PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE/The Filipino Web Channel - Redefining Community News
Currents & Breaking News
Volume 5, Issue No. 8
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .
The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Sunday, March 27, 2011
~ The last decade registered the most number of Asians in the United States, posting a 43 percent increase over a 10-year period. From 10.2 million in 2000, Asians - that include Filipinos - now count to 14.7 million which, officials said, gained the most in the share of the total US population, according to an official White House announcement released Friday.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LEAPFROGGING BY 43 PERCENT
Asian Population in US Jumps to 14.7 Million
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)
and Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA)
TORONTO - The Asian population in the United States leapfrogged by 43 percent to 14.7 million in the last decade ending last year, the White House Media Affairs Office disclosed Friday.
"The nation's Asian population became the fastest growing race over the past decade," said the White House, quoting figures released by the US Census Bureau and furnished the Philippine Village Voice and The Filipino Web Channel.
In 2000, Asians comprised only 10.2 million of US population of over 281 million. A decade later, the number has grown to 14.7 million, "gaining the most in the share of the total population, growing from 4 percent to about 5 percent".
“We must come together and understand what these changes in our country’s demographics mean for public policy,” said Kiran Ahuja, director of the White House Initiative on Asian and Pacific Islanders, who noted the importance of understanding the needs of this growing population.
“We see increasing numbers of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders representing influential positions, but many pockets of this community are in great need of basic protections and services.
Most people in the 2010 Census reported only one race, according to the Census Bureau. Of these individuals, about 14.7 million people – or about 5 percent of all respondents – identified their race as Asian alone.
The smallest major race group was Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (0.5 million), which represented 0.2 percent of the total population.
(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author and the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 5, Issue no. 8, March 27, 2011. Email at: TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com, PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com ).
My news channels can be viewed by clicking the links:
The Filipino Web Channel at YouTube:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT74cbxq6ak&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2FLYca354w&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
At Vimeo:
1. http://vimeo.com/16962555
2. http://vimeo.com/user4144767
For other stories, please visit:
1. http://currentsbreakingnews.blogspot.com/
2. http://torontonewsroom.blogspot.com/
3. http://timecircumstance.blogspot.com/
4. http://travelsthemes.blogspot.com/
5. http://gotchajournalist.blogspot.com/ .
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Big Leap to Online Journalism
PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE/The Filipino Web Channel - Redefining Community News
Currents & Breaking News
Volume 5, Issue No. 7
Commentary/Opinion
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com ) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com ) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .
The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Tuesday, March 15, 2011
~ It's been only nine and four. Yes, nine months for The Gotcha Journalist Channel (Currents & Breaking News) and four months for The Filipino Web Channel since they were launched. Both are video outlets for my news coverages in Toronto and elsewhere. Early this month, the two channels achieved some kind of milestones when at least four of my news videos made it to the video list of the dominant internet portal America Online (AOL). There's the story of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and the two young Filipino talents who sang Canada's national anthem during a big event in the Toronto suburb of Brampton. Being in the AOL Video index for everyone to see may not be earth-shaking news but it certainly gives one bragging rights, for it's one indication of breaking through the mainstream.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
BRAGGING RIGHTS
The Inexorable Leap to Online Journalism and Video-Making
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)
and Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA)
TORONTO - In November last year, or exactly four months to this day, I created The Filipino Web Channel in an attempt to diversify my practice of journalism.
Through these many years, my medium has mostly been print and wire, and on occasions, broadcast, via ABS-CBN's Balitang America in California.
The dawning of the digital revolution towards the end of the millennium and the beginning of another necessitated the inexorable leap to online journalism.
Print still appeals to me except that the costs and infrastructure to carry it out have become financially prohibitive. Besides, I do not have the means to start the paper from scratch again.
I had intended to continue publishing my flagship paper in San Diego, California - the Philippine Village Voice - in Toronto but the local community is saturated with about a dozen identical-looking tabloids in cutthroat rivalry over a shrinking revenue-making pie, thus triggering a buyer's market in advertising.
