Separated at birth?

verlaine agrees with my opinion regarding the journalistic garbage doris bigornia and abs-cbn have been presenting as authentic journalism. i could not imagine, however, even in the minutest manner that verlaine would be able to defend bigornia and her company. anyway, one should realize that abs-cbn (i.e. channel 2) has taken the path towards "dumbing down" its programming to be more attuned to the taste of the common folk/masses. programs that were considered high-brow were divested and/or spinned off to its subsidiaries like ANC (abs-cbn news channel) and studio 23. so the only good news is that these programs and their good anchors can be found in ANC, and they didn't eliminate them totally. on the other hand, most of those who count themselves among the "masa" don't have access to cable and therefore ANC.

but one must remember that abs-cbn is not alone in propagating journalistic garbage on our tv screens. its main rival, gma, is also guilty. i, however, rarely watch gma (channel 7). but i do remember why i quit watching their news programs. several years ago, a certain cong. jovito claudio suffered a heart attack at the floor in lower house of congress. much controversy surrounded this story since the congressman was a doctor. he was also my godfather and personal physician. anyway, a reporter from gma, susan enriquez tried to get an interview with claudio but his daughter denied them the interview because he was still recovering from the heart attack. instead of trying to be considerate and respecting the wishes of claudio's family, enriquez and her crew forced their way inside the home of claudio. an altercation between enriquez and claudio's daughter followed immediately, the daughter wanting enriquez to leave their home. however, the event was presented in the evening news, with enriquez giving her perspective exclusively, painting a very bad picture of claudio's family, when in fact, she was clearly wrong for imposing her "journalistic freedom" down the throat of the grieving family.

so it is therefore difficult to distinguish the garabage from enriquez and that from bigornia, just look at their pictures! similarly, abs-cbn and gma rubbish are also homogenous.

my fear is that media organizations have become too powerful in this country. individuals within these media organizations are prone to abuse this influence they have over the public. self-regulation by the KBP doesn't do much anymore, since their punishment/sanctions only take place after the fact and the big organizations aren't threatened by the sanctions which often are usually slaps on the wrists. so, as is often the case, many media personalities tend to ignore their own policies. i do actually think that the the media's power and influence ought to be curbed. i would gladly support any person or group advocating such action. verlaine, please start one soon.