Ah yes, envelopmental journalists. I must say, there are plenty of those in the country. You see them everywhere, from Luzon to Mindanao, from the cities to the municipalities. And yes, these people give journalism in this country a bad name. I must say though that the problem of envelopmental journalism is like the chicken and egg debate. Some journalists blame society for producing such species, while society also blames journalists for creating envelopmental journalists. In reality, it is difficult to say who started who and where it actually began.
Back when I was still starting out with ABS-CBN, I had my first experience with an envelope just a few weeks after I started working with them. I didn’t see it coming because the bribe was placed inside a business card envelop. It was handed out to me so I took it. When I opened it I was surprised to find a P 1,000 bill. And my cameraman was also given the same. The person who gave it was red-faced when we gave them back. She told us that she gave those as a matter of procedure because some of the journalists actually expect to be given something just for visiting her.
Humiliated, she tried to recover lost face by giving us brewed coffee and sandwiches. That of course, we accepted as usual acts of entertaining visitors. That was not the last time that I would experience such “hospitality.” I would also be given envelopes by other public officials in other government and business offices in my later years with the company. And as any self-respecting journalist would do, I returned them each and every time.
The problem with envelopmental journalism though is that it actually transcends the envelope. There are government officials and corporate entities which actually give some media practitioners “gifts” in kind. And these gifts can range from gadgets to cars and even houses. Yes, some public servants and business magnates go to that extent.
Other than the usual envelope and “in kind” bribery, it is also difficult to distinguish when and where a public official or corporation is actually paying off a media practitioner. Take for example Christmas and other holidays, or birthdays, some people actually give some journalists something for the reportage made of their offices.
And then there is the case of paid coverages. For those who do not know, a paid coverage is when a media organization is paid by a government agency or private corporation to cover a specific event and have that coverage aired or published. Strictly speaking, a paid coverage is the same as paying the media practitioner to write something nice about an office, right? That is advertising not journalism. But this practice is tolerated even in the country’s biggest news organizations because their advertising arm has signed a contract with the public official or private corporation, and for struggling news organizations, because they need the money.
In a forum at the UP College of Mass Communications a year ago, I asked Prof. Yvonne Chua and veteran journalist Red Batario as to where one should draw the line, but they themselves found it difficult, especially in the case of community news organizations.
I agree, media organizations must work to clean their ranks of erring and sometimes even fake journalists. In Mindanao, these fake journalists are called as tigbas, which is the Cebuano word for chop, since they visit government officials and business executive and ask them for money like they are chopping of the arms of the people in those offices. A lot of these tigbas boys actually just pretend to be journalists but when checked out, do not actually have any affiliation with any news agency whether on freelance or regular capacity.
In some areas, erring journalists are called AC/DC or attack, collect; desist, collect. This means they attack a public figure or corporation in their stories or broadcasts then ask for something. When they get what they want they say something nice, then also get something for it. Most of these journalists are in either radio or TV broadcasting. And more often than not, they are the ones who get attacked or killed as a result of their practices.
Tigbas and AC/DC journalists can be found everywhere from Luzon to Mindanao. While they may be the perversion of ethical and responsible journalism, their existence actually is a testament to the power of journalism in the country. It is the fear of public officials and private corporations of journalists that these disgrace to the profession feed on. Of course, they are able to feed off that until they are denounced and those they have deceived or attacked take matters into their own hands.
But there are also journalists who do exemplary work in uncovering corruption in government, flawed corporate practices, and abuses committed by individuals and groups against silenced sectors. And some of the journalists who died in the line of duty in this country were also killed because of that. It is just sad that the profession has always been largely viewed as one of glamour, fortune, and power. What people fail to see is that journalism is not about being popular by being on TV or becoming rich because of that. It is people with motivations like these two who eventually distort the practice. Hell, if one pursues journalism because of that, he or she should just audition in some talent show. That’s where that person should be.
Journalism is about revealing the truth, and it is from the truth that its power is derived. It is about revealing the truth about the oppressed, the forgotten, and the silenced.
Kim, thank you for sharing your personal experiences. I know there are a couple of bloggers floating around here who are interested in careers in journalism; I hope they take your advice to heart, as well as your actions as a guide, and consider why they are really getting into the profession. Because, you are absolutely right, unfortunately there are some who become columnists or commentators with the express purpose of becoming well known; and not necessarily being the conscience of the country.
By the way, I have never heard the acronym AC/DC! Always thought that meant something else, and no not the band.
Like you say though, we really do have some of the finest journalists in the world running around in the Philippines. And really, some of the bravest as well. For a purported free country and a free press, we seriously have little to be proud of when it comes to the state of protecting our press.
I agree completely concerning the real journalists out there who are doing exemplary work, real investigative work. My hope is that, as the country starts pulling itself up out of its current morass, media will take a lead role in uncovering and bringing to light inaccuracies and illegalities in government and business. And government institutions will prove that they can not only bring to justice those who perpetrate crimes against journalists, but more importantly, protect them.
