Calling For A Revolution In Journalism!

MANILA: These are the times that cry for men's souls. These are the times that should bring out the best in each of us. Not the beast.

The image above is the world's first accidental twin portrait of a man and another man, and each one looks primitive.

Yes, that image I took on 12 July 2016 at 1741 hours is dualistic. One, it portrays Rodrigo Roa Duterte as President of the Philippines: Scary. (I have posterized it here; you can see the original photograph at the end of this essay, and it's even scarier.) Two, it portrays the journalist in the time of Rodrigo Roa Duterte as President of the Philippines: Scared. I refer to the journalist both local and foreign. Such as considering Donald Trump in the United States.

That is the most extraordinary photograph I have ever seen, or taken, a twin portrait of the Reporter and the Reported. With it I deserve I believe The Photographer Of The World Award.

In truth, I have been haunted by my own photograph of what is not of my own making. Saan nga al-alia daytoy nga inaramidko ket siak ti immuna nga nagbuteng. This is not a ghost I made that has made me first of all afraid.

What you are looking at is the figure that appeared on my bed after probably I had risen from an afternoon nap. That is my blanket you are seeing, but it has assumed that shape and figure I don't know how. I could not have configured this one – I am neither a sculptor nor a painter. And my blanket has no round, white objects, none whatsoever, only rectangular whites as you can see above leading to the ears and eyes. I was frightened myself, but since it was so odd, I took several shots anyway for the record: The photographer took over the writer. My Lumix FZ100 digital superzoom has an Intelligent Auto mode, so I don't worry about aperture and speed and lighting, so I just point & shoot; thank God for artificial intelligence in cameras!

These are the times that cry for men's souls. These are the times that should bring out the best in each of us.

So, Rodrigo Duterte is busy with what he perceives to be his proper roles as The President of his country. Roles, plural. Never mind what he perceives them to be. Since He is Lord and Master anyway, let us give him the benefit of the doubt. He is a lawyer; he knows what is legal and illegal.

So, is Juan dela Cruz busy with what he perceives to be his proper roles as The Journalist of his country? Roles, plural. So what are those roles? Since I see that he is now at a loss for words, to say the least, I am a boy calling for a Revolution in Journalism! As I see them, based on what I see as the 5 Cs of the New Journalism, the new news and views of the new C5 Journalist must be:

(1)     Current

(2)     Contextual

(3)     Contributory

(4)     Constructive

(5)     Complementary.

Not Combative Journalism, the prevailing paradigm. You don't need intelligence to be negative, just a loud mouth or an abrasive pen. You must be more intelligent and be more positive. As the new C5 Journalist, you must be:

(1)     Current.
You must keep on your toes, meaning, you must be up-to-date; your news or views must be based on what's happening now, the Who, What, Where, and When. Far and wide, not just in the live theater near you.

(2)     Contextual.
You must investigate the context and content of what is happening. Your news or views must be based on the current Why and How. The background. You must know where it's all coming from, even if it's as old as 123 years.

(3)     Contributory.
Your news or views must contribute to Change, not to Controversy. Journalism contributing not to gross domestic product (GDP) but to gross domestic progress (GDPro). Contributing to progress, not persistence of poverty. Contributing to growth that clearly filters to all, not simply overall growth.

(4)     Constructive.
Your news or views must construct, not destruct; build up, not break down; upgrade, not downgrade. You must excite to Reformation, not incite to Revolution. You must be convivial, not conniving; you must write of consecration, not desecration; of faith, not filth; of a view divergent, but not virulent.

(5)     Complementary.
Your news or views must be libertarian, not contrarian; an advocacy, not an adversary; conciliatory, not inflammatory; diagrammatically perquisite, not diametrically opposite; in an ascending line, not a line condescending; in mind parallel, not your own one-mind rule.

Now then, how can we pursue the new C5 Journalism? Here's an actual innocuous example I am going to construct right now.

First, I google for "philippines problems farmers OR agriculture" (exactly like that but without the double quotes), and my search gives me 12,600,000 results. 12.6 million webpages – that indicates that our country the Philippines has myriads and millions of problems when it comes to agriculture. That is why agriculture deserves the bulk of the new C5 Journalism.

The very first webpage in the list is this report by Jodesz Gavilan published by Rappler.com under its #HUNGERPROJECT (15 August 2015, Rappler, rappler.com):

Headline:
How can the Philippines have a booming agricultural sector?
Tagline:
The Philippines cannot achieve inclusive growth if its agriculture workers continue to be among the poorest.

Teasers within Jodesz' article:
What can be done
Reforms needed
Prioritize farmers

Under "What can be done," Jodesz lists 5 priority areas:
(1) Encourage investments in agriculture that promote area-based development.
(2) Prioritize investments that can increase and sustain productivity.
(3) Ensure well-functioning irrigation systems and an efficient transport infrastructure.
(4) Invest in programs that will increase resilience to climate risks and disasters, as well as pests and diseases.
(5) Promote greater private sector investments and support.

Jodesz' report is all of 950 words, including the headline, author and date.

Let me now give you my C5 Journalism analysis and rating of Jodesz Gavilan's piece of journalism based on what I call the 5 Cs of Communication.

A little background on this one: On 12 January 2011, I published in the American Chronicle(since kaput) the essay, "Software IQ. Microsoft And The Boy Who Cried Worp" that I mentioned in an essay, "Intelligent Blah. Frank A Hilario's Radical Brains Theory Of Thinking," 16 November 2011, A Magazine Called Love, blogspot.co.id), where I enumerated my own 4 Cs of Communication: Clear, Comprehensive, Coherent, Concise.

I shall now revise the list to add a 5th C: Common Cause. In a rating exercise, those 5 Cs can be treated as 5 Stars. Now then, I can judge Jodesz Gavilan's journalistic work on this one and give her any number of stars.

Clear? Too technical. For instance, Jodesz' (1) priority area is stated in these words: "Encourage investments in agriculture that promote area-based development." She does notexplain "area-based" and "development" – vague, ambiguous. No Star.

Comprehensive? By comprehensive, I mean not necessarily complete but covering the essentials.Her report covers investments only. No Star.

Coherent? Coherent means logically connected, consistent (dictionary.com). In Jodesz' list, the 5 priority areas are not mutually exclusive; they all can probably be included in the first, "area-based development" – but it must be explained first. No Star.

Concise? Concise means brief. Jodesz' report is too brief that it is incomplete. Given her complicated topic, "How can the Philippines have a booming agricultural sector?" she should have written an exposition very much longer than she has. Half a Star.

Common Cause? Common cause means reason or occasion for common action. Jodesz' report has too many causes it's a jumble, a laundry list, not well-thought of: encourage investments in agriculture, prioritize investments in productivity, improve irrigation systems, invest in climate change mitigation and control of pests & diseases in the farms, and promote private investments. No Star.

Another teaser that Jodesz' report has is this: "Improving agriculture in the Philippines can push for inclusive growth." For her 950 words, she could have written exclusively about inclusive growthand what it meant for agriculture, say in the point of view of the farmers or in the point of view of the Department of Agriculture.

All in all, Jodesz has needed to do much more research, especially to explain all those technical terms. Her report is understandable by economists, but they are not supposed to be her target readers.

A C5 Journalist writes with the heart in the right place warm for a common cause. C5 Journalism is hard to do if you have a wooden heart!

28 September 2016. Essay word count, excluding this line: 1448