Author of political economy of media book replies to my email

This week I received an unexpected email from Robert W. McChesney, author of the 2008 book “The Political Economy of Media: Enduring Issues, Emerging Dilemmas.”

I never thought that a busy scholar like him would take the time to read an email from a total stranger and even reply to it. I felt really honored.

I emailed McChesney to thank him for writing the enlightening and entertaining book. I’ve rediscovered the joy of reading because of it.

Yes, I do read lots of stuff. Every day I read articles from various websites. Sometimes, I also read newspapers and magazines.

But reading a book is a totally different experience. It requires quite a long attention span from an individual.

The focus needed to read a book, and more importantly, understand its contents, has enabled me to engage in self-reflection and find some quiet moments for myself.

Heaven and earth in one day

People asking Cardinal Vidal to bless them

Holiness and corruption are like oil and water – they simply wouldn’t mix.

But one can encounter them within one day.

It happened to me on August 12.

HEAVEN

At 11 AM, I attended a mass officiated by His Eminence Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.

Yup, it’s a Catholic mass. And I’m not even a Catholic.

I’m a Methodist and I didn’t see anything wrong with doing that. Don’t we all believe in the same God?

With Cardinal Vidal after the mass. Yeah, sinner and saint

I attended that mass because I was curious. I wanted to see how a priest in the upper echelon of the Catholic Church hierarchy did his thing.

Had the mass been held by an “ordinary” priest, I would not have attended it.

High

Cognizant of the fact that he was holding a mass at a government media institution, Vidal centered his sermon on the practice of journalism.

In his homily, Vidal called on media workers to use their profession to spread positive values.

This way, he said, the media would help people realize that their neighbors are their brothers and sisters.

EARTH

At 3 PM, I was at the UP College of Mass Communication auditorium, listening to the lecture about ethics in community journalism delivered by journalist and UP journalism professor Yvonne Chua.

The journalism department chair introduced the lecturer

Four hours ago I was also in a place filled with people.

This time, however, the people were generally younger than the ones who attended the mass. And as far as I can remember, there were no religious icons in the auditorium.

The main difference though between the mass and the lecture was the subject matter: the mass was about spreading good deeds – something that was heavenly, while the lecture was about corruption – something that was earthly.

Low

In her lecture, Chua discussed corruption in the Philippine community press.

Chua said that the level of corruption among community journalists was higher compared to the level of corruption among their Metro Manila counterparts.

"We refuse to lower the bar," journalist Yvonne Chua says, referring to ethical and professional standards in the press

She cited low salaries as one of the reasons for the trend (but she was also quick to point out that some of the highest paid journalists are also corrupt).

Chua noted the provincial or community journalists’ low awareness of the Journalists’ Code of Ethics of the Philippine Press Institute (PPI).

She lamented that there was even less awareness of the PPI’s Expanded Code of Ethics.

Reaction

Red Batario, executive director of the Center for Community Journalism and Development, said corruption is not just a press issue, but an issue affecting society as a whole.

Journalist Red Batario used to be the boss of Yvonne Chua

He said it’s really hard to be a journalist in the provinces, where choices and employment opportunities are much more limited compared to those in Metro Manila.

Batario explained that many community journalists are not only reporters, but are also asked to function as editors, photographers and worse, advertising solicitors.

He added that some provincial reporters are not provided with the most basic reporting equipment, such as tape recorders and cassette tapes.

ME

It was a tiring but fun day.

I took lots of pictures!

And now I’m blogging about it.

Three journalists, three countries, one profession

The author with another summit participant, Guillaume Cheneviere, director of the Swiss-based Media and Society Foundation

I realized one thing when I attended the 6th Asia Media Summit in Macau last month: media systems in several parts of the world are so different from one another, yet they are also so the same, in some ways.

They’ve faced problems in the past, but they look forward to seeing a much better practice of journalism in the future.

China

Wang Lu of China said Chinese media are supported largely by state money.

“At first, media were established simply to be the voice of the ruling party and facilitate information flow from the government to the public,” she said.

“Just because the media in China are run by the government doesn’t mean they must report the positive sides only.”

- Wang Lu, vice president of China Radio International’s English service

But she said “China has been experiencing rapid economic development and social transformation” since the late 1970s.

“Media content, therefore, quickly diversified to include non-ideological focuses such as business and social news,” Wang Lu said.

She added that “just because the media in China are run by the government doesn’t mean they must report the positive sides only.”

Wang Lu recognized though that “there’s still a lot for Chinese media and their governing authorities to learn.”

Germany

Gerda Meuer of Germany said media were “at the core of the cause” when Adolf Hitler and his supporters prepared the German people to wage a war against the world.

“When Hitler came to power, he utilized the media with cruel perfection: It was mainstreamed, centralized and censored.”

