Friday’s celebration of World Press Freedom Day could not have come at a time more apt for the Philippine press.
Proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1993, World Press Freedom Day is ideally an opportunity to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom, assess its state around the world, defend the media from attacks on their independence, and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
This year’s theme, “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation,” sounds as though it were written especially for the Philippine context.
These days Philippine media are under attack on several fronts.
From within, they are weakened by those who blur the line between journalism and propaganda. Journalists are no less human than other professionals, and some give in to—or seek out—the temptations of fame, power and money. Some represent themselves as truth seekers but deliberately peddle lies to malign their rivals or confuse the public.
From outside, the press finds itself having to work doubly hard to counter the effects of disinformation, which is compounded by technology’s ability to spread lies in real time.
Here at home, being critical of the power-that-be can make a journalist’s or a media organization’s life difficult. Even a well-researched, fair and balanced piece is immediately branded as fake, even subversive. Where these officials gravely err is in thinking that a critical press is a hostile press.
But criticism and dissent are healthy components of a democracy. When both government officials and the media desire only what is best for the country, not themselves, they would welcome pointed observations and contrarian opinion to make sure they are doing their jobs well.
A financially independent media is an impossibility, at least in this context. Media organizations are owned by individuals with political or business interests. Some are given funding support by external organizations. Journalists are given scholarships or fellowship grants to broaden their knowledge. But these do not automatically entail subservience to the agenda of the interests behind them.
Journalism has never been a lucrative career. Its rewards come in other forms: the knowledge that journalists have a role in nation building by reporting without omission or embellishment, by praising when praise is due without the promise of reward, and by calling out excesses as warranted without the fear of retaliation.
This is what it means to be truly free. May the Philippine press be truly free.