Do-it-yourself talk shows

Is this the real life or is it fantasy, caught in a landslide, no escape from reality.”

The song Bohemian Rhapsody immediately played in my mind after watching portions of the Bongbong Marcos – Juan Ponce Enrile (JPE) talk show made for Facebook and dedicated to teach Millennials the Marcos-Enrile version of Martial Law. As expected the majority of viewers reacted violently to the statements made on the “Marcos talk show” with many people labeling the work as “revisionist” or a sorry attempt at rewriting the truth of Martial Law in the Philippines. To be honest, I myself wanted to go on the attack given how my father and our entire family suffered during and after Martial Law. But there are more than enough people praying for God’s wrath and justice to be poured upon the architects and benefactors of Martial Law so I choose to take a different approach on the matter. 

For starters, I would advise Bongbong; If you would do something, do it well. If you can afford it, try getting professional help, quality equipment and practice, practice, practice. Doing a Talk show is not as simple as a couple of cameras, microphones and two talking heads. If you must compete with media make sure you have very good lighting and a great set. Those chairs they used made Bongbong and JPE look like midgets!

Are “DIY Political Talk shows” now the in thing? Or is it something being popularized by the Duterte – Marcos camp. It was only a couple of weeks ago that President Duterte and Presidential Legal Counsel Sal Panelo hosted their own do-it-yourself talk show which turned out to be disappointing for many because the general public expected BIG NEWS given the fact that the President made an unscheduled public address not through the Malacañang Press. Disappointing because such an event is one he should have saved for a really important announcement of public significance and not one to ramble on or rant in. As a result, people will be less enthusiastic next time they make such an announcement again. I always remind executives in private and public office, the different types of media events are for specific purpose. Avoid the “one size fit all” mentality.

Now we find Bongbong Marcos and JPE following suit with Bongbong Marcos making no bones as to why they decided to do their very own DIY talk show. While Bongbong tried his best to be a talk show host, he overlooked a vital part of the job which is to validate or make sure that his resource person is “credible” and that his personal history, political background or position on issues is consistent with the statements he will be making on your show, unless of course, you have a different “Agenda” or only if consistency and credibility is NOT a major concern.

This becomes an issue because “personal history” comes back to bite you in this day and age when the Millennials can easily Google who you are and what you did. For instance, it’s hard to reconcile the position that Martial Law under Marcos was not as bad as some people paint it to be if you happen to be the person with an Uzi sub machine gun strapped on your chest walking across EDSA calling for people to come out and revolt against Ferdinand Marcos. If Marcos and Martial Law was not so bad why then did JPE and his RAM boys take up arms and launch a Coup d’état that led to the Marcoses being run out of town and being shipped to Hawaii? If I remember correctly, JPE said he could no longer tolerate, stomach or support the dictatorship.

I personally have to shake my head because when JPE guested in my former talk show with ANC, he unrepentantly confessed that it was “HE” who had my father arrested upon the declaration of Marcos Martial Law because he was “makulit” or annoying in relation to his many articles such as the Jabidah Massacre, Oplan Sagittarius, both major clandestine military operations that were exposed by Senator Ninoy Aquino. There were hundreds if not thousands of arrests. My father and members of the media were detained at the Crame Hilton, a satirical reference to the Camp Crame or PNP Gym and the General Manager of that world class detention facility was none other than another Revolutionary named Fidel Valdes Ramos, who to this day has at least been consistent on why he turned his back on Marcos and Martial law.

Going back to talk show topics, make sure you actually know who your audience is and what they really want. This is the mortal sin of many “wannabe’s” who assume they know what the audience should hear or see. Some think that the viewing public is so ignorant bordering on gullible so they just spread the jam so thick. Sorry but viewers are not gullible especially not the Millennials. They may not have been born during Martial Law but neither were many of us during the reign of Hitler who led the genocide against six million innocent Jews. In case you want to contest that, there are several hundred if not thousands of Jewish Filipinos whose grandparents were some of the Jews that President Manuel Luis Quezon gave refuge to. Millennials have “Roots” as much as they have Wi-Fi and Internet. I capitalized “Roots” in reference to the movie that starts out with people telling the stories of their ancestors who were once free men then enslaved. The same goes for us who were once free, enslaved and once again freed from the architects, implementers and benefactors of Martial law. We too will continue telling our stories of Real Life Martial law experience to our children, the Millennials. 

Lastly, try your best to make your guest look good and don’t let them commit suicide on your show. While JPE may have been a willing participant, he ended up paying the price and becoming the target just so the show could get the viewership and re-educate the Millennials.  Look after the welfare of your guest especially if they are hanging themselves.

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