Veteran columnist to mainstream media: "most demonized , bearers of fake news, and agents of demolition targeting President Duterte".




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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