I received an e-mail this week from a LiP reader who mentioned that my article last week didn’t have much information on Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). That was true, but in my defense I submitted my article to Mr. Martin on Saturday morning and we had next to no information about the storm except that it was going to be a big one. Remember, “Paul” only writes about what he has experienced here in the Philippines.
Also what could I have said? That I was safe and sound in Bataan and had not experienced the devastation that my neighbors to the south went through. I could have filled a page with speculation and tragic stories that I’d heard second and third hand. But I’ll leave the exploiting of tragedy to Anderson Cooper on CNN. That he did very well.
Plus what function did they (The NEWS Media) perform; aside from taking up space and resources that could have been better utilized by bring in relief supplies. How much food and water did his large crew consume? Where did they charge the batteries of all their electronic equipment they brought? Do you note a tad of anger towards the Forth Estate?
There they were all the talking heads in Tacloban sticking their collective noses into the faces of people who had just lost everything and were suffering pain that we will never understand. I rode out Hurricane Hugo (Category Five) in Puerto Rico, and lost material possessions, which I could replace. That was nothing compared to the people in Visayas and BTW I had access to a military flight to Tampa Florida and booked my butt out of there. This BTW can’t be done by the people south of me.
Next the foreign news talking heads spoke heavily of “Looting”, looting my ass, searching for food is what I saw, Unlike New Orleans I saw no one carrying a 50 inch flat screen TV down the road. Plus does anyone believe that the store owner was going to wipe off that cans of sardines and put it on the shelf of his new store when they rebuild? I think that the owner would have told the survivors to help themselves to what little was left.
I was pleased when the Philippine President (Noy-Noy) chastised the press and the TV people for promulgating mis-information to the world. They were like vultures pouncing down on the devastation trying to make up news, vice accurately reporting the news (There is a vast difference between a journalist and a news reader reading off a teleprompter something that others have written.
I will not include any pictures this week, as then I would be guilty of exploitation also. But I do wish to thank the militaries of the world that responded so quickly to this natural disaster, and all the citizens of our big round ball called Earth for your outpouring of prayers and donations in the aid of people you’ll never meet, but who will never forget your kindness. And to the Filipino People I can only say that once more your strength and perseverance has been demonstrated to all of the rest of us. God bless and protect you!
Sums it up Paul, very nicely!
Good Morning Paul!
It is very good of you to apologize. One thing that you forgot to mention in your apology is how people could have avoided this storm by buying some carbon credits from Al Gore. I have been seeing all of these pledges for relief aid by various countries. People are applauding them wildly. What is not known is that some of these countries never deliver on the pleges thus turning them into empty promises. I really have a low regard for the media since they seem to have changed the rules of responsible journalism. The keyword undisclosed sources means fabrication.
Jim;
Normally I can find the humor in every situation, this time I just couldn’t. And watching Those TV Vultures picking over the carcass of a country in absolute pain just sickened me.
We got the bubble-headed bleach-blonde who comes on at five
She can tell you about the plane crash with a gleam in her eye
It’s interesting when people die, give us dirty laundry
Don Henley tried to warn us, now we have Piers Morgan and Martin Brashir. And everyone else on MSNBC!
Anderson Cooper should stick to his privileged, cloystered ‘wine bar” life in Manhattan. He is a media voyeur, not a news reporter.
Thomas;
When CNN and others went off on this is a man made storm, I retched and thought: “All these year I thought pond scum was bad” But the news media is driven by profit, so tragedy is what they show, besides it is shiny enough to make us ‘Look over here”. Journalistic ethics is nothing but another oxymoron
double edged sword thing Paul. Without media no one gives a hoot about this event and in about a week more max, no will care about this event! hindsight is 50/50. The reporters did what they were supposed to, bring to light the good bad and ugly. No one is going to donate zilch if that woman Anderson interviewed hadn’t lost her husband and her six kids. I tell myself that is the problem right there SIX KIDS and living in a grass hut.Okay donate now but this better be a freaking wake up call to the Politicians here. This is the perfect opportunity to deliver a blow against corruption, the church and all other affiliates of evil that run amok in places like the Philippines.
Corey;
I disagree, I know what the function of the media should be and that is to inform, without bias or their slant on the newsworthy item. I watched real Journalist on TV in the 50’s and 60’s when TV’s NEWS departments didn’t have commercials as it was considered a public service. Now they are profit driven as much as Sponge Bob Square Pants with the same value to us viewers entertainment..
To report the loss of her children is part of the news, but the exploitation of her loss is not. If you enjoy that ghoulish tripe the media feeds us, then I guess your right and they are doing a fine job.
