Tuesday, May 01, 2007 Ariola: Gagged-up By Jose Paolo Ariola I Still Walk The Line
THE local media are up in arms with the recent decision of the city's only local cable firm to pull off the air all the political block timers in the wake of calls that these shows have degenerated into nothing more than mouthpieces of local politicians with which to malign their opponents. Led by the Negros Press Club, the issue of press freedom has once again been brought to the fore by this recent development in our local cable TV industry.
Of course, as a student of law, I fully stand in line with the NPC in its call to uphold press freedom in this jurisdiction. In the hierarchy of our fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution, the freedom of the press is a main bulwark of our democratic institutions. A free and vigilant press is the scalpel by which excesses of public men are excised. However, we must remember that all our "freedoms" embodied in the Bill of Rights are absolute. In the immortal words of the Supreme Court, these rights " must be canalized within its banks to keep it from overflowing." Accordingly, while we have the freedom of speech and expression under the Constitution, we also have libel laws under the Revised Penal Code. Thus, while we can invoke our freedom of speech and expression in speaking or writing whatever we please against anybody, still we must also see to it that the same is not libelous or that which serves no other purpose than to publicly malign the reputation of a particular person.
Before these political "block times" were pulled off the air, I noticed that they have gradually deteriorated into mudslinging spectacles whereby our leading political stalwarts are throwing every possible muck and grime against each other. And their paid hacks, I mean, tongues, are having a field day in uttering just about every dirt and filth they could dig up (or make up) and throw them at their opponents.
Haven't we had enough of this type of dirty politics? Is this the type of broadcast journalism that the local media groups espouse and seek to defend? Although I'm not a member of any local media organization, I'd like to believe that the NPC and the KBP have their own Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct by which their members must adhere to. As matters stood, these political mouthpieces had no qualms at all in shouting to the public every conceivable innuendo against their rivals as if the forthcoming election gave them a sweeping warrant to malign and/or destroy anybody who dares cross their path. Our law against libel does not sleep just because it's election time. And while we are in it, I've noticed that whenever these paid hacks go on air, they don't even bother to dress up a little before they face the cameras. Isn't there supposed to be a "dress code" for TV media practitioners? Some of them go on board with just plain t-shirts or even sleeveless shirts. I guess the Latin maxim "res ipsa loquitor" has never been more apt in their cases. Their appearances on TV after all are but reflective of what they say on air.
Oh well, now that these 'block timers" have been pulled off the air, watching local cable TV channels have become a welcome respite from all the muckraking we had been subjected these past few weeks. I fully agree with this paper's editorial last week about this matter. And I doff my hat to this bold albeit controversial decision of our local cable company. It's what I call a class act in the name of responsible TV journalism even if it meant a loss of thousand of pesos in "block time" income.
