NEVER again will I attend an event of FOCAP (Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines) if Tony Lopez is present or still with the group.”
The statement was from an obviously peeved President Benigno “Pnoy” Aquino III who has had enough of Tony Lopez’s pointed questions, acerbic comments and unbridled display of bias against the late president. The anger and frustration started in Aquino when Lopez publicly roasted Pnoy in a breakfast forum during the 2010 presidential campaign, when the veteran journalist was rooting for Manny Villar.
It is not uncommon for politicians and even business leaders to nurture deep and long-running grudges against newsmen who, taking shelter from the legitimacy of the journalism profession, may sometimes encroach on the privacy of the personal lives of their interviewees and even their kin.
Aquino is not alone in this league; Duterte and all former presidents had been victims of what they feel as unfair and condescending treatment by interviewers.
Latest to join the group is former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., now a front-running aspirant for president. He declined an invitation from Jessica Soho to be interviewed with other presidential bets. It would have been a big opportunity to reach the people for free, thru the facilities of a major TV-radio-social media network. But Bongbong declined.
Marcos’ chief of staff Victor Rodriguez said, “The reason why Bongbong Marcos decided not to join the Jessica Soho show is founded on our belief that the hostess of said popular talk show is biased against the Marcoses.”
“And therefore, we believe her questions will just focus on negativity about BBM which the UniTeam dislike and will not subscribe as it hopes that the discourse in any forum about this coming elections must focus on how the aspiring presidents will solve our country’s lingering problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and what their plans are for our country to roll up from economic stagnation,” he added.
GMA Network took exception to this charge and said Soho had asked candidates for the highest office in the land “the questions that needed to be asked” – their intentions for running, the controversies they had been linked to, their stand on pressing issues and their plans. “The questions are tough because the job of the presidency is tough,” GMA said.
Marcos’ worry is that it was a taped — not live — interview and the network can edit it to its liking. Any bias can surface in the editing, so it was wise not to participate, even if Soho was the recipient of tons of trophies and citations for being “most trusted journalist.” Tony Lopez did that years before her awards, and these awards do not mean much when a particular slant is imposed by media owners.
Social media and the public should not belabor this trifling affair as Bongbong can find other interviewers and GMA can seek others more willing to be interviewed.