- Gerda Meuer, managing director of Germany’s DW-AKADEMIE

Meuer said the media then were controlled by the ruling government, which “made cheap radio receivers available to everyone.”

She noted that the German media then had a simple structure.

“When Hitler came to power, he utilized the media with cruel perfection: It was mainstreamed, centralized and censored,” Meuer said.

She said that after World War II, the Allies forced Germany’s media to decentralize and become totally separate from the state.

There was some initial resistance to the idea, she said.

“Yet, a compromise was found and a system of counterbalancing different political interests was established,” Meuer said.

“And at the same time, the new constitution guaranteed freedom of the press,” she added.

Today, Meuer said, her country has one of the more complex media systems in the world.

“It’s far from perfect,” she said, “but it has helped maintain more than 60 years of peace on a continent that before had seen war and civil conflict in every single generation.”

Nepal

Kunda Dixit of Nepal said deregulated radio and community FM radios have had an instant effect on grassroots democracy and development in many countries.

“The power of media must be used to force elected leaders to be more accountable, and as an effective check and balance.”

- Kunda Dixit, editor and publisher of the Nepali Times weekly newspaper in Kathmandu

“The achievement of Nepal’s citizens’ radio in establishing community broadcasting and then defending it from a dictatorial regime in 2005 has become a model for public radio in other parts of the region,” he said.

But Dixit said the media should always maintain their vigilance.

“The power of media must be used to force elected leaders to be more accountable, and as an effective check and balance,” he said.

I dislike ‘sexed up’ info

I’ve just read the CNN article “Officials: Social networking providing crucial info from Iran.”

I’m relieved to know that the world is finding out more about what’s happening in Iran through social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook.

Even the US State Department and CNN itself are relying on these websites to know more about the latest developments in Iran, according to the article.

I have one question though: how do these organizations filter information sent via these websites?

“Sexed up”

I would like to know how an organization like CNN makes sure that texts, photos and videos posted on or sent through social networking sites are real.

These days, anything can be doctored, or “sexed up.”

The best media organizations are no strangers to fabricated stories. I remember the incident involving former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair.

In an article, the New York Times said Blair had committed “widespread” acts of “fabrication and plagiarism.” (More about Blair’s journalistic fraud)

A reporter who used to work for a prestigious news organization had concocted stories. It only means that practically anyone can do it.

Freedom of expression

I’m not saying that information coming from social networking sites is unreliable.

All I’m trying to point out is that, it’s so easy to come up with just about anything these days.

I’m a staunch supporter of freedom of expression.

I should be, because expressing myself is one of my passions. That’s why I have this blog.

Not only that, my bread and butter depends almost entirely on freedom of expression.

However, I’m also all for verifying statements, especially the ones that are passed off as facts.

An explanation of the filtering process done by government agencies and news organizations would be a good idea. I would really be interested in reading that.

Links would be appreciated.

Financial crisis should result in better financial journalism

The author at the Asia Media Summit, an annual gathering of media professionals from Asia and other parts of the world

The current financial crisis has highlighted the need for media institutions to build the capacity of journalists to report on finance, one of the speakers at the 6th Asia Media Summit told participants.

I agree with her.

Amid the fear and the confusion spawned by the global economic meltdown, journalists must tell the public what’s really going on, using language that the people can understand.

Thus, journalists must be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to report on financial matters.

Otherwise, they would just end up with writing articles that only analysts from Wall Street would be able to comprehend. Worse, they could end up with writing items that they themselves wouldn’t understand.

The financial sector and the media should work hand in hand to improve the financial reporting skills of journalists. Both of them, plus the public, would benefit from such cooperation.

 

BBC

Easy-to-understand definitions of financial terms used in news reports

Media literacy amid new technologies pushed

The author with Cheche Lazaro, president of Probe Productions, which is known for its investigative TV reports

“The age of talking back to the media has arrived in full force.”

That’s according to Cheche Lazaro, Philippine broadcast journalist and media educator.

It’s a far cry from her student days, when she thought that the source-message-channel-receiver model of communication lacked feedback.

The mushrooming of new technologies prompted Lazaro to underscore the need to promote media literacy at the 6th Asia Media Summit held in Macau, China.

Media literacy

Drew McDaniel, an Ohio University professor, said that media literacy is usually described in North America “as the skill of understanding the implicit as well as explicit meanings of media messages.”

“In order to decode and understand such messages, one must evaluate not only what the message says but also the context of the message,” McDaniel said.

“User control of media choices has expanded enormously raising new issues for parents.”

- Drew McDaniel, professor of media arts and studies at Ohio University

He noted that new technologies have changed media literacy requirements. He said the heightened interactivity demands more sophistication from the users.

