PH Journalism On Agriculture Is On Fire – Has Heat, No Heart!

Ask Maria Ressa, and it is journalism under fire – I am going for journalism on fire! With lots of heart. (main image from Santa Fe, New Mexico[1], heart image from Pinterest[2])

Today, Sunday, 17 November 2019, on Facebook I saw Tony Moran's sharing:

What kind of journalism do you call one that values science, sociology, psychology, anthropology, precision, and social betterment?

My Facebook response (edited):

Community Development (ComDev) journalism. I published that concept in Sylvatrop about 39 years ago. I was thinking vs DevCom (Development Communication).

ComDev and DevCom journalisms. Different kinds. My ComDev is communication for development – emphasis on development; your DevCom is development communication – emphasis on communication, as the journalist wishes it.

About noon today, here come my wife Ampy and daughter Ela from Church with the Sunday print edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, banner headline by Karl R Ocampo, "Where Have PH Farmers Gone? Neda Tracks 7-Yr Dip In Agri Labor[3]." Immediately I saw that this was a job for Superman:

For the Village Voice to fly high
above Lazybone Journalism!

Mr Ocampo's piece begins with a discouraging note, and ends in a discouraging tone, with a somber advice from Bruce Tolentino, former Deputy Director General of IRRI for Partnerships and now member of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank, in these final 30 words:

A long list and lots of bottlenecks must also be resolved … There are no magic bullets, and the results will need at least five to 10 years to emerge.

Ah, that tells me a long list and lots of bottlenecks must be resolved to get PH journalism to encourage the Filipinos and not simply discourage them!

Mr Ocampo cites only the NEDA report, "Rural Labor Migration: An Analysis Of The Loss Of The Labor In The Agriculture Sector In The Philippines," and does not even state how long it is and how "deep" the analysis. Since he cites only that report:

Mr Ocampo is in fact equating the fate of PH Agriculture with rural labor outmigration – which is short-sighted, to say the least.

Mr Ocampo cites NEDA Secretary General Ernesto Pernia as saying PH Agriculture was the economy's "weakest link" as it grew only 1.1% in the last decade, only 0.75% "in the first nine months of the year."

In contrast, on the 14th of November 2019, Secretary of Agriculture and Manila Timescolumnist William Dar came out with the news that PH Agriculture grew by 2.87% in the 3rd quarter of this year[4].

So, did PH Agriculture grow by only 0.75% or by 2.87%?
I'll take the higher figure all the time!

I'm sorry for singling out Mr Ocampo as a journalist not journeying enough for his country, but he happens to write a piece that is a perfect example. I must say all PH journalists are guilty of only half-trying to be good journalists for development, including Ellen Tordesillas and Maria Ressa.

PH journalists have to give
less heat and
more heart to their outputs!@517

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[1] https://www.sfcir.org/journalism-under-fire/

[2] https://www.pinterest.at/pin/314548355217504285/?autologin=true

[3] https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1190760/where-have-ph-farmers-gone-neda-tracks-7-yr-dip-in-agri-labor

[4]https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/11/14/opinion/columnists/topanalysis/q3-agri-growth-should-embolden-us-to-move-forward/655823/