Woes of the Poor
Seems like the harder we try, the less we get noticed. When you are after 43.8 million voters, there is just no way you can make serious inroads without mass media. And these guys know it. 2 staff reporters from 2 different major newspapers admitted to me that their stories about Ang Kapatiran, written after lengthy interviews were killed by their editors. Explains why during the last 3 months, front page fodder would consist of the most inane thoughts and activities of the well-funded candidates. Big media will not give us idealistic greenhorns even a small opening. They are squarely on the side of business as usual.
Voters are hungry for issues and platforms and yet, look at the top 10 candidates considered shoo-ins: 4 refuse to debate at all. They cynically stick to the proven “gold-standard” of collecting votes. We have to scrounge for those precious minutes of free airtime and we have been allowed only a few seconds every week. In this game, you don’t pay, you don’t play.
I take all these obstacles as character-building exercises. Nobody can ever accuse us of getting a free pass.
5 comments:
Doc, The years away from the Phiippines is costing you that you actually forgot how newspaper and TV media editors work. But surely this has become an excellent learning experience should you decide to run again in 2010.
Good luck, doc!
Doc Martin, negosyo kasi ang umiikot sa lahat.
Ang mga newspaper editors, pa-idealistic kuno, pa-righteous effect, pero pera pa din ang gusto. Sila ang Agents of "change" [as in "sukli"].
Our people are no longer free [lahat may bayad].
Business As Usual, the Usual Business.
Mabuhay ang En-"trapo"-neurs ng Pilipinas!
tsk-tsk-tsk
Just to let you know I am personally voting for the 3 of you in Kapatiran and am campaigning among my friends to do likewise.
Carry on the fight!
Ang Kapatiran should get Manuel Buencamino and Ambeth Ocampo to be part of their team in 2010.
That's the way it is in the media. A lot of them are actually former activists and have to swallow their principles to earn and politicians can be their milking cow. The good ones are too intellectual and the masses do not follow these journalists.
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