The Movement for Media Reform is one of several propaganda groups formed after the May elections which saw the Marcos family return to Malacanãng. Ostenisbly MMR is a group of likeminded people who have banded together to lobby for media reform in the Philippines. Before looking at their mission statement or "What we do" it would do well to look at who forms their core group.
Now, being that this is a group advocating media reform one would think that the core members, like the man who formed the National Union of Philippine Journalists (NUJP), would all be journalists. You would be mistaken.
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| https://movementformediareform.com |
Out of these 11 people only TWO describe themselves as journalists. TWO!!! Compare that to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) which was founded by NINE journalists.
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) is an independent, nonprofit media agency that specializes in investigative reporting. It was founded in 1989 by nine Filipino journalists who realized, from their years in the beat and at the news desk, the need for newspapers and broadcast agencies to go beyond day–to–day reportage.
Let's take a look at this motley crew of...journalist reform lobbyists? I don't know what to call them but they aren't journalists though they think they can tell journalists how to do their job. Imagine shouting at your mechanic from the sideline as he tries to fix your car. It's the same thing.
First up is the big dog René Astudillo. I call him the big dog because he is the first listed and he authored the MMR's mission statement as we shall see.
This guy is the only one who claims to be a regular journalist. According to his Linkedin profile he is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association but he lists no media outlets as former employers in his CV. He also studied mass communication at St. Louis University in Baguio City. Aside from those two blurbs there is nothing to indicate he has ever been a practicing journalist. Currently he is a Human Resources manager.
René's biggest claim to fame is being the creator of The Adobo Chronicles. This is where the Satirist sobriquet comes into play. Founded in 2013 by Astudillo The Adobo Chronicles describes itself as follows:
THE ADOBO CHRONICLES is your source of up-to-date, unbelievable news. Everything you read on this site is based on fact, except for the lies.
The site has become so popular that Astudillo had to reformat it so that people could tell what was factual from what was false because so many people were taking it all as being factual.
NEW FORMAT: The Adobo Chronicles has recently adopted a new format to help readers distinguish between fact and fiction. Statements and paragraphs in our posts that are in italics represent the facts. The rest are fiction. (Note: This does not apply to our Adobo Chronicles’ Fact Check: Fact-checking the Fact Checkers.)
One of the most recent posts mocks Leni Robredo for receiving an honorary degree from Harvard.
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| https://adobochronicles.com/2022/09/07/even-puppets-receive-honorary-doctorate-degrees/ |
It’s been much ado about nothing, this honorary doctorate degree given by Ateneo de Manila University to former Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo.
Honorary degrees are now known as a celebratory gesture and hold no weight in society, though some recipients use the Ph.D title and add it to their curriculum vitae, despite being urged not to do so.
So, don’t get excited if you or anyone you know and look up do receives an honorary Ph.D. Even puppets get them. Literally!
Where is the joke? This is awful! I did this joke back in 2017 when Duterte was awarded an honorary degree by the UP. AND I included Leni because she also recieved a honorary degree from the University of Saint Anthony in Carmines Sur.
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| https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2017/04/on-honorary-degrees.html |
The Adobo Chronicles is so unfunny they won't even show the joke that muppets, NOT PUPPETS, get honorary degrees. It's lame!
Here's another anti-joke from the Adobo Chronicles.
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| https://adobochronicles.com/2022/08/22/president-bongbong-marcos-orders-retention-of-august-21-as-a-national-holiday/ |
It’s perhaps one of the most difficult decisions President Bongbong Marcos has had to make so far: to retain August 21 as a national holiday.
August 21 is the death anniversary of Ninoy Aquino, and is the birthday of the First Lady, Lisa Araneta Marcos.
But it is also common knowledge that August 21 is the anniversary of the Plaza Miranda bombing which many believe to be the works of anti-Marcos and communist elements. It resulted in the death of 9 people and injury to 95. Aquino was mysteriously absent during that Liberal Party rally.
Marcos’ decision came in the form of an Executive Order.
All’s well that ends well.
