(CMFR/IFEX) – A government official recently warned against possible communist infiltration of the country’s newsrooms. During a state-sponsored forum on 21 August 2006, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said that there “are big possibilities in the media that there are some practitioners being courted by enemies of the state and probably successfully.” “We are profiling […]
(CMFR/IFEX) – A government official recently warned against possible communist infiltration of the country’s newsrooms.
During a state-sponsored forum on 21 August 2006, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said that there “are big possibilities in the media that there are some practitioners being courted by enemies of the state and probably successfully.”
“We are profiling everybody as you (the media) are profiling us,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales said that media has always been a primary target of the communist movement all around the world because of the movement’s emphasis on propaganda.
Just last month, the Philippines National Police claimed that the communist group New People’s Army is using certain media organisations – both local and international – as its front in undermining the government.
“It’s hard to say that there is no attempt to infiltrate media here. Media practitioners are either mercenaries or sympathizers who will continue to create issues even though they know they are helping the leftist cause,” he said.
Gonzales claimed that he had proof of the rising influence of the left in news headlines but he did not show this. Gonzales admitted, though, that these “communist sympathizers” in media were only few.
“But (what is important) is not their numbers or percentage but whether they are able to present their views effectively,” said Gonzales.
“What will be controversial is the action the government will take. But so far, you have observed that the government has not in any way clamped down on media. Our attitude is that these are additional challenges to us,” added Gonzales, who was one of the key figures in President Gloria Arroyo’s declaration of a state of national emergency in February. The declaration sent a chilling effect across media, with the raid on the oppositionist newspaper “The Daily Tribune” and the arrests and harassment of certain journalists and media organizations.
This alert was prepared with reports from the Inquirer News Service.
