Media and the President

Media, in a functioning democracy, has always been and must always be adversarial towards the government - not so much because the press wants to be contrarian but because that is the nature of the business: a watchdog tasked with looking after the people’s interest. The other side of it is the fact that for media to be credible and ultimately profitable, it can neither be an apologist nor a propaganda arm of the government. Unfortunately, government TV networks usually suffer from poor viewership.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda’s comment blaming “hard hitting” opinion columnists for the decline in President Noynoy Aquino’s approval ratings seemed to me an exaggeration. He just gave it undue attention and even encouraged these so-called hard hitting columnists to be even more “hard hitting.” The best way is to try and win them over - perhaps over a cup of coffee - and reason out with them. Usually this works, at least for a while, until the next issue comes along. Most media people are reasonable and just want to do their job. The few unreasonable ones should be ignored.

To be fair, leaders have different management styles and P-Noy happens to be a macro-manager. Presidents should not be expected to deal with all the nitty-gritty details that specific Cabinet members are expected to handle. Critical issues that will affect the future of this country, like the RH bill, are important enough for the President to deal with directly since they fall right up his alley of removing corruption. One can even tweak P-Noy’s campaign slogan of “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” into “Kung walang mahirap, walang corrupt,” stressing how poverty can breed corruption.  Contrary to what many say, I think Edwin Lacierda and Ricky Carandang are doing a fairly decent job. But they must also remember that in this day and age when news coverage has become a 24/7 business with Malacañang being the center of gravity - there is no such thing as privacy for the person who occupies the most powerful position in the land. No matter how much P-Noy asks the media to treat him like “any other ordinary Filipino” - the fact is, he is not. He has to remember what he told the people: “Kayo ang boss ko!”

Sorry to say but this is also a country that thrives on - nay, loves - “chismis”, so if P-Noy does not want people to speculate about his love life and be curious about every girl he is seen going out with, then he should get married to stop all that prying into his private life. After all, a bachelor president is a natural magnet for gossip and rumor when it comes to affairs of the heart. But then again, getting married is no assurance that people will leave him alone. Look what happened to former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The “Bahay Pangarap” where P-Noy lives is located on the other side of the Pasig River known as Malacañang Park. President Manuel L. Quezon (who had a colorful reputation) used the park as his “playground” for his many indiscretions. Quite a few presidents (whose names we cannot mention) continued with the tradition started by Quezon. In the US, one of the few presidents whose “private indiscretions” were kept secret during his term was John F. Kennedy - primarily because media during those days was more cooperative, plus the fact that JFK was such a charmer especially with the press.

But the fact of the matter is, almost all presidents would experience a strain in their relationship with the press (particularly from opinion columnists and commentators critical of the government) at some point in their term - sooner for some and later for others. US President Richard Nixon absolutely hated the press that at one point during his political career, he announced to the media he was bowing out of politics and bluntly told them, “Gentlemen of the press, you won’t have Richard Nixon to kick around anymore!”

If it’s any consolation, Barack Obama’s approval ratings had been plunging to their lowest depths prior to 5/1 (the day Osama bin Laden died), with the American president showing his irritation with a less-than-adoring press during many instances in the past. Even today, the White House is perceived as carrying on a grudge against Boston Herald for putting in its headline last March an op-ed by Mitt Romney titled, “Why he’s failing (… and how to get it right).” Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who is a strong possible presidential candidate for 2012, attacked the Obama administration’s out-of-control fiscal index and accused the president of wrapping Americans with the “Obama Misery Index.” Obama obviously has not forgiven nor forgotten. He shut out the Boston Herald reporter from a fundraising event.

When all is said and done, the mark of a good president cannot be accurately gauged by high popularity ratings or how the media treats him during his term, but rather on how history will ultimately judge him on the important decisions he made no matter how unpopular they may have seemed at the time. Of all people, P-Noy should know that more than anyone else. He had seen his mother go through ups and downs during her term, but in the end, she was revered as the icon of democracy. That’s why he is president today. Simply put, if you were a “good” president, people including media will treat you kindly. But if you were a “bad” president, most likely you will end up as a mere footnote in history - and largely ignored.

*      *      *

Email: mailto:[email protected]