AS THE US election nears the finish line, the American media is again under public scrutiny and what they see may cause a real seismic shift that would change the political landscape and affect the outcome of the polls.
Of course, you know what I am talking about; the allegation that Democrat political analyst and erstwhile CNN contributor Donna Lease Brazille is sharing information with Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on the questions to be asked during the presidential debate and the primaries.
Thanks to WikiLeaks, emails between the campaign managers of Clinton to media friends have bolstered allegations made by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that the media is setting up a Clinton victory in the November 8 elections.
Donna Brazile became the interim chairperson of the Democratic National Committee last July. The WikiLeaks disclosure showed that Brazile maintained ties with CNN that hosted the second presidential debate that was held in a town hall.
When WikiLeaks leaked the email last week, it was like a bomb that exploded at the Democratic Party's front yard, fueling unfavorable public sentiment at Clinton.
That Brazile leaked the questions to the Clinton camp during the town hall debate and the questions during the primary between Clinton and fellow Democrat Bernie Sanders stirred up public clamor for CNN to conduct an independent audit and determine who was Brazile's mole that helped her leak the questions to Clinton.
A theory circulating in coffee shops across the country posited that Brazille could not have obtained the question without the people at CNN giving it or she could have obtained it by herself due to her closeness to the people at CNN.
My friend Jim Dohon, a diehard Republican, commented that was the reason why Clinton was calm and stayed confident during the debate. “She knows what would be asked,” he said, adding that is a form of cheating.
Dohon said the leak is cheating to the highest degree and a betrayal of public trust to the people of America.
One Filipino-American friend who requested anonymity admitted that maybe other questions were also given in advance to Hillary Clinton. Due to the WikiLeaks disclosure, CNN's integrity is now under fire despite its vehement denials.
The WikiLeaks disclosure resulted in public opinions showing a growing distrust of the US media. Jim Duhon told me that due to its liberalism, media is biased against conservative Republicans.
The backlash against the US media reminded me of my past experiences of working in the Cagayan de Oro City media industry during the election season.
At the time when election politics heats up, candidates would accuse certain media figures of being biased. Then there are media outlets that continue to work the best they can with the resources they have to cover the elections honestly, fairly and in accordance with the standards of their profession.
Indeed the work of media not only in covering the elections and the news becomes all the more challenging due to outside forces like social media and WikiLeaks who tag those who don't favor their agenda as biased despite the absence of solid evidence.
Donna Brazile's case is not unusual in the Philippines since it is common for erstwhile media practitioners to become political operatives. Brazile's case may even play a role in the outcome of the Nov. 8 elections.
That's why I join the others in urging CNN to investigate and identify Brazile's mole and penalize him/her/them. This may not cushion the fallout, but at least it will help restore public trust in the media.
(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao and is now in one of the school systems in the Carolinas. Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54.)