The Media should report the NEWS not become part of it to raise ratings and increase profits.
BTW, TV News Readers are in no way a journalist, they are actors following direction from someone else.
Like
I didn’t see it as exploitation only dramatizing the fact. People I think need to relate to the tragedy to open their wallets. And Paul it is what it is and we don’t live in the Disneyland world of the 50’s and 60’s anymore where you and I could have a wonderful childhood riding our bikes, walking to the park, whatever and and not needing to have a GPS attached to our bodies. Now kids are exploited through molestation, kidnapping and they have lost something that we had that was great. This is the World we have today. Live with it and work around it. I only hope this tragedy is a wake-up call to this place.
Cory;
You sure do have a view of the world that I don’t share with you. I see it as a funny place that is flawed but I’ll find the good in it when I can. Enjoying myself is how I’ve lived here in the Philippines for all these years. I turned of CNN and took my Labrador for a walk, All’s well again.
Loren;
Let’s do lunch (Meaning Beer) I’ll call you.
CONCUR.
Hi Terry;
With what shipmate? (lol)
Paul< Reporting on such tragedy as was experienced in Leyte is just not your area of of talent. You are the Lewis Grizzard, Or Pat Mc Manis of LIP. we all look forward to those humorous Monday morning Post of yours so if some criticizes you for not reporting the dark side of life just tell them "That' not my job Man" You bring the lighter side of life in the Philippines!
Joe;
I missed the humor in this one, as I almost put my foot through my flat screen TV, I was so angry. A Man tell Cooper he has lost his entire family and is left with nothing. Cooper lends him a satellite phone, and then films the mans agony as if he was a vulture. The camera should have been shut off.
BTW I was not reporting on the Storm, I was reporting on the slime ball media hacks out there..
That sickened me also — Cooper sucks
Loren;
I feel that you’re not pleased with his reporting. (lol)
The fact remains HE GOT THE PHONE!!! and HE GOT TO SPEAK TO HIS RELATIVE!!! end of story.. Without Cooper that would not have happened. Paul I would bet money that most whites would be using whatever resources they could to get out of Tacloban including cutting on line in front of a Filipino with nothing. I see it everyday.
I think this is actually more of a debate or difference of opinion between those of conservative standing vs. liberal. or the liberal news vs. the conservative.CNN vs. FOX.It’s a no win so I will not try to analyze this discussion any longer as it could go on forever.
You mean MSNBC vs. Fox. CNN is more of Center, but has a discernable tilt to the Left..
John;
A tad to the left, and all for profit.
Corey;
Fox is as bad as any of them, it’s corporations telling you what to think, and what products to buy..
Corey;
If somehow I’ve offended your hero Anderson Cooper then here is a Mea Culpa. Continue to watch his unbiased broadcasts and stay well informed. Me I’ll think for myself without the aid of a news reader.
Lost my internet until just now. No apologies necessary. Actually I am no fan of Cooper or anyone in the media. I actually prefer Al jeezera for news. And you are correct they are all companies with pure ratings and profit motive and people clamor for this type of hype. I am glad to be away from all this through living here in the Philippines. More peace and quiet here without news. Funny how as of yesterday I have not seen a single international broadcast of Yolanda. Like it never happened.
Corry;
In their promos CNN is using the “Phone Guy in pain” and the lady who lost her kids to entice you to switch the channel to CNN. I rest my damn case! The camera pans across the debris field of total destruction then Anderson, asked the lady; “Where are you going to sleep tonight?” The rich boy just hasn’t a clue.
Paul the media are slime balls these days for the reasons you say….but….no one would notice if it were not for the slime doing this. Vultures expose some of the ugliness at the expense of others. but being that I am here in the states right now. trust me it has worked to a great extent to spur on the charity. It also shined on big bright light on the Philippines that the world has seen. in other words could not miss it. The politicians of the Philippines are no different than the politicians of the rest of the world. in other words do nothing and point fingers when needed. The pres. did point fingers at the press but did not look in his own mirror. the local politicians did not look in their own mirror. their is a lot of fault in this recovery. and the media are doin their job. and the news was no damn different in viet nam. your looking thru rose colored glasses I am sorry to say. the media has always been slime. its just that their is more of them now. it has always been agenda driven even in 1776 .
I honestly believe that CNN covered the aftermath of this tragedy a heck of a lot better then the local news. It seemed ABS-CBN and GMA were just promoting what they were doing. They seemed to be getting out to remote villages when the government relief organizations were not. Do you honestly believe that the Philippines response to this was handled correctly? I know that I don’t, but hen again I am only relying on what I see on the news and read on the internet.
