Chilling effect

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EDITORIAL
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January 18, 2018
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MEDIA organizations view the government move against online news site Rappler as an attack against press freedom. In this case, the administration even veiled the attempt to gag the press by invoking legalese and questioning the news organization’s supposed foreign ownership, a move that is downright hypocritical as the Duterte administration is now hell-bent on amending the Constitution to include, among others, opening of public services such as the mass media to full foreign ownership.

The revocation of the news organization’s certificate of incorporation by the Securities and Exchange Commission speaks volumes on the Duterte administration’s penchant for stifling dissent. This is an outright and calibrated attack on the freedom of the press especially in a time of heightening political and economic turmoil. The decision, which is tantamount to killing the online news site, sends a chilling effect to media organizations in the country.

This does not come as a surprise, however. The administration has long waged a filthy war against the “biased” corporate media reporting and exposing the failings of the war on drugs and the government as a political circus, fueled by the President’s deep-seated aversion to criticism and scrutiny. This government must recognize the essential role of the press. Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of our democracy.

For smaller, independent media organizations, meanwhile, the consequences are worse. Alternative media outlets and campus publications, with their pro-people and progressive reportage, are often branded as communist propagandists for telling the stories of the marginalized and oppressed sectors such as peasants, urban poor and national minorities. With the intensified witch hunt of communists, their reports can land them behind bars or a bullet in the head.

Journalists must be able to work independently in an environment free from intimidation and harassment. An assault against journalists is an assault against democracy.

 
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