properly. Only after we isolate the problem/s, can we go into repair, replacement or reprogramming.

If an organization or media team wants to evaluate its communication program, or enhance its effectiveness, among the things it can use is this four-element system. Many of us in the industry use it, among other tools.

*      *      *

FEEDBACK: Actually my going back to discussing the basic elements of communication serves as intro to my taking up Feedback — such as what happens when a reader logs in and posts his reaction to or comments on a published story.

Feedback is not that crucial if the goal is simply to complete the process of communication as I have outlined it.

However, feedback is important in ensuring a successful Source-Receiver dialogue. The Source normally would want to know how the Message is affecting the Receiver so he can adjust or reprogram if this is deemed necessary.

Feedback rounds off the process as a complete seamless cycle. If the person to whom I threw the ball tosses it back and I catch it, that is even better than the initial one-way process.

*      *      *

PUBLIC PULSE: After I show the apple and say “This is an apple,” and you say, “It looks good, can I have a bite?” your response is a feedback that makes the full-circle process more meaningful, more engaging, maybe more productive.

Without feedback, it is difficult assessing how successful a communication plan or program is.

This is one of the reasons why information media concerned with their viability, also profitability, install in their system a provision for feedback.

A newspaper must be continually monitoring the public pulse if it wants to stay on course. One way is to encourage feedback and to respect it.

Especially among us opinion-writers, we do not want it said that while we presume to dish it out, almost with impunity, we refuse to take it.

*      *      *

FOLLOWUP: Read past POSTSCRIPTs at www.mani lamail.com. Or Like POSTSCRIPT on facebook.com/manilamail. E-mail feedback to [email protected]