GaryM;
How the government handled things was not my point, it was flawed to be sure.,But if your happy with CNN’s coverage that that’s fine also, I was not.
I understand what you’re saying Paul, Sometimes the media goes too far. I don’t believe that by Anderson Cooper allowing a victim of this tragic storm to use his cellphone is exploitive. As long as they report TRUTHFULLY, I have no problem. If the gentleman wanted to be silent, he could have opted out of the interview. His choice. That small gesture of handing over his phone, was most likely the best that man could hope for, by calling kampamilya. Could have been done off camera, but the image and story could help raise awareness and support to the victims as well.
Mike;
A true act of kindness by Mr. Cooper would have been to lend the man the phone and allow the man to grieve in private. Not broadcast the mans pain to the world. .
Bubba;
You made some good points and it leads me to the conclusion that we are all doomed! I was not railing at the coverage of the storm, as I know it had to be covered to wake people up. But a little sensitivity would have been nice. But as my first Chief told me on my first ship in the Navy; “Paul never try to piss up a rope or into the wind.”, I guess I forgot. I’ve shut off the TV and filled my beer ref, which is akin to taking a chill pill for me.
Thanks for helping me set a new course, the wheel is amidships, with a following sea. I’ll have a beer and move on.
In the immortal words of Fletcher, ” There’s another old saying, senator. Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s rainin”.
Here’s the link too
http://youtu.be/kfdpcrOgUp4?t=11s
It seems the media will report on a tragedy for so long, until they have managed to make the people dread turning on the TV in fear of hearing about more unverifiable information about any tragedy. The media should not take sides but report the information to the people. But everything seems to be biased. The media can make the public love or hate a political leader and never give any factual evidence to support the claims.
Different media outlets that allow regular people to record and make available to people what is happening have played the role in telling the peoples stories better than the news media can. But what person really cares about telling the world when they are trying to survive from an event just like this one. I don’t watch much tv anymore because of the vultures. I hear about these events from the people that I can trust, my family. No family was lost in this typhoon but my wife’s close friend was in Tacloban during the storm and we fear she may have been washed away in the flooding. We are still waiting to hear anything about her and her husband.
But much like yourself, I can’t report on this either as I am no where near the area affected. And for someone to ask a question as to why you did not say anything in an article, seems to convey that the person has not educated themselves in regards to where different cities are located in the Philippines and not everyone is right next door.
Darin;
If it bleeds it leads on the TV news now, During the last presidential election during the republican convention, in order not to have to show America any of the republican speeches CNN choose to cover a nothing category hurricane in New Orleans (Does anyone remember it’s name?) There was Mr. Cooper waiting for two days to show some palm fronds blowing down the road. It was bias coverage pure and simple, to reelect their man at any cost.
The worlds lack of knowledge of geography is no surprise to me, I’d sir in a bar back home and gave up trying to explain where in the world I’d been.
I’m going back to writing funny stuff, the beer tastes better when I do.
Gald you found yer beer. I am a helpful bastard
Bubba;
Oh I knew where it was all the time, but you did point to it! (lol)
I always found it ludicrous that the CNN reporters would stand waste high in the storm surge when reporting on a hurricane, and yes, the exploitation is hellish.
However, I must say that media coverage is a big driver for donations. Also I see on our CBC news here in Canada what our DART team is doing over there, and we can be happy our tax dollars are being used in a good way. I am sure Americans feel the same way when they see their military in this mode.
CNN is for those with short attention spans, no interest in the full story, and bent towards the extreme. How many murders happen in the USA every day, and in Canada, yet the media will pick one case and focus on it because it is marketable.
A US actress died on a Canadian sky resort, after refusing medical attention three years ago. Five Canadian soldiers died on the same day in Afghanistan. Only one was reported by CNN, and you know which one.
Walter went off the air a long time ago Paul, I wonder what those old newsman think about todays ” newsmen”
What people are missing was the fact that CNN made the signs around the children’s necks and exposed those poor people to allow for better ratings. There is a reason Anderson cooper was pulled from where he was reporting and flown back to mainila. When in someone’s country, have just a little respect for the people. How rich did CNN make the chairman’s of UNICEF, American Red Cross and Goodwill? They are just as big of crooks as some of the Filipino government members.
Dirk;
Grammatically correct signs were the giveaway. Plus where did the find the nice dry paper to write on? I’ve come to expect that and less out of those profit driven media folks. (I won’t say prostitute as I hold them in higher regard) As for the charities I‘ll not comment as I have no knowledge of them or what they are doing.. But the Military Forces are the ones who are doing the heavy lifting from each country that is here to help.
