The Adversarial Media

There is no question about it; the media is always adversarial to the government. Government does not only mean public officials and the administration. Being adversarial to the government” means that the media is adversarial with everything that represent the government.

They say that the media is a watchdog; guardians of the public trust. The media is seen as the eyes, ears and voice of the common tao.

The media plays a great role in influencing the people. What the media says, the people believe. It is therefore important that the media ensures the accuracy of whatever information it gives to the people because the media could make or break a nation.

The extent of the media’s power over the people is immeasurable. It influences not only the day to day life of every individual but it also influences policies and laws. Almost everything that we do today is influenced or dictated by the media; from the clothes that we wear to the opinions that we formulate. Everything is affected.

It is often said, and observed, that the media only reports the wrongdoings of the people in the government but not the good things that they have done. Perhaps it comes from the thought that the media, as watchdogs, exists to ensure that people in government do not abuse the power that they have. Or perhaps it also comes from the thought that to do well and to serve the people are the duties of the government and is not therefore needed to be published.

But I sometimes ask myself if it is indeed wise to do so. Observing the effects of what the people see in TV, hear in radios and read in newspapers (or the internet), I personally think that it is not.

The people have lost its trust to the government and everything that represents it and the media has played a major role in this.

I, of course, am for the media. But this does not mean that I will close my eyes from the apparent mistakes that our kind is committing.

Yes, I consider it a mistake that the media is always against the government. Yes, I consider it a mistake that media reportage only often covers the offenses made by the government. Why? I consider it a mistake because this kind of reportage is actually dividing the nation. Its sets the people against their leaders; it creates despair and hopelessness, it breeds distrust.

Yes, the media exposes the shortcomings of the people elected to serve and lead the Filipino nation yet it also inadvertently paints an image of a government that could never do right for the people it promises to serve and protect. The constant beatings that the government gets from the media makes the people think that people in the government sits all day and does not do anything good at all.

In a way, we have poisoned the minds of the people. In a way, we have caused the division of the Filipino nation. We are the reason why the people refused to acknowledge the good things that the government has done because what they always see are the transgressions committed by public officials and government employees.

The media of course aims to ensure that the people are updated with whatever matter is happening in the government, especially matters of great public concern. By making the people aware of what is happening in the government and the society we make the people vigilant with their rights.

We aim well. But in our attempt to fulfill our duties as vanguards we forget that what the people often see is more important than what the truth really is.

It is true that the government and its people commits a lot of transgressions but it is also true that the government has also done good things for the people. But only a very few of these things are made known to the public.

Maybe it is too late to change everything now. But then again, maybe it’s not. Maybe we can still make a difference. Maybe we can still do something about this.

Then again, only time can tell.