I could still find a niche for my paper despite that huge number and compete head-on. Mine would simply stay out of the repetitive coverage of the same events by the same people and focus on the nitty-gritty of community news.
I had that thought for a while. Then one day in November, I decided I needed one dedicated channel for purely Filipino-oriented stories. That's when The Filipino Web Channel was born.
(To see launching videos, click the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT74cbxq6ak&feature=fvwrel and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2FLYca354w&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL ).
My other outlet - The Gotcha Journalist Channel for Currents & Breaking News - was designed for mainstream reporting, though in some instances, it also covered community events.
Delineating the roles of each was important for my perspective. Just as significant is to pinpoint the market of potential viewers on which to direct the stories.
The treatment of news differs in The Filipino Web Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/FilipinoWebChannel ) and in The Gotcha Journalist Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGotchaJournalist ) though it would seem they're treading on the same path.
Early this month, my coverage paid off handsomely in terms of the number of viewers.
Although it's far from the dizzying heights reached by the video of Filipino singing talent Maria Aragon (performing Lady Gaga's Born This Way at home), my coverage of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney also zoomed past ordinary expectations.
Entitled "Jason Kenney - Canada's 'King of Multiculturalism'," the video promptly registered viewers in the four digits (as of this writing, a total of 2,249) and landing on You Tube's "hot spots", meaning grabbing full attention above the average. That's a hit in my estimation, considering that my videos average less than a thousand viewers over a certain period of time.
But it isn't that video milestone that I'm most happy about. Rather, it's the breakthrough that that particular news video has achieved, which is that the giant and dominant internet portal, America Online (AOL), has snared it and is now listed among its popularly-viewed videos.
In fact, at least four of my videos from my two channels are in included in the AOL video index, including: http://video.aol.ca/video-detail/canadas-visible-minorities-proclaim-jason-kenney-king-of-multiculturalism/2012460451/?icid=VIDURVNWS07
The significance of this milestones is in what it does not say categorically -- that is, that my videos have managed to penetrate the mainstream media. That's something to crow about. And I am humbled by it.
Since I began The Filipino Web Channel in November, I've uploaded a total of 42 videos. Channel viewers are nearing the thousand mark while upload viewers totaled at least 10,337 as of this writing.
On the other hand, The Gotcha Journalist Channel, which I launched in mid-June last year and has 72 videos already, is attracting its own set of followers. It has notched a total of 1,401 channel viewers and 23,825 upload viewers.
In the years that I published three modest community newspapers in San Diego, I've never felt such a huge impact as the news videos have created in only a few months.
It must be because of the instant availability of the videos and the fact that the news stories are brought fresh at the click of a button. That can't be said of newspapers or magazines which must use extensive colors to bring some life into them.
Still, whatever the medium - print, broadcast, online - good old journalism by committed journalists is here to stay. No, not the so-called "churnalism" or "envelopmental journalism" by the "pinabili-ng-suka" types (also referred to as PNS practitioners).
(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author and the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 5, Issue no. 7, March 15, 2011. Email at: TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com, PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com ).
My news channels can be viewed by clicking the links:
The Filipino Web Channel at YouTube:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT74cbxq6ak&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2FLYca354w&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
At Vimeo:
1. http://vimeo.com/16962555
2. http://vimeo.com/user4144767
For other stories, please visit:
1. http://currentsbreakingnews.blogspot.com/
2. http://torontonewsroom.blogspot.com/
3. http://timecircumstance.blogspot.com/
4. http://travelsthemes.blogspot.com/
5. http://gotchajournalist.blogspot.com/ .
Currents & Breaking News
Volume 5, Issue No. 7
Commentary/Opinion
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com ) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com ) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .
