ABS-CBN gone? Stay focused on COVID-19

So ABS-CBN is gone. No worries. It is not as if television has gone totally black. There are other sources of news and entertainment that are in fact far more credible and wholesome. Minus ABS-CBN, there are still 436 television stations operating in the Philippines plus, if you prefer other media, 416 AM radio stations and 1,042 FM stations. And then there are the newspapers, some 100 of them.

Press freedom? What the aforementioned numbers suggest is that press freedom is very much alive and well in the Philippines. So do not ever think it is dead or under attack just because ABS-CBN shut down. Press freedom does not rise or fall on the fortunes, or misfortunes, of ABS-CBN, or any other media entity for that matter.

Press freedom is not an entitlement. Just because ABS-CBN is a media entity doesn't mean it is a press freedom issue if it fails to secure a renewal of its franchise and gets shut down. ABS-CBN committed very serious violations to its franchise. It cannot conveniently hide behind the shield of press freedom and hope the serious allegations against it will just go away. It does not work that way. As one bumper sticker says, "you bangee, you payee."

Okay, it is a fact that no less than President Duterte openly loathes ABS-CBN. But it is also an equal fact that he doesn't similarly loathe the other 436 television stations. And the reason for this is that the others have chosen to remain professional and true to their calling. They kept their balance and objectivity. They never lost sight of who and what they are and what is expected of them.

If Duterte signaled his allies in Congress not to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN, I as a professional journalist of nearly 40 years would rather live with that kink in this imperfect life than continue seeing so-called colleagues in the profession abuse their press cards and cheapen press freedom with their hate, bias, and unbridled arrogance.

For between press freedom and a clear sense of what is right and wrong, I would choose the latter. Any freedom, exercised for its own sake, is both stupid and dangerous. Look at what is happening in America. Because Americans do not want to be restrained in the exercise of their freedoms, they are now dying by the thousands to something that not all their freedoms put together allows them to see.

What this whole ABS-CBN episode teaches us is that neither wealth nor size allows any media entity to make its own rules. And the rules in good journalism have remained simple and clear as they always have been. Report only what is true. And always be fair. A media entity cannot become so powerful it is tempted to play God.

That is precisely what happened to ABS-CBN. It became so powerful it forgot one tiny little thing --that while it can play God for a while, it still must at the end of 25 years apply for a renewal of franchise. It forgot that some of the people it kicked in the ass going up might be the same people it will ask favors from going down. The romance of press freedom works only if you deserve it.