[Newsstand] The meaning of Maria Ressa’s Nobel Peace Prize is ‘manang-hood’
John Nery left the Inquirer to join Rappler. The Inquirer has seen better days owing to its owners intent to protect its interest more than its employees. Even if Publishers Alexandra Prieto is married to a Romualdez, there is no political immunity granted it since it has been pro-Yellow since was born of the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship, ironically, out of the pocket of then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, who financed the fledgling Mr. & Ms. news magazine of Eggie Apostol.
Pro-opposition journalists double as “creative writers” because of their creativity in spinning facts and the news. Rappler’s line-up has been bolstered by Nery and Inday Espina Varona, who moved over from ABS-CBN. Where Rappler gets the monies to finance its editorial team, no one still knows. But dollars from the Omidyar Network obviously tide it over even if it operates at a loss. Does it? Ironically, none of the other media organizations in the country have bothered to do a feature on one of its own.
In this column, Nery describes the four women of Rappler as the manangs of journalism. Maria Ressa doesn’t hire even thirty-somethings to work for Rappler. They are all below thirty. Those who are over thirty joined Rappler when they were in their twenty’s. They are those who rant on Twitter about both real and imagined existential crises they go through.
The Rapplerettes, as I like to call them, are either men, women, gay, bi or whatever floats their boats. Lilibeth Frondoso is an ex of Maria Ressa from their days at ABS-CBN. Don’t ask me who’s top or bottom. I have no clue.
Are the other manangs married or in relationships? No information on that either. But Nery likes to think of them as mentors to the young journalists in their stable. There are some who have moved on to larger media organizations abroad. They are all effusive in their praise of the training the mentoring they got from Ressa and Rappler. Having Nobel Laureate on your CV as a former boss, should carry some weight.
Rappler isn’t practicing real journalism because it is not objective. You can’t find a single news story or artice in favor of the administration. It is all about the opposition and praise of the opposition. There is a reporter assigned to cover Leni Robredo.
At the same time, Rappler’s reporters don’t really go out in pursuit of the news. Most of the time, they source their information and photos from the social media pages of their subjects. This is their version of cost-effective coverage. Interviews are done via Zoom. The same is true with broadcasts which are aired on Facebook Live. After all, it is the country’s only social news network.
“The derivation of the term fourth estate arises from the traditional European concept of the three estates of the realm: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. The equivalent term “fourth power” is somewhat uncommon in English, but it is used in many European languages, including Italian (quarto potere), German (Vierte Gewalt), Spanish (Cuarto poder), and French (Quatrième pouvoir), to refer to a government’s separation of powers into legislative, executive, and judicial branches.”
John Nery would like to believe that he and the manangs of Rappler are engaged in the noble profession of journalism, which is supposed to check on the excesses of government for the public, who is their audience and powerless against those who are in power. The fourth estate is supposed to protect the public from the abuse of those who are in power.
“I like this metaphor very much, because I see it as much more in keeping with both the everyday reality and the constant self-image of the common journalist: We are the people who serve the institution by picking up the trash on the ground or cleaning the windowsills on the upper storeys of democracy. We help make sure the institution functions the way it was meant to, by cleaning the toilets and mopping the floors, and if we sometimes mistake our daily closeness to the administrators of the institution as a sign that we are VIPs too, that’s an occupational hazard, not our occupation.”
“Our occupation is manang-hood: service to the institution, which happens to be the democratic project itself.”
Where they fail is when they believe that they know better than the people about what is right for them; the right government, the right leaders and the right ideology. This is what Rappler is ramming down the Filipino’s throat. It’s ironic because the average Filipino is not Rappler’s audience. The belief is it is up to the ABC crowd to know what is right for the D and E. But it’s the D and E who have the numbers, not the ABC and this is where the disconnect lies.
What Rappler is doing isn’t in the best interest of the Filipino but its foreign principals who are pushing an agenda in their favor. It’s part of a broader campaign to install a government that is friendly to the US and the liberal democratic ideology it preaches. It is the Filipino being cast in the mold of the little brown brother who needs his Uncle Sam to show him right and wrong without being aware of how he is being exploited. This nothing but an improved manner of promoting American hegemony in the digital age.
The Philippines is a key piece in the geopolitical chess game the US is playing with China, the risen Asian power. The US pivot was delayed by four years after Clinton lost to Trump. America needs its proxy back in the region and this why Rappler has gone all out since 2019 to prevent a return of the Marcos’ and the continuing presence of Duterte in government.
Maria Ressa is not a journalist. She’s a foreign agent openly operating in a country that she claims as home when in truth and in fact, she is an American. Rappler’s Board of Directors is an amalgam of opposition stalwarts who share her goal.
Rappler’s 2020 Board of Directors
Democracy is not dead or dying in the country as Maria Ressa claims. The other day, the courts granted her permission to travel to Oslo to receive her Nobel Peace Prize. This was after the Solicitor-General filed an answer opposing her petition.
Journalists are taught that they should never become the news. In Ressa’s case, it has become convenient for her to be the news. But it does say a lot when surveys have shown that Rappler is the least-trusted media organization in the country today. Maria doesn’t care about this at all. What is important is the fame she’s enjoying and getting the job done for her American principals.
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