Media men and recollections

Archbishop Jose Palma made the right move in conducting a spiritual recollection for media people recently. Bobit Avila, of this paper, was said to have initiated the idea. Congratulations, Bobit, it was a brilliant idea. First time in Cebu, was it?

Yes, media men, more than any group of career people, need to pause from time to time and hone their bearing to God. Without me you can do nothing, says Jesus. Nothing good, that is. And since journalists are expected to do good, a strong link with the Lord is therefore a must.

Without such link one is likely to go astray. Slanted news, unfair criticism, negative insinuations, cynical comments. These and many other “poisonous” outputs happen for want of divine guidance. Divine guidance makes a media man sensitive to the needs of the community. He portrays these in his writings or talks in a manner that does not offend even if some lapses are brought to light. Correction is his aim, not destruction. Hence, he points out the what, why and how of an event or situation without attempting to throw acidic remarks on the alleged culprit.

Loving one’s fellowmen may be a difficult order for a mass communication person. But if he or she is spiritually inspired it is not impossible. And what’s the consequence? Empathy is one. Generosity is another. Empathy urges him to place himself in the shoes of the object of his commentary or news release. Then understanding comes. This checks any adversarial impulse and what’s let out is couched in sympathy and goodwill, not in sarcasm and spite. Obnoxious name calling is of course out of order. Besides being libel tainted, it is morally wrong. Remember what Jesus said about calling another fellow stupid or “boang”?

And what of generosity? A generous person is a service oriented person. For the good of society, he is willing to sacrifice himself even to the extent of risking his life. Self-service seldom figures in his appraisal of the worth of what he believes in and does. It is service for the greatest good of the greatest number that is most important.

Where God is, truth is, so the godly media person is in love with truth. It is not so much the truth of happening but the truth of idea. It is the truth of God and man, of nature and the universe. That goodness prevails over evil in the end, that nothing happens without a cause, that human life is sacred, that man has a conscience and a soul – these and more shine in the works of a journalist more than anything else.

And so we say that the media man is free – free from greed and self-interest, free from bigotry and intolerance, free from the lure of wealth at the expense of honor. In short, free from evil and darkness.

Such is the kind of freedom which should be the obsession of every media practitioner. Unfortunately, not many of them are aware of this. The thinking that a free press means a press free from constraints still prevails. Of course, no such kind of freedom is possible even in a country groggy with democracy like ours. One can of course write or broadcast anything he wants to but he has to be ready to face the consequence such as a libel case, or even an attempt on his life.

How many journalists have lost their lives since January this year? More than 25 the report says. And how many were massacred in Mindanao three years ago? More than 30. So much bloodletting in a country free. So much mockery on a press supposedly free. Surely if media men won’t forget that they too are children of God like all other people, there would be less heartaches and more goodwill, less violence and more peace in this country.

That’s why a spiritual recollection, a regular one if possible, is a must for people in the fourth estate.