Inquirer editor John Nery asks himself a simple question in his column today, Assault on press freedom? Q and A: “If the cyberlibel case [against Maria Ressa] was presumed regular, why is it an assault on press freedom?” You’d think Nery would take this opportunity to articulate a really precise answer to this question to…
De La Salle Philippines president Armin Luistro the other day issued a baldly presumptuous call to action to — presumably all — “LaSallians” to support embattled Rappler CEO Maria Ressa. Let’s give our all out support as Lasallians to Rappler. Let’s defend press freedom. Let’s make our voices heard. Let’s vote with our feet and…
Maria Ressa dismisses Filipinos who challenge her claim that she is being targeted by the Duterte government by labelling them as “trolls” who are merely following “marching orders”. That’s like saying her critics are all non-humans who have nothing of any worth to say. This is the height of arrogance. It is indeed fitting that…
If one uses Twitter to sample the general sentiment of the Filipino public, you’d think “press freedom” is top of mind for the majority of Filipinos. With the shrillness of the rhetoric of “activists” that populate social media, one would be forgiven in thinking that “press freedom” is the game-changing issue that will determine this…
Read More ““Press freedom” is not the Philippines’ most important issue. It really isn’t.” »
If I were a shareholder of “social news network” Rappler, I’d be really pissed. You hire and pay a CEO big bucks and what does she do? She gets my company into a heap of tax trouble and exposes it to a big libel case. Worst of all, she gets arrested and spends most of…
Dressed in black, not in their traditional yellow for some reason, the usual faces representing the usual “activism” is fired up once again. But, really, what are they on fire about? That’s the million-peso question. The sheer volume and shrillness of the noise surrounding what is essentially the vacuous notion of some sort of “attack…
The Associated Press today announced the deletion of a tweet posted Wednesday and implied that it was misled by statements provider by Rappler CEO Maria Ressa… The AP deleted a Wednesday tweet on journalist Maria Ressa’s arrest. It incorrectly said she was arrested for criticizing Philippine President Duterte. Authorities said she was arrested over a…
Those who insist that the arrest of Maria Ressa is an “attack on press freedom” are being stupid for continuing to criticise someone you think has the power to lock you up. The fact that you are still free despite criticising him makes you look stupid as well. Ressa wasn’t arrested because she criticised Duterte….
“Hold the line”. I find this so OA. Maria Ressa is simply not very smart. She can’t stay out of trouble. She should learn from the best. Perhaps even a “minor-minor” blogger can teach her how to kick some ass without getting sued or arrested. I don’t even know why Maria Ressa is acting so…
Read More “Maria Ressa’s supporters cannot keep using #DefendPressFreedom to defend a law-breaker” »
If #DefendPressFreedom was the burning national issue Maria Ressa makes it out to be, why aren’t politicians making it a cornerstone of their campaign? The fact is, it isn’t relevant because it is a non-issue. Maria Ressa was arrested for charges related to her conduct as leader of a news media organisation. Her case has…
Read More “The “movement” to #DefendPressFreedom is all about Maria Ressa and not much else” »