The Inevitable Conflict Between Editors

My newspapers in San Diego - Diario Veritas and Philippine Village Voice.

Volume 1, Issue No. 2

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and Currents & Breaking News (CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

Our latest as of Saturday, July 20, 2019 

~  I've had the rare chance of working as a foreign correspondent for two international news organizations, one Japanese and the other German, for a total of twenty years. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik0AXXyPXaE). Journalism in those days was at its optimum and fiercely competitive beginning with the bombing of the Liberal Party election rally at Plaza Miranda, the declaration of martial law by Ferdinand Marcos, the assassination of Benigno Aquino, the People Power revolt, the ascendancy of Cory Aquino, the series of coups d'etat, and ending only with the rise of Fidel Ramos as president. I witnessed those major events with my own eyes and reported them. In a sense, I became used to conflicts between and among men and institutions. Fast forward to 2019 in Toronto and I am saddled in a squabble so petty it's hard to believe it happened.

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

STANDING UP FOR ONESELF - Part 1

The Inevitable Conflict Between Editors

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Disagreement is one thing; disrespect is quite another.” ― Richard V. Reeves

TORONTO - Seven-and-a-half years of hard work, hundreds of articles that could fit at least three volumes of a book, four multi-million-dollar libel suits, four deaths, a considerable number of silent supporters, and a slew of clandestine critics sum up my tenure as an "associate editor" of Balita, the 40-year-old fortnightly tabloid founded by journalist Ruben Cusipag.

I am no swivel chair-newsman. Honestly, I relished being a reporter, commentator, and columnist than being called "associate editor" - the honorific covetously wished by so-called media people in the Filipino community who wanted fancy titles appended to their names to boost their declining self-esteem.

For me, what that designation purported to show was in reality nothing. To the uninitiated, it may sound impressive but, as the saying goes, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating". 

I had nothing to show to deserve such ostentatious appointment because the paper didn't rise up to the meaning of that metaphor. Anyway, my name just magically appeared with that honorific even if I didn't ask for it.

For my YouTube and Vimeo vlogs, however, I am intensely proud to be editor, for I'm fully engrossed in fulfilling real work obligations expected of one holding that position, especially for my blogs - Currents & Breaking News and News in the Six. (Videos at: https://www.youtube.com/user/FilipinoWebChannel#g/u).

Knowing its flair for entertainment and superficial news coverage that relies on press releases and unvetted contributions, Balita was an unlikely choice for my journalism but for this person I respected, Ruben Cusipag, a familiar name then among us journalism students in Manila, who had a deep understanding of what it was to be a journalist. 

I knew he had recognized that my journalism is confrontational, adversarial and no-holds-barred, and merges it with the clarity of light shining through a prism of actuality. 

I don't shelter fear, for to do so would immobilize me and paralyze my reporting. I'm not subservient to anyone - publisher, editor or whatnot - either because that would defeat the very idea of speaking truth to power.

I've embedded this concept in my slogan: "News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody". My belief is that as long as one holds the truth, fear is a nonentity. Like it or not, but that's the basic principle in my journalism practice.

My understanding was that Ruben Cusipag, who passed away six years ago this month, had known those parameters or he would not have been the reputable star reporter of his time. In our journalism class way back, his news articles were among those dissected for their structure, form, substance, and lucidity. 

These are the essential guidelines of news writing at that time when news meant answering the six basic questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Even before he immigrated to Canada during the martial law regime of Ferdinand Marcos, Ruben Cusipag was already a popular media institution fighting the dictatorship in the Philippines. 

So it was quite a surprise and a shock to meet him in person for the first time in Toronto on May 2010 at the election of the Philippine Press Club Ontario at the then Quiapo! Quiapo! Restaurant in suburban Scarborough. 

As I was newly-arrived from San Diego, California, an old friend and media colleague, the late Tenny Soriano, had invited me to be there. It was Tenny, then writing for Balita, who introduced me to the wheelchair-bound Ruben, and wife Tess Cusipag. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Wuqttvm9Y).

Ruben had been crippled and had difficulty communicating verbally - a result of a traffic accident, I was told -  but his mind was sharp and crystal clear. He was conveying his feelings by a combination of hand gestures, a wholesome smile and a constant nodding of the head. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8bbS3Ogm5E).

Nearly two years later after that chance meeting, Ruben invited me to write for Balita, his paper, a robust 80-page tabloid he edited and published twice a month. I thought then that he had wanted to change its outlook as it's devoted mainly to entertainment news. (Related story: https://www.balita.ca/despite-all-the-hurdles-balita-stands-firm-in-its-quest-for-the-truth-3/).

In January 2012, Ruben's invitation was confirmed in an announcement in the paper. At the same time, my name appeared in the staff box as an "associate editor" along with two others. My impression was that the position carried some weighty responsibility in running the paper. I was wrong.

Not only once did I suggest some serious changes in layout, design, and news evaluation - proposals I meant to do myself if accepted - but were met with cold indifference by Ruben's wife, Tess Cusipag, who had taken over the management of the paper.

I learned that Tess was, professionally, a teacher in the Philippines before she became Mrs. Cusipag, then later publisher and editor after his death, which, to me, are unenviable positions based on my own experience as a reporter, editor, and publisher of my newspapers in San Diego, and a big challenge for one without a journalism background. 

I wanted to live up to that designation "associate editor" and give it life and meaning. In fact, I coined the phrase "Toronto's largest Filipino newspaper" to show how different Balita was with the rest of the community papers. (Related story at: https://www.balita.ca/the-challenge-of-community-journalism/).

I rationalized that while it's heavy on entertainment fare emanating from Manila, and socials and beauty pageants and the like in the Greater Toronto Area, it also carried solid news about Toronto, its backyard long neglected by the papers.

Through the years, I realized that the position was merely decorative than functional. It's a common practice by the local papers to burnish their image by carrying a long list of so-called staffers, editors, and contributors in their staff boxes who in reality are incompetent deadbeats, aka NPA, or non-performing assets, if assets they are.

Everyone wanted to project the appearance of a well-rounded newspaper, and Balita, sad to say, is one of them. I sought to balance this perception by writing critical stories and exposes of the many wrong-doings in the community. 

(Some stories can still be accessed at: https://www.balita.ca/category/editorial/the-challenge-of-community-journalism/).

With that kind of reportage, the conflict was inevitable. (To be continued)