SPEAKING before the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, President Benigno Aquino III again scored some members of the media who only want to sensationalize, highlight tragedy, point out supposed failures and make accusations.
“Let me emphasize that I never asked that media refrain from reporting negative news. All I asked for was a reasonable balance,” Aquino said.
“To that, I remember one of the local media personalities replying something like, ‘We are a business. It’s not our job to trumpet the positive’. I was truly taken aback by her response. I am not sure now if I asked, ‘Are we not all Filipinos? Does this mean that you are not concerned about what happens to our country?’,” said Aquino.
“Today, I also believe that there is enough reason to ask: Do we just take it as gospel truth that bad news sells?,” the President also said.
“I don’t think I am the only one who cannot understand why we insist on bringing ourselves down why we are so intent on self-flagellation, as some have put it. I wonder what any country would gain if all media did was milk a tragedy for all its worth, and ignore any positive developments related to it,” Aquino said.
“What happens if we are inundated by negativism on television, radio, print, and social media? If you have no other sources of information, at what point will you start believing all of the negative news, and begin thinking that only bad things happen every day?
“When this happens, how far are you from losing hope? And when you lose hope, how do you generate any positive action?,” Aquino said.
Aquino appealed for media coverage of his accomplishments, like the the Conditional Cash Transfer program, PhilHealth program and economic growth.
Although he admitted that economic growth has slowed this year, the Philippine economy is still among the most resilient in the entire world and the Filipino people are still positive about their job prospects.
“I made an appeal to the media at the beginning of my term. I make it again now”•both as President and as someone looking forward to his return to private life: Yes, there is always massive room for improvement. Yes, there are some mistakes and missteps”•but that does not mean there is no room for hope or optimism,” he said.
“That does not mean there is no room to celebrate successes, even the smallest ones. That is all I ask: to make room for the whole, truthful picture. That is the way in which you can fulfill your responsibility to society, to help spur growth and progress,” said Aquino.