What is funny about this? The fact that the enemy of Marcos' father is Ninoy Aquino and a holiday celebrating Aquino is the same day as his wife's birthday? That's not very funny. Definitely needs some work. How about this send off of Duterte:
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| https://adobochronicles.com/2022/06/16/rodrigo-dutertes-legacy-colorful-philippine-foreign-policy/ |
At noon on June 30, 2022, Ferdinand (Bongbong) Marcos, Jr., takes his oath as the 17th President of the Republic of the Philippines.
As we look back to the past six years under Rodrigo Duterte, his colorful foreign policy, marked with unique diplomacy comes to mind. It is a legacy that could define, or redefine the country’s standing with the world community.
Tagged by many as a departure from the Philippines’ long-standing attachment to Uncle Sam, Duterte opened the door for harmonious and beneficial relationships with its Asian neighbors and world powers that matter.
Today, the Philippines has earned multiple distinctions as a province of China, a Federated State of Russia and Prefecture of Japan.
Six years may be too short for a good President. Another two years in duterte’s term could have made the Philippines a Caste of India. Who knows?
Again, where is the joke? Remember the regular font is supposed to be the funny stuff. But the fact is, as can be seen in the picture, Duterte's pro-China stance did cause some to mock that the Philippines is now a Province of China. A Caste of India? Does Astudillo even know what caste means? It's so terribly unfunny. And this is the guy who wants to reform the media.
Let's look at the rest of the crew. We don't even have to go in-depth because their listed qualifications say it all.
Hedda Tady - Educator/ Content Creator
Epee Rafanan - Culture Advocate/ Events Organizer
Jeremiah Odra - Business Operations/ Marketing Comms-PR
Peter Serrano - Actor/ Trainor/ Host/ Advocate
Emil Bichara - Trainer/ Public Speaker/ Life Coach
PJ Cabrera - Mobile Journalist/ OH Nurse/ Influencer. This is the second guy on this list who claims he is a journalist. But what is a mobile journalist? Sounds like something he made up.
Brian Neyra - Artist/ Designer/ Geopolitical Observer Isn't anyone who reads the news a geopolitical observer?
Julie Odra - Community Development Consultant
Melchor Vergara - Entrepreneur/ Netizen Everybody who uses the internet is a Netizen!
Orman Manansala - Banker/ Blogger
Out of all these people Hedda Tady, Brian Neyra, and Melchor Vergara have contributed to The Adobo Chronicles and Epee Rafanan is mentioned in an article.
In San Francisco, Epee Rafanan, co-founder of a Filipino American gay social organization, Barangay, said teaching gayspeak in Philippine schools is long overdue.
https://adobochronicles.com/2015/08/13/gayspeak-to-be-taught-in-philippine-schools/
Let's look at the mission statement of The Movement for Media Reform.
The Movement for Media Reform was born out of the changing landscape in the news media, characterized by increasing citizen participation in the spread of information on the Internet. Bias and ideological agenda on the part of some in the mainstream news media (MNM) have always been a given but have surfaced more clearly as they tried to desperately keep their standing as the only legitimate source of information.
MNM became threatened, having to compete for revenue as well as subscribers and followers. Survey after survey has shown the declining trust in the news media by audiences and consumers. It is amid this scenario that concerned individuals banded together to form an online movement aimed at reforming the news media in the hope that someday soon, they will regain the people’s trust as a fair, balanced and legitimate source of information needed for nation-building.
- Being a movement of volunteers, we rely on our members and supporters to help us achieve our mission, and to actively participate in the things that we do. In summary, we ascribe to our 3 C’s: * Check the facts * Call out bias and promote the truth * Create trust in the news To this end, some of the things we do include (but are not limited to):
- Fact-check the fact checkers.
- MNM and fact checkers do not have the monopoly of truth and accuracy. We will strive to call out news sources that knowingly or unknowingly spread disinformation.
- We will constantly remind news sources (individual journalists and news brands) of their responsibility to provide their audiences with factual information, void of editorializing, self-serving news slants, or obvious propaganda.
- We partner with reputable polling firms, like Publicus Asia, in disseminating results of media trust and other news-related surveys so that news consumers are guided in their choice of information sources.
- We engage our membership to weigh in on important issues related to news media responsibility along with our own membership polls, summaries and results of which we forward to appropriate agencies and organizations in both the government and private sectors.
- As resources become available, we will convene journalists and social media influencers to participate in skills-building workshops, training and webinars, inviting speakers and experts to discuss responsibility under Freedom of the Press and Free Speech.