Bill;
As with you I am proud of what the world has done to help the Philippines, but more than that is the Filipino people who say thank you to we foreigners for our countries help. They do know who is helping and are thankful for it pictures are coming up on line of folks smiling just watching air dropped supplies floating down towards them. Water off the Military Helo’s, the country being unimportant. The world can be proud of what they are doing, and will continue do long after the shiny has worn off and the media hacks move on.
Paul,
Got a twitter message from my Nephew that is Flying Crew on V22 Ospreys over Panay and Cebu remote areas. He HATES the news crews. he said if he could he would push them out at 10K feet. I asked him why. His reply? Some of these dopes show up with NO SUPPLIES or very Little Supplies and expect the Air crews to share theirs. Fat chance a Marine will ever give a news caster a meal when a little kid is waiting for that same meal.
I am with ya brother your rant is spot on.
Joe;
You truly get it, all they did was drain resources and get in the way. How much extra supplies could have been loaded without them onboard.
Paul when you didn’t post on LIP yesterday it drove me to drink as I look forward to your weekly posting. (Rusty had a very good posting though and that eased the pain some). That being said, there is so much here from everyone today that I agree with but some I hadn’t thought of that I am driven to drink just thinking of it. SMB’s are not strong enough for this though (drank all of them yesterday) today it is Tanduay Superior 12 year and coke with ice cubes. If Bob had a like thumb for the postings today I would have liked almost all of them. Thank you LIP readers for posting your feelings.
Loren;
Bob made a good command decision, my rant need to wait an extra day to calm me down. You should have called me and I could have helped with that beer.
…and another thing. Corina Sanchez is not much better. TWO out of touch newscasters dueling it out in the news. (Corina Vs Anderson) Tsk Tsk Tsk
Joe;
Yes Corina did get her political digs in, but at least she stayed in Manila.
I will have to agree with Corey on this one. Yes the media exploits all stories but at least we dont vote them into office. In the Philippines the people keep putting the same old relentless crooks back into office because it is just to difficult to deal with the stress of voting them out.
Most Filipinos were happy with Anderson Cooper and the job he did. I am sure they gladly wore a sign if that would get them some food because their own country sure as hell didnt care if they died or not. So i say kudos for bringing to light the tragedy , the corruption and the lies of the local news media. And yes i love the Philippines and the people but i dont love the government of the Philippines.
Roger;
To bring the tragedy to the world is a good thing, to do it for profit and ratings I’ll let you decide on that.. The Filipinos I’ve spoken with sure don’t hold CNN in high regard.,
News reporting, whether print or broadcast, is no longer how it used to be. Gone are the days when you stand before a TV camera and recite cold facts like a robot devoid of feelings. Does anyone remember Washington Post’s Anthony Shahid style of reporting at the height of the Iraq War? While other journalists covering the same war concentrated on reporting cold, raw facts such as troop movements, firefights, and number of casualties, Anthony Shahid humanized his war dispatches from the front by literally describing the anguish and suffering of ordinary Iraqi families dispossessed by the war. Reading his reports on front page of the Washington Post during the war years was always a pleasure. They touch your emotion.in a profound way. Never once did I consider his war dispatches as exploiting tragedy. As I remember, Anthony Shahid won a Pulitzer prize because of his style of reporting.
Correction: The late Washington Post reporter mentioned above was Anthony Shadid, not Shahid.
John;
I’m not disputing your comments, as there have been many styles of reading and writing the news.
But a Pulitzer Prize like a Nobel Prize is now used as a political statement by the powers that be, as the Nobel Peace Prize has demonstrated this year and who the winner was. Neither impresses me anymore.
Paul,
This is tough. Yeah CNN sucks. What passes for news coverage these days may still be a necessary evil to get the word out and compete for donations. Slime factor for sure. But new? Hardly. Just watch the reruns of the news coverage when Kennedy was assassinated. Just as bad. And even back as far as bodies repositioned at Gettysburg. Not new just quicker and slicker now.
Rovineye:
The media gives prostitution a bad name. They both dance for the dollar, but the ladies do show some respect for the customer.
