Perception is reality.
The spanking new Secretary of Education, venerable Lassalian Brother Arwin Luisto broke the ice, in a manner of speaking in this simmering mini brouhaha over how the new administration has been relating with the working press.
The erstwhile De La Salle University president showed in bias against how licentious the Philippine media can be when he quite unnervingly said the new media “doesn’t help at all” in accurately reporting about the DepEd’s introduction on sex education modules at the elementary school level.
Then followed the news conference called by newly-minted Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda about Memorandum Circular Number 1 on the month-long reprieve for appointive officials who do not have career service eligibility and those who are co-terminus with the previous President.
Both officials were observed as having “mishandled” their maiden media encounters, leaving no less than President Noynoy Aquino to apologize for them and direct that Cabinet officials “undergo workshops on how to handle media.”
Before these two ‘face-to-face’ slip-ups, there was of course the episode with the website of Malacanang – http://op.gov.ph which still had Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as sitting President two days after P.Noy’s inaugural.
The reason?
According to two sources, the web site had been left unattended as the contractual officials baby-sitting the op.gov.ph “were away.”
The result was no one had the administer password for the web site and no one had issued instructions to revamp it to reflect the entry of a new dispensation.
My humble take on this:
Call it “ fine-tuning,” call it versioning issues with MC 1 or other issuances, call it problems with media handling or on-line operations, the core issue always is whether messaging reflects what is reality.
Short fuses or prevarication never helps.
The perception you create and leave is THE REALITY THAT PEOPLE SEE THROUGH THE MEDIA PRISM.
And the buck stops with whoever is President.
His political capital, no matter how immense, is expended improperly when the communications effort is mishandled.
There are more important problems facing us.
Postscript:
Yet another, possibly troublesome, angle in this issue is emerging according to veteran journalist Ellen Tordesillas:
She’s now reporting that there’s “a stand-off ” at the Malacanang press office:
http://www.ellentordesillas.com/?p=11837
Popularity: 1% [?]
Yes manong, there are bigger issues that confront us. Unfortunately, whatis media-wirthy is typically covered by the least-common denominator rule.
Dean
Eh bilisan ang paghanap ng staff, medyo kapos iyong iba, ganoon lang iyon! Medyo kinulang ng panahon ang transition team, nakalimutang pursigihin iyong government website, pagbigyan na ninyo.
Noynoy has 6 years, ano ba naman ang problema, makakahanap din ng paraan, kung hindi ngayon, eh di sa Agosto, ganoon lang iyon! Basta ang importante, wala na si Guu-lorrrr-yyyya at hindi si Villar ang pumalit.
OP.Gov.PH is still down and stories are beginning to surface that benign0 is getting rushed in by Noynoy people to be OP.GOV.PH webmaster.
I thought Bro Armin got it right and Lacierdo just stated the facts. Those reporters have no story so they spin it to make it more interesting. Also they successfully communicated to the Aquino administration that they can spin it either way depending on the price the admin is willing to pay.
Those two did not mishandle their media interviews, media manhandled them
Worked both ways…
Welcome to the fish bowl, Mr. President.
J saw the entire prescon on NBN. The reporters were playing gotcha! Now what if the Palace did not fine tune the MC and just left it as it was? Maybe the press core would have gone to town and asked for its recall. But the Palace recalled it right away so there was no issue left for the press core so what did they do? They picked on the fact that the MC was recalled and improved. so with the Palace press core one can;t win for losing. They should be filing stories but un the end they file anything, basta meron lang ma-file.
Inis na rin ako sa mga networks tulad ng abs-cbn, kahit wala naman talagang isyu, ginagawang headline news.
Because “extrajudicial killings” is a bigger issue than Memocircular#1, here are some “stuff”:
Aquino orders probe of activist, media man’s slays
07/07/2010
… In a press briefing at the Palace yesterday afternoon, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Aquino has directed PNP chief Gen. Jesus Versoza to come up with steps to address the extra-judicial killings.
Lacierda issued the statement in light of the killing of town councilor and Bayan Muna coordinator Fernando Baldomero in Kalibo town, Aklan province on Monday and the killing of radio commentator Jose Dagio last Saturday in Tabuk town, Kalinga province. They are the first cases of killings of an activist and a member of the media under the Aquino administration.
In the previous nine-year regime of former President Arroyo, more than 100 journalists and, according to local rights group Karapatan, over 900 activists who were critical of government, including students and labor leaders, were killed. Most of the killings were done in a similar fashion – by a lone assassin backed by a motorcycle driver. A lot of the cases, however, have yet to be solved by government authorities.
Lacierda said the PNP is currently studying and reviewing these cases.
He said in response to Aquino’s directive for him to come up with measures for the government to finally put an end to the murders, Versoza submitted an initial report that calls on the state to “pursue a proactive way in dealing with all these extra-judicial killings.”
….
Last week, Aquino’s newly appointed Justice Secretary Leila de Lima vowed to put an end to the extra-judicial killings that have been widely criticized by other governments and human rights groups. Yesterday, the Commission on Human Rights condemned the first extra-judicial killings in the new administration and urged Aquino, the legislature and the judiciary to quickly adopt the CHR’s practical recommendations and those of several human rights experts such as continuous trials, closer cooperation of investigators and prosecutors, and a specific law.
“These killings are a grim reminder that mere peaceful transition to a rights-committed President is not enough to address the problem of extra-judicial killings in the Philippines. Impunity persists because of weak prosecution and lack of convictions. We discussed this at the UN Human Rights Council just three weeks ago with the UN Special Rapporteur on EJK, Philip Alston,” current officer-in-charge of the CHR, Commissioner Cecilia R.V. Quisumbing said in a statement.
It will be something to be proud of if, given Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s vow (to put an end to the extra-judicial killings criticized by France, Germany, United Nations)… It will be a proud moment if in 2012 Pilipinas will be a nation with only 6 (hopefully less) human-rights activists killed or “desaparecido”.
Maybe Noynoy can appoint the other golf cheats in this department. Noynoy seems to think cheaters are qualified for government.
How long did it take? Two weeks is all it took and corrupt people are back in government.