- We will use all available social media venues to promote and generate support for our mission and activities both locally and international.
The Movement for Media Reform is not pleased by the Mainstream News Media (MNM) because not only do they have biases but they also want to be seen as the only legitimate source of information. But trust in the MNM has eroded. Therefore the MMR wants to act as a buffer between the MNM and the public. They want to fact check the fact checkers, alert news sources to their biases, and eventually convene journalists and social media influencers to build their skills and "discuss responsibility under Freedom of the Press and Free Speech." But who fact checks those who fact check the fact checkers?
Now, the only responsibility anyone ever has is to tell the truth whatever it may be. Judging from the way the MMR has been operating so far they are not very interested in truth. In fact in their Twitter feed there is hardly anything about media reform or calling out biases. There is a lot of calling out the usual suspects DDS has been targeting for the past six years. This includes Leni Robredo, ABS-CBN, and Rappler. Take this tweet for instance.
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| https://twitter.com/MMR4MediaReform/status/1559898661542596610 |
News media should invest in hiring competent headline writers…otherwise they end up with captions akin to this : “Police shoot dead armed man” instead of “Police shot an armed man dead”. :)
In a rush to mock Rappler the MMR only shows their ignorance. First of all this is not a Rappler article. It is from the AFP who sells articles to news outlets around the world. Second of all "to shoot dead" someone is grammatically correct English. Just Google it.
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| https://twitter.com/MMR4MediaReform/status/1556068543963078657 |
What Richard Heydarian is saying here is why should anyone care about mass atrocities from 40 years ago when EJKs in the past few years didn't cause anyone to blink an eye? Rene Astudillo, the big dog of MMR, feigns outrage saying, "He wants people to be INVESTED in mass atrocities???" Does he think Richard wants people to financially invest in mass atrocities? How much more stupid can he be? René is doing this not because he is for media reform but because he does not like Richard Heydarian's politics.
The fact is René Astudillo and the MMR are not for genuine media reform. What they really want is for the media to stop talking about the evils and crimes the Marcos family have foisted and continue to foist upon this nation. Here is René Astudillo actually defending the brutal Marcos dictatorship.
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| https://twitter.com/MMR4MediaReform/status/1550780297414725632 |
Of course there is no smoking gun on MMR's Twitter feed. Nothing that says the Marcos family is innocent. But there is this:
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| https://twitter.com/MMR4MediaReform/status/1536892981202255873 |
"There are two sides to a story." This is exactly what the Marcos revisionist and denialist crowd has been saying for a number of years. The thing is we know the whole story. It has been told in books, in newspaper articles, and most importantly in court records. Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda plundered the nation and had their critics imprisoned or murdered. That is simply a fact of history that no amount of memes or tweets will ever change.
Here is proof that the MMR cares very little about actual journalists and the danger of being a journalist in the Philippines. Rather than condemn the assassination of radio broadcaster Percy Lapid they essentially blame him for his death.
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| https://www.facebook.com/movementformediareform/posts/129857346473781 |
In the murder of radio anchor Percy LapidNo one is suppressing free press we don't know the whole story of his life and who he bumped into.Let's not avoid comments against "press freedom" because until now we are free to express and air.
We don't know who he bumped into? True enough and while this assassination may turn out to have nothing to do with his journalistic activities the fact is the Philippines remains dangerous for journalists. Percy is the 5th radio broadcaster to be assassinated this year. Yet these frauds at the MMR cannot even bring themselves to acknowledge this fact and condemn the killing of journalists. Instead they hide behind a pretend impartiality saying they do not want to "jump the gun." Could it be because Percy was an outspoken critic of Marcos and Duterte and the MMR is all about protecting Marcos from all criticism? Indubitably. Now we are told by the killer that he received his orders from New Bilibid prison.
Does the media need reform? Sure. The news can be reported better with less biases and more pertinent information. The Philippine media should stop showing dead bodies even if they are blurred. And dissenting voices should be allowed without fear of being red-tagged which can turn out to be deadly. In the Philippines journalists are killed with impunity rather often. But don't expect the Movement for Media Reform to discuss any of that. They are just another of the many propaganda groups seeking to shield Marcos from criticism for both his and his parent's crimes.
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