Pangasinan (12 March) — AS WE were in the process of finalizing our school research on local media practices, our attention was struck by a tabloid article which listed media people allegedly receiving jueteng payola ranging from P20k to P60k a month. True or not, that expose, if it qualifies to be one, tells that something is wrong with the Pangasinan media, or at the very least, a section of it.

We were really surprised at the boldness of the writer (though it is apparent, there’s no one going by that name in local media circles) to name known media men and women as recipients of dirty money, which we think she could not do just like that if, or unless, she got no proof?

The writer must have sources who fed her the goods as editor BFH had, when he was shown the Who’s Who list on jueteng payola.

As BFH noted last week in his column in this paper, mediamen could not and should not just give their trust to people who might even swear to high heavens they would not squeal for one reason or another because they can always break that secret. You know not all people have that patience to keep a secret all the time. As Pangasinenses often say, “Anggan antoy pansakob mod inasin (bagoong) onsengaw ya onsengaw.” And the matter did not just leak, it exploded right into their faces.

If we believe that claim, protection money for the media is coursed thru the police. It looks like jueteng lords only deal directly with ranking police officers and the latter, in turn, would just take care of the media. To think that the willing tools, per that list, were supposed to be the models for young aspiring journalists, we can only hope that tabloid report was all exaggeration and the names mentioned there were innocent.

We are really saddened by the current state of the local media community.

Public officials especially mayors and police chiefs already have negative perceptions about the membership of the local press.

To them, most of the mediamen showing up at their offices are “medya-medya”, or loosely translated half-baked mediamen. Or, AC-DC (attack and collect, defend and collect) types. In short, they are not qualified and are just after money, not news. If the official fails to dig into his pockets, he may just bear with the consequence - attacks against him in the next morning radio programs or in the next issues of local tabloids.

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A major concern confronting the local media is the lack of a serious bid or move to cleanse the ranks either by the media outfits - print, broadcast and television - or by the press clubs. Who would do that anyway when some of those expected to take the lead in cleansing the organization are themselves dirtied by protection money?

Lest we be misunderstood, we do not take that payola list as proof for our concern. Even without that list though, there have been persistent reports that some sectors of the local press are quarrelling over spoils, either peche-peche or big time. Actual scenes after a press con alone show how far local mediamen have become, well, incentive-driven.

We can console our self that there are yet decent members of the press. But there is always that worry (doubt) that tentacles of evil would have engulfed all in this trade and craft. (PIA-Pangasinan)