In the age where news corporations need to consolidate with other businesses to prosper, conflicts of interest arise, calling into question media’s impartiality.
News, when it devolves into self-promotion of its network’s celebrities, public relations for its allied companies and damage control for its disasters, is not news at all.
The problem is a global one: Can Time magazine and CNN entertainment give unbiased movie reviews of Warner Brothers films? What of promotions of MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks in fellow Viacom companies? Can ABC News report incisively into allegations that Disney is subcontracting sweatshops that exploit underpaid workers in developing countries to produce its merchandise? What of stock reports of Microsoft on NBC?
The problem is also very much a local one: Can ABC-5 report fairly on Cojuangco investments such as the Philippine Long Distance Co.? Can ABS-CBN deliver unbiased news regarding Lopez-owned businesses such the Meralco, Maynilad and the North Expressway? In this case, can ABS-CBN give fair reportage and analysis of the Wowowee stampede?
What remains unsaid and unwritten speaks louder.
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