Paul – I didn’t see a problem with the reporting. In a global sense it surely fast tracked and increased pledges and awareness of need. Maybe also opportunistic, but not all bad. What gets me though is historically these storms and massive deaths are not new to Leyte area. About 7000 people died in 1898 by a documented similar set of circumstances. In 1912 about 15000 died in a documented similar set of circumstances. At what point when you are forewarned of a massive disaster days in advance you don’t say “Crap I need to get the heck out of this area or inland to safer or higher ground” even if the locals didn’t have such insight, a lot of people must have. Upon hearing reports I estimated 5000 would die in advance and communicated this information to family and friends, my estimation fell short. This is a very bad country for natural disasters yet many people have little idea what to do when they strike. Regardless a very tragic set of circumstances.
hi readers .i would like to say ,that ihave been married for 16 years to my loving wife eleanor .who i met in singapore.my wife eleanor comes from becol camurine sur..it is a beautiful place to retire with family.i recommend anybody to retire there..clean fresh air clean water fresh food and most of all the most friendly people in the world as my friends.i have no time for people to knock the philipines ,because most of the people only go on one sided reports about the philipines.god bless.
Geoffrey;
The reporting of the calamity was not the problem; it was the way it was reported that was the problem. Do you think that Anderson Cooper is the reason people of the world responded? Or could it be that they would have helped anyway?
Yes it is a beautiful place to retire, which could be the reason I did so many years ago, and as I also found my neighbors to be warm and welcoming.
But I do need you to point out in my article where someone knocked the fine people of the Philippines. So sir, if that was to happen, my comments would not be very friendly to them.
My best to you and Eleanor!
Brenton;
How did the world survive before TV? I won’t go into the TV’s use of the word Tidal Surge when they put out the storm warnings whereas the word Tsunami would have been understood more readily by the average Filipino. Mistakes were made. If you saw the news reported in a way that pleased you then all is well.
I was offended by it, and that is all well also. No two people view the same thing the same way, and that in its self is a good thing because the world needs less Sheeple.
But I am proud of the World’s outpouring of love and help to their fellow human beings, and by the Military Members of the many countries that rushed to the aid of the Philippines. But I refuse to believe that Anderson Cooper was the reason any of that happened.
Paul,
Unfortunately the almighty dollar is what its all about. Fox I believe does a good job with all sides of stories and basically tells it how it is. I really enjoy there coverage of the Obamacare fiasco. I’m really proud of the way our military has responded to this tragedy and the great job they our doing, which is greatly appreciated by the Filipino people.
Randy;
The Military from so many countries have responded and the world should be proud if them all. I’ll take Phil-Health over Obamacare everyday of the year
Paul,
Have to agree with you that Philhealth is a lot better than Obamacare. Waiting to see what there next excuse will be when Obamacare comes out again on Nov 30th. Yes Fox does try to sell you there books and way of thinking which is a turnoff. But I like it better than CNN lol
Randy;
With the 2014 elections looming they (Obama) has changed the sign up deadlines. Something he had shut down the government over a couple of months ago. (Sheeple I’m sorry for pointing that out)
Sorry, guys. Do not want to upset anyone, but CNN, Fox News, etc are in the entertainment business, not the news business. This disaster is already dropping off their radar. Let someone like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga get in a picture without panties and THAT will be the big news story of the day You want world news? Watch BBC or our own CBC. There you get the news.
To you Canadians who follow this. Try to do want I am trying to do. I am trying to get where I work to match any donations made by employees (We have about 15 Philipinos working here). That way my $100 becomes $200. Then matched again by the Canadian government – $400. It must be done by the first of December to be match by the Canadian government. Come on Canadians! $100 is not going to change your life. But, it will change the life of someone in the PR
Allan;
The news (As you rightly said ENTERTAIMENT) only deals in what is shiny today, as they all shout; “Hey look over here!” I do watch some BBC; it’s an accurate reporting of the NEWS to some extent but still slightly slanted to the left. (But a lot better than FOX & CNN).
Thank you to our friends in the North for your generosity towards the victims of Yolanda, your country is always there to help
Now about Canada, your beer is alright, not as good as you claim (Better that some US Brands) but it will never beat an Ice Cold SMB on a warm December day on the beach in the Philippines. (lol)
You are right about the SMB in the PR. Funny, but when I buy it here, it is very bitter and not enjoyable at all. In about 40 months I hope to pull the pin. The following Xmas (2017) I hope to be in the PR with a cold SMB in my hand and my feet in the South China Sea. Wish me luck!
Allan Kelly;
SMB export has never been good outside of the Philippines, SMB must be consumed here in the land of its birth. And as you so well pointed out: “With your feet dipped in the South China Sea.”
I don’t watch that much TV as most of what I want to look at or find out about is here on the internet. Yes, news items are filtered down from news reports from CNN and the many others. Something has got to keep these businesses going so at times in their eyes, the more ” hype ” the better. For my part of the world, in the winter months, the more they ” Hype ” an approaching snowstorm, the less I worry about it as the storm more likely will be less than they have predicted.
