[] Criticism is similar to that in 2007 and 2019 when public officials also wondered why there was more bad news than good news or even why the bad news was reported at all.
[] Reporting on media walkout was as sparse as the reactions to the incident.
ACTING MAYOR'S COMPLAINT. The local news media reported the mayor's complaint, as reflected in their headlines: July 12, VoxPop -- "Garcia slams media as 'unfair' in Palarong Pambansa coverage." July 13, The Freeman -- "Media is unfair, Raymond cries." July 16, Manila Times – “Garcia slams media for unfair reporting.”
Last July 12, 2024, a Friday, Raymond Alvin Garcia -- elected vice mayor who's acting chief executive of Cebu City that hosted the just-concluded 2024 Palarong Pambansa -- aired his complaint at a "coordination meeting" at City Hall, to which representatives of Department of Education, Local School Board, the city's Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, MCWD, and police were gathered -- and news media invited to cover. As Garcia put it, he wanted media "to hear the efforts of the City Government for the Palaro's success."
Mainly a session to fix some problems on billeting problems, the "convergence" provided a chance for A.M. Garcia to tell news reporters that he found "some reports... very unfair," citing as example the news about concerns of Calabarzon delegates, numbering more than 900, regarding water shortage and clogged or "malfunctioning" toilets.
WAS NEWS REPORT FALSE? MAYOR DIDN'T SAY. A.M. Garcia's complaint related to matters other than falsehood of the story, such as:
(1) the coordination and hard work the multiple agencies were doing; (2) the organizers and the agencies working with them are "not perfect" and everybody should realize that, including media; (3) that event managers acted promptly on any disruption of service although Garcia said that if a water tank would run empty, the refill wouldn't miraculously appear at once.
The acting mayor didn't say outright the media reports were untrue. He griped the reports were "sensationalized" and reports about bad things such as no-water and clogged CRs weren't balanced with "positive aspects" of the Palaro, such as what a tough job the hosting was.
RIGHT TO COMPLAIN. Does the mayor, as any other public official or news personality, have the right to complain about the product that is the news, not just as consumer but as a party to the production, Garcia being a major news source?
The issue is apparently not over right to complain but on how he did it.
What could be a reminder from a "visibly angry" public official who was complaining about the reporting could be, and must have been, seen as a scolding of the reporters.
SOME MEDIA REACTIONS TO COMPLAINT. A column by Annie Perez in The Freeman of July 16, headlined "Media under Fire," sounded like A.M. Garcia had scolded Cebu media. Perez wrote that Garcia "called them out" -- as the news reports, to the mayor, "amounted to an attack on their hard work" -- and branded it as "unfair reporting."
Perez said that some reporters were surprised, unclear about "what the mayor was referring to." They also thought, Perez wrote, it was "totally uncalled for," as the issue could've been "addressed more constructively." Must be the occasion and the manner it was done: Perez said "he was lashing out at everyone in the room."
Was the mayor scolding the media? Fred P. Languido in a column in "Banat News" of July 14, described Garcia as "labihang sukoa" (very angry) when he disagreed ("wa siyang kauyon") with the news reports. The column title "Unfair ba diay ang pagtug-an sa tinuod?" pitches the argument that the news was true and telling the truth was not being unfair. Languido wrote that in the mayor's anger, even "innocent" reporters who had nothing to do with the criticized stories were included ("napagan") and embarrassed in front of government officials at the meeting.
Was it intentional? Languido called it "malisyoso," deliberately aimed to shame the reporters. The reason the reporters walked out, he said.
SPARSE REPORTING. News about the incident was sparse. Antonio Antogop Jr., content officer at New Comics and former writer at CDN Digital, prodded in a July 12 post the reporters who attended the meeting-presscon: "Man up, Cebu media. Isulti ang tinuod nga nahitabo." Antogop's two other posts said there was a scolding by the mayor as well as a walkout by media.
REMINDER ON DUTIES. An NUJP (National Union of Journalists of the Philippines) Cebu chapter July 12 statement didn't tackle the core issue of unfair coverage but reminded both media and organizers of their responsibilities: media's duty "to contextualize and report the concerns of stakeholders" and organizers' duty "to ensure that discriminatory practices are discouraged during these events involving the youth."
Not mentioned was the need for media to recognize that restrictions in covering sports events are necessary for the safety not just of athletes but also of non-athletes, including media workers and general audience. On any disagreement, they can always talk about it.
NO WALKOUT? HOW ABOUT SCOLDING? Some sources who were ordered to clam up on the issue could give some light on A.M. Garcia's gripe against media. These are the people who can say whether there was a walkout during the press-con/meeting.
One broadcaster was said to have told a colleague he had to leave for another coverage. Some reporters, one source said, were "already miffed" at the organizers, not from City Hall, because of a DepEd policy that required reporters to stay away from the courtside and cover only from the bleachers. Whatever, it wasn't clear if a big number of reporters agreed among themselves to leave the forum or only a few left for different reasons. News reports on the event didn't mention about a walkout. Only Languido's column in "Banat News" did.
That alone must tell that the bad vibes came from kinks caused by decisions that were not adequately thought out and discussed. Communication, even negotiation, helps.
SOME DIDN'T MIND; SOME DID. From various accounts, the public can see that A.M. Garcia was complaining and letting out steam. Some journalists, used to such gripes from news sources, didn't mind.
Others obviously minded and resented: it's media's job, they said, and nobody tells media how to do their job except their editors and other media bosses. Right? Not quite because journalists need to listen to their public, which includes news sources. Journalists don't have to follow what public officials say but they need to listen. And in a big way, they did last July 12, as they reported what Garcia complained about: the news said the acting mayor called media "unfair" and sensationalists. Public officials, Languido argued, benefited from the "good" reports given by the same media that give the "bad" reports.
To a number of journalists present, it was a scolding and they were actually scolded. Perhaps to the mayor, it was not, it was just part of the news source's right of reply and as consumer his right to complain about news, the finished product.
WHAT THE COMPLAINT MUST NOT BE: [1] The mayor's outburst was not an attack "collectively against media," as the mayor referred only to one story (in one media outlet owned by the acting mayor's family, an irony Fred Languido couldn't resist pointing out) and other stories in the local news that reported questions on standards of facilities and equipment.
[1] Garcia's complaint was not original or new, as local officials expressed similar complaints against media, which set off media rhubarb when Cebu hosted the 2007 Asean summit and when the country hosted the 2019 Asean Games. The unresolved question then, as it was in the recently concluded Palaro: Should media hold its punches and close its eyes on what it sees or suspects as wrong so as not to embarrass the local hosts?