Media impunity; a Christmas treat from London

The UST has denied allegations that it bent its rules to give Chief Justice Corona a Doctor of Laws degree. It came out as the headline of Inquirer, the self-proclaimed top newspaper in the country.

This is not the first time that the newspaper banners a clearly partisan and inaccurate news story.

“There is no truth to the allegation that the University of Santo Tomas broke its rules to favor Chief Justice Renato Corona who graduated with the degree of Doctor of Laws from the University,” the UST replied. Corona “enrolled in all requisite subjects for the doctorate and complied with academic requirements, including delivering a ‘scholarly treatise’ for his dissertation in a public lecture.”

The false accusations come from Rappler.Com a newly launched website. (It doesn’t look like a very auspicious start). It was written by Marites Lopez-Vitug, a well known investigative reporter. The key words that allowed the Inquirer to publish the story are the words “may have”. Vitug said that UST “may have broken its rules” in granting Corona a doctorate in civil law and qualifying him for honors. Without verifying their story or at least getting the side of UST, it ran to the safety of probability. Vitug writes that “UST did not reply to questions.”

So why make headlines out of it? We already know the position of the Inquirer with regard to the Corona impeachment. If you rely on media to be informed then I am afraid you are as much a victim of this biased journalism. Shoot first before you ask. The distinction between opinion and news is once again blurred. The headline on Corona purports to be news.

One can understand slips in editorial discretion but if the newspaper concerned makes a habit of it then something is terribly wrong. If we let it go at that, then we would be remiss in our duty as journalists. Their cause of fighting against impunity in government becomes a farce.

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Perhaps one of the most memorable slips like the Corona story was the Inquirer headline on Ed Manalac, PNOC president. It was announced in a headline that he was Senator Ping Lacson’s secret witness in the NBN-ZTE hearing. There was absolutely no truth to the story, Manalac told Inquirer. “How can I be the secret witness when I do not even know Senator Lacson much less talked to him in any form, shape or manner. It was clearly an invented story.

He was so incensed that Inquirer had to deny their own story. Granted that they were unsure of the story why did they make it into a headline?

Immediately after the false headline, Inquirer promised an investigation into how it happened. In ANC’s program Media Focus, Isagani Yambot, publisher of Inquirer repeated the promise and said that the investigation will be made public. Solita Monsod, Inquirer columnist was also in the panel. During the discussion, Monsod said that should satisfy critics since it is now being investigated and the results to be released to the public. What else do we want? So far no release has been made.

In the talk show, Yambot, when a panelist asked the source of the story replied the story came from a public relations firm that they trust and did not have any reason to doubt the story. This was heard by thousands of television watchers. Their stories were usually reliable added Yambot. Is it so difficult to name this public relations firm? If this is true then it will tell us the raison d’tre of Inquirer’s editorial policy.

However, the editorial board did meet, Yambot said. It was a collegial decision. There may have been disagreement about the story and whether or not it should be the banner story. The editor overruled the objections and got the story printed as a headline.

The Manalac case is worth recalling because it has happened again this time with the UST-Corona story. Sources said Manalac’s case was more than just irresponsible journalism. It had more to do with his role in the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU), an agreement among the PNOC, China National Offshore Oil Co., and PetroVietnam to jointly gather seismic data in some areas of South China Sea. That makes him a target for geopolitical intrigues. These are then made out to be merely local politics to hide its true intent. Once again the NBN-ZTE issue is being resurrected, but today Manalac is out of it.

His answer to those who would tar the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) is straightforward. He justifies the JMSU as an “integral part” of the government’s energy independence agenda “to find and develop new indigenous petroleum reserves as a hedge against our country’s high dependence on imported petroleum, and the concurrent rise in the prices of oil.” It was part of a strategic alliance to promote regional energy security and to lessen dependence on imported oil.

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Millions of television viewers around the world had a Christmas treat from London television. If you are not one of those who have followed the series on the Emmy-winning “Downton Abbey”, you may be missing something.

It was a real treat Christmas for me. I have seen it more than once to get at the nuances of the story. It is a typical upstairs downstairs story of a great house in the English countryside.

 Downton Abbey belongs to the Crawley family whom one reviewer called a family of minor nobles. The theme is developed around a family “coping with the archaic law that restricts who may inherit the family manse and title. Lady Mary Crawley, one of the major characters, described it as a “joke.”

The special Christmas treat opens with the outbreak of the First World War. The characters in the drama series superbly execute the drama written by Julian Fellowes. You may be watching it on television but you are led slowly to inhabit the events of their lives as if you were part of it. Of all the characters I liked Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) and Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) the eldest of the three daughters of Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), and his American-born wife, Cora (Elizabeth McGovern). Their story is so romantic but they act it out more believable than contrived. The English restraint is all too present in everything they say or do.