In this present situation of Yolanda striking The Philippines, I think the saturation of news reports may create a better awareness of The Philippines to the rest of the world. It is seldom mentioned on TV and Radio news reports here unless a catastrophy like Yolanda and from last year Sendong.
Bob (NY);
I agree the worlds awareness of the plight of the Filipino People have been vastly enhanced by the media, now if they could only report it with our exploiting victims, they could attain some form of Sainthood.
Hi Paul,
I enjoyed reading your article! I think the culprit is the 24-hour news networks and the news as entertainment syndrome. I don’t want to be overly critical of you, but if you are sitting and watching huge amounts of the coverage you are in fact creating the demand for the product which you are watching. The people who produce the news programs do not care how you feel about there broadcast as long as you watch it. I would suggest changing the channel to Wowowee or a rerun of Captain Barbell.
I will say about the news coverage on the positive side as others have it does create awareness of the need for help. There was a very powerful earthquake in Bohol in October and I was asking for donations here to send to help the people near my wife’s family and I had to explain to people the whole situation because they had not heard about it here in Raleigh.
It is good to see the help that the military is giving to the victims! It would be nice of someone to thank the man responsible for sending them to help., President Obama.
Jay;
Thank you for injecting humor into this sad situation, I had coffee coming out my nose as I read about Thanking Obama. I do thank each and every member of the worlds armed services for the wonderful job they are doing for the Philippines. As if Obama could have refused!
They say laughter is the best medicine! I hope the coffee did not hurt coming out your nose. I have laughed milk out my nose as a boy, but never coffee. As I said befor good post and God bless all who are helping in the relief effort!
Jay;
Thank you and yes hot coffee out your nose is never as good as cold milk! (lol)
Paul,
I had pineapple juice come out of my nose in kindergarten, caused by some kid bumping the back of my head while I was drinking it. I even remember the kid’s name. After that experience I couldn’t drink the stuff for years.
Good on AT&T they allowing calls from the US to the Philippines GRATIS! Free for the entire month of November. It might not help the victims down there directly with supplies but will certainly put many people’s minds at ease.
Daisy’s relatives in Bicol are well and safe, about 200 km north of Leyte.
Jade
Additionally I call Daisy on AT&T, get the number of a relative in Bicol, put Daisy on hold, dial the relative in Bicol, then join Daisy to a conference call, then she or another relative can talk with their relatives in Bicol. They are very happy for this. We have done this only a few times. We don’t abuse AT&’s generosity.
Jade;
Yes AT&T is doing a good thing, and there is a world wide cell provider doing it also (Don’t remember the name) But yes it help’s. Fantastic to hear that all of Daisy family is safe.
Jade;
That not abuse that’s using the service they offered, and you will remember AT&T larges the next time their telemarketer calls. (LOL)
LOL Jay, I couldn’t be sure if you wrote the post above with a straight face, or if you were trying hard not to laugh out loud as I am doing now. LOL
A little of both John.
My main point is if you watch a lot of CNN you are in fact supporting their business even if you are screaming about how bad their coverage is. If you are talking about President Obama, I am serious he is the Commander-in-Chief. The Navy does not choose to help the victims. They have been ordered to do so.
Jay;
As if the Obama wasn’t told by his handlers that he’d best well send help. His decision yes after he was told to do it.
I was just trying to be” Fair and balanced” of your coverage of the coverage.
Take care!
Jay;
Fair and Balanced? Now I know which news you watch. (LOL)
Paul, isn’t that what you watch as well?
John;
No its not available on my system, but then it is just like MSNBC but to the right.
John;
You caught the joke too.
Jay, you have a valid point with respect to creating demand for a product; however, I don’t think Paul was railing about the CNN (Anderson Cooper) news coverage per se. Paul was turned off by what he perceived to be the media’s exploitation of the tragedy. I also know you are serious about the role of the C-in-C, I’ve been in the military, so am familiar with the chain of command. What I found humorous is my knowledge of Paul’s openly-stated sentiments about our POTUS and your suggestion that he – the POTUS – be thanked.
Hi John,
I was rattling his chain a bit with that, but in all honesty I don’t think that President Obama is not the Devil incarnate. I do think he is a caring and compassionate man who was moved by the site of the devastation and that he acted to help as some other world leaders did.
I’m with you on this, Jay.
Jay;
Who on Earth could not be moved by what happened to the Philippines? I slack off on Obama on you point. But other than that…..