“Media literacy is no longer just how to make sense of media content, but today how to sensibly create content,” McDaniel said.

The professor added that “user control of media choices has expanded enormously raising new issues for parents.”

McDaniel lamented though that there is no consistent media literacy program in the US, because its educational system is localized and fragmented.

He also said that media literacy programs are hard to sustain in the US because local school officials don’t know what media literacy is all about.

Cheche Lazaro

A news article about Cheche Lazaro

Drew McDaniel

A profile of Ohio University professor Drew McDaniel

Center for Media Literacy

An organization that promotes media literacy

Web 3.0 – the Internet changes so fast

The author at the web journalism workshop. With him are the delegates from Vietnam (left) and the Maldives (center)

I’ve just attended a three-week workshop on web journalism and Web 2.0 in Macau, China. 

Last night, I came across a CNN blog about Web 3.0. I hardly have time to digest things that I learned about Web 2.0, and here comes Web 3.0.

Whew! The Internet changes, and it changes really fast!

Aside from the May 4 to 22 web journalism workshop, I also attended a one-day web journalism seminar, one of the events leading to the 6th Asia Media Summit, also held in Macau.

In that seminar, I heard for the first time the term “visual radio.” I asked myself: what the heck? Visual radio? Duh, then it’s no longer radio!

But lo! There is indeed a “visual radio,” and there’s also a “Visual Radio,” a product of Nokia. These changes in technology never cease to amaze me.

Web 3.0

The author at the web journalism seminar, which was organized by Germany's DW-AKADEMIE and the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development

On CNN’s SciTechBlog, CNN.com writer/producer John D. Sutter enumerated some interesting tidbits about Web 3.0. 

He said the flow of information is becoming quicker online. You said it Sutter! Right on the money!

In the web journalism seminar, one of the speakers said there is a tendency now to move towards the use of smaller gadgets. Meaning, even laptops may become a thing of the past in the future.

Based on these trends, I think anything “micro” may become a prominent feature of Web 3.0. Just look at the popularity of Twitter, a microblogging site.

Size does matter.

 

Web 3.0

CNN blog about Web 3.0

 

Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development

Information about the web journalism workshop held in Macau, China

 

6th Asia Media Summit

News item about the 6th Asia Media Summit, from www.china.org.cn

Traditional media have lost control of media content, journalist says

Bhutanese journalist Dukpo Wangdi (holding the microphone) expresses alarm over the rise of the social media

A German journalist and media trainer said gone are the days when people from the so-called traditional media – newspapers, radio and TV- have control of media content.

Daniel Hirschler of Germany’s DW-AKADEMIE noted that social media sites like Facebook, MySpace and YouTube have taken away some of the control that the traditional media used to have.

He said people, especially the younger ones, also want to be heard these days.

“People want to have a feeling that they are being listened to as well,” Hirschler told fellow media professionals at a web journalism seminar in Macau, China.

Journalists can do something

Hirschler said people are talking back to the media now, and are connecting with other people through the social media.

He said journalists should make sure that they are a part of such conversations.

“We should add value to those conversations through research,” Hirschler said.

He added that journalists gain trust and credibility when they add more value to what is being talked about in the social media.

Broadcasting bosses stress the need to store old programs

The seminar on digital audiovisual archives was one of the pre-summit events leading to the 6th Asia Media Summit

Executives from broadcasting stations in Asia have emphasized the importance of archiving audio and visual materials.

At a seminar on digital audiovisual archives held in Macau, broadcasting heads said old radio and TV programs should be handed down to the next generations.

“Programs are valuable records of the nation’s history, culture and times, as well as broadcasters’ assets,” said Masaya Maeda, principal program director of the NHK Copyright and Archives Center.

Maeda said NHK is now using preserved footage to supplement new programs. Some programs have been re-broadcast in whole.

Maeda revealed that the NHK regrets it did not begin systematic program preservation earlier. It was only in the 1980s when Japan’s only public broadcaster started program preservation.

“Many programs that were broadcast from 1953 to the 1970s had disappeared, such as popular TV dramas and puppet shows,” Maeda said.

He cited two reasons for the disappearance of these materials: the lack of appreciation for preservation and the lack of budget.

“Two-inch videotapes were extremely expensive, costing as much as an average worker’s annual income in 1958,” Maeda said.

He said videotapes were reused once a program was broadcast.

Hong Kong’s experience

Miranda Chan, program and content management head of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), outlined the benefits of archiving audiovisual materials.

“Archiving is a long-term project with long-term benefits.”

- Miranda Chan of RTHK, Hong Kong’s only public broadcaster

Chan said having easy access to such archives may improve the quality of programs.

She also mentioned the business potential of licensing archived footages.

“Archives can provide long-term preservation of heritage,” Chan said. “Archiving is a long-term project with long-term benefits.”