Media: No longer watchdogs

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

06/18/2010

Gloria Arroyo and her spouse, Mike Arroyo, will be gone from the corridors of Malacañang in less than two weeks, but they will still be the focus of the media — the yellow media in particular — for sometime — at least until their long, long honeymoon with Noynoy Aquino will have to be over, perhaps after four to five years.

The reason is fairly simple: Noynoy Aquino and his administration will have to focus on the ills of Arroyo and her regime, mainly to cover up Aquino and his government’s inadequacies in governing a nation and their failure to effect changes and reforms as promised.

At the same time, his yellow media will only be too happy to harp on the ills of the Arroyo regime, and expose all the reported corruption, as this too, will be their way of hiding the inadequacies of the Aquino ll regime and protecting him.

This pattern has been noted for decades — in both the administrations and their fawning media.

In 1986, when Cory Aquino was catapulted to power and Malacañang, her yellow media, once the mosquito media that had emerged as the mainstream media, focused on the Marcoses, as Cory did. Whatever she did, including inanities, was praised by the fawning yellow media, so much so that the scandals and yes, even scams under her government, were never played up by her yellow media. Naturally, she came off smelling like a rose.

They called her the icon of democracy, and blasted Marcos for shutting down the press when he declared martial law, but they kept strangely silent when Cory ordered the closure of the only opposition paper then — the Daily Express. But to the yellow media, this was a good thing. For one, there was no more competition. For another, its printing presses were sold by the Aquino l regime for a song to them.

The bargain basement sales of the properties alleged to belong to Marcos and his cronies, sold for a song to Cory’s relatives and cronies, were never highlighted by the yellow media.

Not even Cory’s Hacienda Luisita exemption from land reform, which was supposed to be Cory’s centerpiece program, was denounced by the yellow media.

Not even the scam of purchasing generators at exorbitant prices to temporarily solve the energy crisis during her time was highlighted. There was corruption even then, but the media kept silent as the Malacañang tenant was their anointed.

And if it wasn’t Marcos the media focused on, it was Doy Laurel, then VP, who was the target.

It can perhaps be said that Cory Aquino had the longest honeymoon with the yellow media — all six and a half years of her stay in Malacañang.

It was of course different in the case of Erap Estrada. Since they didn’t like him, they never gave him a honeymoon period, and every little wart of his was exaggerated by the same yellow media.

It was the same with Gloria Arroyo, who was then the same yellow media’s anointed. The media knew what was going on, but kept silent over the many scams and scandals. Check on the reports on Gloria from 2001 to 2005. It was all praises for Gloria.

When the nation turned against Gloria, that was the only time the yellow media started to criticize her and her administration.

Today, with yet another yellow media anointed in the person of Noynoy Aquino, there is nothing but good press tidings about him, so much so that even a story that does not merit a banner becomes their banner story. And they call for a honeymoon period for Noynoy.

It has even come to a point that the yellow media do not want columnists known to have an anti-Noynoy stand to be part of their opinion page, yet say nothing about their columnists who are obviously Noynoy propagandists. And yet, they call for change and reforms, but insist on protecting their anointed, as they did their other anointed presidents.

Truth is, they have lost their journalists’ moorings as they become partners of government instead of being its watchdog.

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