John;
Am I that transparent? The most shocking thing would be to learn the POTIS even knew about the typhoon, as his normal claim is “I Know nothing about …” (fill in the blank)
Paul – 🙂
The traditional media is now at the mercy of the new media (internet). They need to sensationalize, skew to SELL their news
If one has notice, prior to Cooper and CNN and BBC being “mugged” by some Filipino netizens, these international as well as local media were at the verge of focusing on a rather isolated looting and “gun culture” in the Philippines. When they got some flak from Filipinos, their tone suddenly became “resilient people”, etc…
The world responded not because of CNN or Cooper. It’s because of the INTERNET
When we speak of current events (news), the internet is only a medium, a tool that still has to rely on information gleaned from, or provided by, the print and broadcast media as a disseminator of information to the public. Without input, there is no output. The areas that could be seen as being adversely impacted by the internet to a certain extent are libraries, the postal service, the motion picture and music industries, but not the print and broadcast media, in my opinion..
The big media is also impacted especially with the rise of social media. With Facebook still having active users and still quite popular, it is not that difficult to “spread a news” through social network. In fact, I think it is social network that really made people aware of what happened in Leyte. A lot of Facebook page of “big time” celebrities all over the world posted about what happened in the Visayas. It’s because CNN or BBC is still that “popular”. Maybe to the older generations. But not to the new generation. There are also Facebook groups that are made in order to exchange or post info of missing relatives. Also, as a matter of fact, Google set up a webpage where people could search and submit for names of relatives/people they know or are finding. I don’t see how the traditional broadcast media can accomplish that or if they even be willing to.
Let us look at it this way: how many people watch CNN, local news, read newspapers over getting info in the internet? Print media, in fact, is almost dying especially at the advent of tablets, e-readers, smartphones
You are correct, and I agree with you about social media. The success of people’s power revolution in the Philippines when cell phones were in use was widely attributed to the powerful capability of social media. And, yes, upon further reflection, you are correct about traditional media losing out to the new media on information dissemination. When I said, “without input, there is no output”, my thought process was largely influenced by the fact that when you go online to read the news, what you are reading is essentially news in print made available online. Sorry for the delayed response. I was on the road to Virginia this afternoon.
One more thing that needs pointing out is that for all the wonders of technology and the notion that the internet threatens the very existence of libraries as we know it, the digitized version of a rare book online, for example, will never take the place of the actual, physical book in your hands.. Technology can replicate the exact appearance of the same book online, down to the smallest detail, like a medieval insect”s ‘flattened remains that have become lodged between the pages since the 12th century, but it can never replicate the sensory pleasure of running your fingers over the flattened insect while being treated to the musty smell of a centuries-old book in your hands. Browsing through the some 150-mile long stacks (placed end to end) of a large research library like the Library of Congress is another pleasurable experience that can never be replicated by the internet.
John;
I spent many happy hours in the library on Adams Street in the Dorchester section of Boston and every Ship and base in the Navy base one. But with the advent of the e-reader on my memory card I have 2500 books that are waiting for me to read (And backed up on my computer) with books being so hard to come by here, I say; “Thank you interwebby thingy.”
Absolutely, Paul. The internet is without doubt the most important invention of the 20th century. Since its advent, we have never been the same. I wish you many, many hours of happy reading!
John;
Reading is FUN-der-mental, I explained to my kids that reading is downloading information to your brain.
Katrina;
You present an excellent point of view; Social Media should take the NEWS back from the greedy self serving corporations and put it into the hands of the people. Mainstream media has gone unchecked for too long. And yes again you’re right, the media could not compete with the internet on this tragedy
Well Paul thanks again for your thoughts. Although you did a good job of stirring up the shit pot on this one. For good or bad the word got out about the death and destruction. Also for better or worse the U.S. military has shown the people of the PH and most of Asia that it can move fast and kick some ass. My beef with these 100 year storms we have been having every year for the last three years is this. The poor people were not informed by the PH officials the extent of the storm strength and forced to move to safer areas. There were two success stories that I know about. One island north of Cebu and Manican island in Samar. In those places a total of over 3000 people were evacuated or moved to the safe place on the island. Most if not all of their home (shacks) were destroyed. However, there was only one death. The PH and the world better bite the bullet and get prepared for these future storms. IMO action plans and or evacuation plans need to be in place and practiced. Remember the fire drills in school guys? Also all new schools and government buildings should be built like bunkers. No more tin sheet roofs. At least the people will have a safe place to go in the future. Next week again dude.
John;
Sometimes if you don’t stir the pot everything will stick to the bottom. I believe that Katrina (commenter above) was dead on about the internet taking over the role of the greedy corporate media. I for one would welcome the change. Sponge Bob airs opposite of Anderson Cooper and that’s my choice from now on. Plus more time with my grandson.
