I like the news. I like reading the paper with breakfast or while watching TV (one of the habits passed down from my parents that I love). I liked reading the news so much as a teenager that, when time came for college applications, the only thing I could think to do was choose a Political Science major, mostly because I liked the news.
Eight years later, I sit at my desk and find myself wanting to hit the news in the proverbial face. How can it be this hard to find consistent news on Mindanao?! I was prepared for a bit of a challenge finding information when I was explaining to my friends and family here where Mindanao was (even the most ardent news readers hadn’t necessarily heard of it), but with the extended efforts I’ve put forward, it’s still a frustrating experience to find the same four articles, most of which are from media I’ve never heard of and are littered with errors or ads, citing the same four sources. I find facts, but with little context and little trust on my end.
Peruzing a local paper
I am very aware of my bias of favoring more big-name (and pretty liberal in the US sense) news media – the LA Times and the NY Times were my favorite news sources. So I tell myself that, just because I’ve never before read InterAksyon (related to Philippine News Channel 5, based in Quezon City near the capital Manila), doesn’t mean I shouldn’t believe the information any less than I’d believe the papers I can buy here at Starbucks. If anything, they’re the only ones reporting, so if I don’t read them, I got nothing. But I’m still wary: they much know better than would an outsider news source because they’re more familiar and involved, right? Or does being based in Manila provide such a strong bias that they can’t report what’s really happening? We frequently saw or heard that the stereotypes run strong between “imperialist” Manila and “those crazy terrorists” in Mindanao. So where can I turn to if I’m more than 7,000 miles away from the source? InterAksyon is just one example of the online news sources that I’ve read through, there are certainly also news sources based in Mindanao, but still, it’s difficult to know who’s writing the news.
I’ve asked myself similar questions when I read about American news, but here I have such a stronger base of information and background that I’ve become more comfortable navigating my way through the news and where it comes from, to the point where I do it naturally. But when trying to keep up-to-date on what’s happening in Mindanao, I simply don’t have that, and I flounder. Reading about the question of passing the BBL, the armed violence, and the government-MILF negotiations has turned into a maze that I’m constantly trying to solve.
