In one of his article at the Manila Times, Professor Antonio
P. Contreras, tackled the role of the mainstream media in a democratic society
and said that adversarial press is an ideal press.
Prof. Contreras pointed out how the people have brand the
mainstream media of fake news bearer, and called “presstitutes”.
“There is debate on the proper role of mainstream media in a
democratic society. What is at issue is that there is a perception that local
and foreign media are basically adversarial to the President, painting him as
an enemy of democracy, a violator of human rights, and a ruthless ruler with
tyrannical tendencies.” He wrote pertaining to how media is trying to pull down
President Rodrigo Duterte.
“At issue here is the question of to whom or what should
media’s loyalty be.” He added.
Though he agrees that media is free and should be there to
criticize the government, but countered that the mass media has been corrupted “by
what was perceived to be its shameless servitude to the Liberal Party.”
“What was sacrificed in the process was the commitment of
the media to report about truth. Its freedom was compromised because many of
them became an appendage of the Aquino mythology. During the second Aquino
presidency, prominent media outlets such as the Inquirer, ABS-CBN and Rappler
effectively undermined and reversed the natural role of media as watchdogs of
the state, and became its attack dogs, targeting the perceived enemies of the
Aquinos and the Liberal Party.” He added.
He also pointed out that media should realize that it is not
invincible and prove that there are still journalist who has integrity, committed
and has ethics towards its role.
“In fact, it should be encouraged to return to its natural
role of being adversarial to check the power of the President, and of
government.” He wrote
“What should be at the forefront of the critical
conversation with the mainstream media is to pressure them to keep reporting
about the truth and to get rid of their personal biases against the President,
and just stick to what they are supposed to do, which is to report the facts.” He
added.
Source: Manila Times
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