Paul, funny that you mentioned things will stick to the bottom of the pot if you don’t stir it. I happen to like “tutong”, that overcooked rice that sticks to the bottom of the pot. It’s crunchy and tastier sprinkled with soy sauce, and when I eat it with porck chop, I pretend I am eating lechon. Btw, Paul, what is it about Anderson Cooper that you can’t get him out of your mind? 🙂
John;
You have an uncanny way of switching from the NEWS to the Food Channel. (lol) Mr. Cooper lost me during the last election when he dashed off to cover the non-event hurricane in New Orleans instead of the Republican Convention in Tampa.
I wasn’t aware of that snub, but, then again, I wasn’t following the Republican national convention, either. But, Paul, tell me why oh why did you not simply switch channels instead of stewing over the incident? You said in a post above, Fox News is not available in your system, but apparently you have CNN and MSNBC? Doesn’t make sense. 🙂
John;
And because you weren’t following the republican convention, we are blessed with Obama for a second term. The only US News available to ne is CNN, nothing else. I try not to watch very much of it as the bias makes me angry.
What? You only get CNN, Paul? Is that true for most of the Philippines? If all you have is CNN and you think it is biased, you haven’t seen Sean Hannity & Co. (Fox News) in action on the far Left and Ed Schulz & Co. on the far Right (MSNBC). Heck, CNN is pretty tame compared to these two extremes. Fact is, I personally consider CNN to be the middle ground. As I mentioned earlier, CNNi has a slight tilt toward the Left, but overall CNN is what you would consider the lesser of either of the two evils. At least, they don’t resort to personal attacks like Fixed News (lol) and MSNBC. With Ann Coulter and Michelle Bachman regularly contributing to Fox News, MSNBC occasionally has to call in Bill Maher and Michael Moore to neutralize the attack dogs. LOL
We have Fox News on our cable system here in Davao. As far as I know, MSNBC is not available anywhere in the Philippines.
John;
I don’t care for FOX news as they make conservatives look like rabid dogs and MSNBC is just a mouthpiece for the administration. The only talking head I really like on CNN is Richard Quest, he cracks me up even if I don’t care about business reports.CNN runs a good scam of trying to appear that are close to the center, but the panels they recruit are mostly liberals with an agenda.
That’s not very good, Bob. Filipinos are exposed to only one side of the coin, if that’s the case. I have been wondering for a while why Obama is so unpopular among Filipinos. Your revelation about MSNBC’s non-presence in the Philippines explains it a bit, because whatever your political views are, MSNBC is the cable news’ greatest defender and supporter.
Correction: The last sentence in the post above should read, “Your revelation about MSNBC’s non-presence in the Philippines explains it a bit, because whatever your political views are, MSNBC is the cable news’ greatest defender and supporter of Obama.”
Hmm… in my view, most Filipinos that I talk to love Obama. I don’t ever recall coming across a Filipino who didn’t like Obama.
Bob;
It’s easy to like anyone who is not screwing up your country, they have no reason to dislike Obama.
Regarding the word “shacks”. We had our tiny little property surveyed a few years back, our house is surrounded by “shantys”. I guess that shanty is the correct word for owner built homes, and these shantys are all built of concrete block and not in any way ” too shabby”…
That survey was quite an experience; one of the survey markers was found in someone’s CR!
Jade;
I’ve seen my neighbors house switch from a bamboo Nipa with a thatched roof to a cinder block house with a rusted metal roof. Rusted the day he installed it. The funny part is the house never grew in size, my man cave in back is twice the size.
Jade;
You were lucky it was ever found at all. all four of mine are just an inch or two from the outside of my wall. to prevent them using my wall as part of their house. There is a lot to think about here.
Very well said Mr Thompson, I knew I liked you…. I do think you were a little too easy on those media monkeys
Chris;
The beer mellowed me out.
Hello Paul: I’m glad that your area escaped the typhoon. You are right about the news reporting with CNN. CNN made it appear that looting and unrest was the same as the Louisiana (Katrina) hurricane. I made it clear to my worried Anglo-American husband that it is not the same as Louisiana. There are no reports of murders nor rapes in shelters. Our plan to retire in the Philippines is still on track. Thanks for the article.
Roselyn;
The media was there looking for dirt on the Philippines, wanting to know why supplies weren’t arriving within the first ten minutes. The local governments and police were also whipped out by the storm and lost family members also. Plus the docking facilities and the airport were all but destroyed. When Noy-noy jumped in and scolded the media, and the social media backed Noy-noy up, CNN became warm and fuzzy. They sickened me.