N.B. – This was published in Vol. 6, No. 34 (September 5-11, 2007) of Pinoy Weekly (pp. 5-6), the full text of which may also be retrieved from http://www.pinoyweekly.org/pw6-34/op_ed/ed-6_34_3.htm. Henceforth, the full text of my column articles will be posted in this blog as I’ve noticed some delay in the updating of Pinoy Weekly’s website. Besides, my topic for this issue might be interesting to the Filipino blogging community, and I can’t wait for my friends at Pinoy Weekly to update their website so that I can finally hyperlink this article.
Noong nakaraang linggo, akala ko’y nagbitiw ka na bilang kolumnista ng Manila Standard Today, kaya laging gulat ko nang mabasa ko ang kolum mong “Divalicious” ngayong Lunes tungkol sa tamang pagbili at paglagay ng make-up. (“Unseen evil on your dressing table,” Setyembre 3, p. C1; sa mga hindi nakakuha ng isyung ito, maaaring bisitahin ang URL na http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=goodLife2_sept3_2007.)
Kumpara sa mga dati mong isinulat na ikinagalit ng mga nilait mo –partikular ang overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sa Dubai – mas malumanay na ang iyong estilo at parang nawala na ang aroganteng tono. Sa katunayan, masasabi ngang medyo sensitibo ka na sa mahihirap nang sinulat mong “”Don’t be afraid to try out cheap drugstore brands. You may find some things that you actually like. And for those of you on a budget don’t feel bad if you’re buying a cheaper brand than the one you really want. They just differ in packaging anyway, it’s all the same.”
Dahil sa mga atake sa iyo ng iba’t ibang indibidwal at grupo, malamang na mas marami nang babasa sa kolum mo, hindi para may bagong mapagkunan ng impormasyon kundi para bantayan kung mayroon ka na namang kamalian sa pagsusulat. (Nangangahulugan ba ito ng mas mataas na sirkulasyon para sa Manila Standard Today o mas maraming pagbisita sa website nito?)
Totoo, mahirap talagang maging mamamahayag at lalong mas mahirap maging kolumnista. Parati kasing may hindi sasang-ayon sa mga opinyong ilalahad mo. Kailangan mo tuloy ihanda ang iyong sarili para sagutin – kung sa tingin mo’y kinakailangan – ang mga batikos sa iyo.
Alam nating ang hindi pagsang-ayon ng iilan ay dumarating sa puntong permanente na tayong pinatatahimik. Pero hindi ka dapat mag-alala sa iyong buhay, dahil duda naman akong seseryosohin ng mga nagsulat ng ilang blog post na lilitsunin ka nang buhay o itutulak ka palabas sa lumilipad na eroplano sa susunod na makasakay ka nila. Ipinapakita lang ng mga pananalitang ito ang kanilang sagad-saring pagkainis sa pagiging iresponsable mo bilang manunulat.
Sa isang lipunang malaya – o kahit nagkukunwaring malaya – totoo namang ang lahat ay may karapatang maglahad ng opinyon. Pero sa konteksto ng pamamahayag, ang kalayaang ibinigay sa atin ay may kaakibat na responsibilidad sa ating mambabasa. Para sa mga kolumnistang tulad natin, walang lugar ang tinatawag na logical fallacies tulad ng argumentum ad hominem, hasty generalization at sweeping conclusion na nakita sa ilang artikulo mo. Sa puntong ito, alam mong ang mga kamaliang ito ay naging ugat ng panawagang patalsikin ka sa mga publikasyong pinagsusulatan mo.
Kasama sa ating responsibilidad ang pagharap sa kamalian. Kung ikaw talaga ang nagsulat ng isang bukas na liham na nakita sa isang website na hosted ng Geocities (http://www.geocities.com/fernandez_malu), mainam namang ginawa mo ito. Pero hindi ba’t mas nararapat na gagamitin mo ang iyong kolum para magpaliwanag sa iyong mambabasa? Bakit ka ba nagsulat ng isang personal na sanaysay na hindi maituturing na magandang halimbawa ng responsableng pamamahayag? Kung magiging bukas ka lang sa iyong saloobin, baka maintindihan pa kung bakit dapat kang bigyan ng ikalawang pagkakataon sa puntong ito para mas maging responsable sa pagsusulat mo.
Sa aking palagay, gusto mong tratuhing parang walang nangyari sa kontrobersiyang ginawa mo na nabalita pa sa midya nitong mga nakaraang araw. Sa iyong pagsusulat tungkol sa make-up, parang tapos na ang isyung kinaharap mo at panahon na para harapin ang iba pang gawain.
Pero siyempre, may responsibilidad pa rin ang mga may-ari at patnugot ng Manila Standard Today dahil hanggang ngayon ay hinahayaan ka pa ring magsulat kahit nga napabalitang nagbitiw ka na. Tulad mo, dapat nilang ipaliwanag ang mga dahilan kung bakit nariyan ka pa rin. Hindi simpleng internal na usapan lang ito sa pagitan mo at ng mga may-ari at patnugot. Alam naman nating ang mga organisasyong pang-midya ay may responsibilidad sa mga tumatangkilik sa kanila.
