MASS COM SCHOOLS UNITE VERSUS RUBBISH ON TV
MANILA, APRIL 3, 2011 (STANDARD) by Isah V. Red - This is becoming an all-out war versus Willie Revillame. The College of Mass Communication of the University of the Philippines have expressed its outrage on Revillame's show on TV5 due to the incident involving an innocent six-year old made to dance a la "macho dancer" even as the boy was apparently in tears, perhaps in shame of what Revillame and his father asked him to do, all because of a monetary reward.
WATCH CONTROVERSIAL 'WILING WILLY' VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSKrdgdoy7I
We just hope that other communication schools around the country would come out with their stand on this issue.
The alumni have come up with a strongly worded statement and I am reprinting it in toto:
We, the alumni of UP College of Mass Communication, faculty, staff and students, CONDEMN the continued exploitation and abuse of children on television, the continued apathy of sponsors and media owners, and the outright insensitivity of television in the guise of entertainment, their hosts, writers, producers.
We are not here to teach our children that it is perfectly fine to take advantage of, exploit, use and abuse them just to be able to earn, without sweat, money from someone who disgustingly brandishes cold cash and material things, to entice audience and viewers, to taunt and laugh at those willing to be taunted and laughed at. We are not here to ALLOW advertisers, sponsors, media owners, to use US, the public and citizens, to enrich themselves by coming out with TRASH television.
Media should be accountable to the public and its citizens, not to the owners and their stakeholders. Success is measured not by the profits it has earned but by serving the public interest—which is to promote active citizenship through information, education and social integration.
Television audiences are continually being shown a "vast wasteland" of programming, and commercial broadcasting is in effect squandering the public's airwaves, and we want to put a stop to that. We are aware that the Market Model in Media is what prevails in broadcast television, where advertisers provide most revenues for the networks, where the bottom line is always profits and where they look at the audience as mere consumers who should buy the products of the advertisers, instead of citizens who should be given quality television. We want to put a stop to that.
We therefore urge TV5 management to re-think their position on entertainment television, to take the high road and choose quality content over crass commercialism, all at the expense of the public.
We call on the advertisers of this show to pull out their ads immediately.
We call on the public to BOYCOTT the products of the sponsors who refuse to pull out of this show. The temerity of the host to say that those advertisers who pull out will "suffer" is proof that his supposed apology was not genuine and was made only as PR damage control.
We call on the public to be more vigilant both as an audience and as a consumer.
We call on appropriate agencies concerned (KBP, MTRCB, PANA, ADBOARD, DSWD, CHR) to not only slap the guilty parties on their wrists, but to make sure that media ethics and rules are strictly implemented, especially towards the protection of our children.
We adhere to the College's vision of a society that is egalitarian, participative, and progressive through the development of media that is: Social responsible, critical, and vigilant; liberative and transformative; and Free and independent.
We will make noise and continue to make noise. ENOUGH is ENOUGH.
Wow, if Revillame doesn't understand English, he'd better ask anyone in his staff with at least 85 percent comprehension of the language to translate this to him.
In any case, TV5 sent us by e-mail a rejoinder to the apology that came out in our Thursday column. Lest we be accused of bias, we are also reprinting it verabatim:
Further to our public apology on March 28, 2011, we wish to reassure our viewers and the public that the Network has taken steps to prevent the occurrence of any similar incident in the future.
The Network is currently conducting a thorough investigation on the incident. The investigation is led by the Network's Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Roberto V. Barreiro, and Chief Legal Counsel, Atty. Christine C. Ona.
In the meantime, and pending the results of the investigation, the Network has already taken the following measures:
-Caused the preparation of stricter guidelines on the appearance and performance of minors, particularly children, on all TV5 programs.
-Required that all "Willing Willie" auditions as well as auditions of other TV5 programs be supervised by TV5 representatives designated by the TV5 Ombudsman.
-Appointed an internal Ombudsman to review any incidents of this nature and to whom any complaints may be referred for immediate disposition. The Network's Chief Legal Counsel, Atty. Christine C. Ona, has been designated as the Network's Ombudsman.
-Imposed a moratorium on the participation of minors in all contests and game shows on TV5 until such time that the preceding measures are fully in place.
We welcome the hearings of the MTRCB and other bodies as opportunities to further thresh out the issues and find solutions that will address the many concerns that have been expressed. TV5 renews its commitment to responsible broadcasting and pledges to improve its programs as its way of thanking its viewers for their continued support and trust.
This is the right thing to do…but please don't justify bad behavior as part of the network's goal to gain rating points. Because, that will only give anyone who works in the network the license to break the norms of proper society.
Sexiest celebrities
So, who are the sexiest in show business?
StarStudio conducted a poll recently in cooperation with the showbiz website Push.com.ph to choose the Sexiest Man, Sexiest Woman and Sexiest Young celebrities in showbiz. This year's winners were Piolo Pascual (Sexiest Man), Angel Locsin (Sexiest Woman) and the tandem of Gerald Anderson and Kim Chiu, who were voted by fans in Push.com.ph site.
So, if you happen to be a fan, you can grab a copy of StarStudio's April 2011 anniversary issue and find out who else made it to the annual StarStudio Sexiest Stars list.
The issue also has photos of the February wedding of John Estrada and Priscilla Meirelles, the 18th birthday of Empress Schuck and other sizzling features.
----------------------------------------------------------
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
----------------------------------------------------------
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------