Kung walang magiging opisyal na paliwanag mula sa iyo o sa mga may-ari at patnugot ng diyaryong ito, malamang na iisipin ng karamihang ang adyenda lang ninyo ay pataasin ang sirkulasyon ng publikasyon sa mga susunod na araw. Sa madaling salita, gustong gamitin ng mga may-ari at patnugot ang “kasikatan” mo ngayon para tumaas ang kanilang kita.
Nagpahinga ka lang pala, pero ngayon ay nagbabalik ka na. Asahan mong hindi magpapahinga ang mga taong patuloy pa ring nagagalit sa mga sinulat mo. Hindi mo sila masisisi kung patuloy ang kanilang panawagan para mapaalis ka sa kabila ng iyong tila pagbabago ng estilo at pagkawala ng iyong aroganteng tono.
Para makipag-ugnayan sa awtor, pumunta sa www.dannyarao.com.
Malu has certainly said some disparaging and arrogant remarks about our hardworking OFWS, but the good thing is that she learned from the experience and has moved on. We should try to do the same.
Reply: I’m not sure if she learned anything. The arrogant tone of her column may be already gone but I have yet to read a formal apology from her, the owners or the editors duly published in the Manila Standard Today. Yes, I agree that we should move on and look beyond Malu Fernandez, but moving on should be in the context of demanding better media content. Audiences deserve nothing less.
Sir, maybe that’s her column, submitted way before that controversial article came out? That’s what we usually do then at the lifestyle section (when i was with the Times) – since we close in advanced, we ask our columnists to submit columns (“timeless” pieces) so we can just choose what to print.
But yes, Manila Standard Today should have totally bump off her column after what happened – but this issue, in one way or another, really gained more attention for the paper and maybe that’s why they’re still keeping her.
At sa pagdaan ko sa make-up column niya (hindi ko ho talaga binasa), hindi pa rin papasa ito, (paumanhin sa pagyayabang) – kasi, para mas kapani-paniwala ang payo niya tungkol sa make-up, sana nag-quote siya ng make-up stylist tungkol dito at nag-research talaga ng mga presyo ng kolorete na nire-rerecommend niya – triangulation, quote a source (one is enough i think for a “soft” topic like this) – kaya hindi rin masisisi ang ibang may impresyon na ang lifestyle at entertainment sections ay nagiging breeding grounds ng mga wanna be journalists – o talagang mga hindi marunong magsulat (kahit pa sabihin na column ang mga `yun).
Just my two cents’ worth.
Reply: Come to think of it, there is indeed a possibility that this column article has been filed way before. But one thing I noticed is her tendency to be more accommodating to the segment of the population she used to abhor. That wasn’t the case with her previous articles I’ve read. I also agree that the column article still lacks the necessary attribution of sources. I would have wanted to discuss that point in my column article, but space constraints got the better of me. Actually, the editors were kind enough to allow this article to go beyond the 600-word limit. Ha ha. Thanks for your comments! Keep in touch!
Danny,
Hey, I am sure I left my 4 cents worth here yesterday. At least you could have notified me that you dont like it. I could have apologised. You invited me to visit your work and I saw you didnt have yet any followers so I put in a comment. for the heck of it. I didnt know journalists these days are discriminating. If I was rude, for sure other readers would say that..
By the way, how are the killings there?
Long reply:
Thanks for your comment. Yes, I’ve read your comments posted at the Tingog.com website and I agree that innocent employees working for the Manila Standard Today could be affected by the boycott if and when it happens.
But this will happen only if the paper closes down, and I doubt that it will since, at present, it’s really not earning that much money. From what I’ve gathered, only three broadsheets in the country actually earn; the rest like MST are subsidized by the other businesses of their owners.
The objective of the boycott is, to my mind, to teach the owners and senior editors of MST a lesson. It’s not in any way directed against the hard-working staff of the paper, some of whom I personally know since they used to be my students.
I hope this helps. Again, thank you for your comments and I wish you and your family all the best.
The Manila Standard and Malu Fernandez are bush league compared to the rotten root of their ideas. It’s easy to take on such fish in a barrel as Malu and a paper with maybe 10,000 copies a day. But who and where could Malu have gotten such poisonous ideas that the OFWs are really lil more than toilet bowl cleaners of the world?
Reply: Thanks for your comment. I visited your blog and read your post. I personally have an ambivalent attitude towards your “favorite” writer from a leading newspaper but it’s possible that his reference to caregivers and domestic helpers overseas as “toilet bowl cleaners” of the world could be taken out of context. Based on what I can recall from his previous column articles (I’m a semi-regular reader of him), I think he was being sarcastic when he said that colleges and universities are better off closed if the graduates we produce are only those who end up in degrading jobs abroad.
Thanks for visiting Danny. I’ve come a lil late to the Malu Fernandez party only because I thought it would be good to observe the sea change in bloggers and journalists regarding OFWs. But I’ve spoken up now only because the Lynch Mob is enjoying “shooting fish in a barrel” a lil too much. Let’s see how the Bravehearts do when they realize there is more to this than Charlie cologne vs. Eau du Elite, and bigger more durable institutions than Malu and a small paper like MST.
Danny,
So far so good. Thanks. I hope I can be around always to keep our friends here company. I am getting interested to study the building blocks of bloggers and owners. I am amused, really.
Thanks again.