The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Tuesday, March 15, 2011
~ It's been only nine and four. Yes, nine months for The Gotcha Journalist Channel (Currents & Breaking News) and four months for The Filipino Web Channel since they were launched. Both are video outlets for my news coverages in Toronto and elsewhere. Early this month, the two channels achieved some kind of milestones when at least four of my news videos made it to the video list of the dominant internet portal America Online (AOL). There's the story of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and the two young Filipino talents who sang Canada's national anthem during a big event in the Toronto suburb of Brampton. Being in the AOL Video index for everyone to see may not be earth-shaking news but it certainly gives one bragging rights, for it's one indication of breaking through the mainstream.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
BRAGGING RIGHTS
The Inexorable Leap to Online Journalism and Video-Making
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)
and Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA)
TORONTO - In November last year, or exactly four months to this day, I created The Filipino Web Channel in an attempt to diversify my practice of journalism.
Through these many years, my medium has mostly been print and wire, and on occasions, broadcast, via ABS-CBN's Balitang America in California.
The dawning of the digital revolution towards the end of the millennium and the beginning of another necessitated the inexorable leap to online journalism.
Print still appeals to me except that the costs and infrastructure to carry it out have become financially prohibitive. Besides, I do not have the means to start the paper from scratch again.
I had intended to continue publishing my flagship paper in San Diego, California - the Philippine Village Voice - in Toronto but the local community is saturated with about a dozen identical-looking tabloids in cutthroat rivalry over a shrinking revenue-making pie, thus triggering a buyer's market in advertising.
I could still find a niche for my paper despite that huge number and compete head-on. Mine would simply stay out of the repetitive coverage of the same events by the same people and focus on the nitty-gritty of community news.
I had that thought for a while. Then one day in November, I decided I needed one dedicated channel for purely Filipino-oriented stories. That's when The Filipino Web Channel was born.
(To see launching videos, click the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT74cbxq6ak&feature=fvwrel and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2FLYca354w&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL ).
My other outlet - The Gotcha Journalist Channel for Currents & Breaking News - was designed for mainstream reporting, though in some instances, it also covered community events.
Delineating the roles of each was important for my perspective. Just as significant is to pinpoint the market of potential viewers on which to direct the stories.
The treatment of news differs in The Filipino Web Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/FilipinoWebChannel ) and in The Gotcha Journalist Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGotchaJournalist ) though it would seem they're treading on the same path.
Early this month, my coverage paid off handsomely in terms of the number of viewers.
Although it's far from the dizzying heights reached by the video of Filipino singing talent Maria Aragon (performing Lady Gaga's Born This Way at home), my coverage of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney also zoomed past ordinary expectations.
Entitled "Jason Kenney - Canada's 'King of Multiculturalism'," the video promptly registered viewers in the four digits (as of this writing, a total of 2,249) and landing on You Tube's "hot spots", meaning grabbing full attention above the average. That's a hit in my estimation, considering that my videos average less than a thousand viewers over a certain period of time.
In fact, at least four of my videos from my two channels are in included in the AOL video index, including: http://video.aol.ca/video-detail/canadas-visible-minorities-proclaim-jason-kenney-king-of-multiculturalism/2012460451/?icid=VIDURVNWS07
The significance of this milestones is in what it does not say categorically -- that is, that my videos have managed to penetrate the mainstream media. That's something to crow about. And I am humbled by it.
Since I began The Filipino Web Channel in November, I've uploaded a total of 42 videos. Channel viewers are nearing the thousand mark while upload viewers totaled at least 10,337 as of this writing.
On the other hand, The Gotcha Journalist Channel, which I launched in mid-June last year and has 72 videos already, is attracting its own set of followers. It has notched a total of 1,401 channel viewers and 23,825 upload viewers.
In the years that I published three modest community newspapers in San Diego, I've never felt such a huge impact as the news videos have created in only a few months.
It must be because of the instant availability of the videos and the fact that the news stories are brought fresh at the click of a button. That can't be said of newspapers or magazines which must use extensive colors to bring some life into them.
Still, whatever the medium - print, broadcast, online - good old journalism by committed journalists is here to stay. No, not the so-called "churnalism" or "envelopmental journalism" by the "pinabili-ng-suka" types (also referred to as PNS practitioners).
(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author and the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 5, Issue no. 7, March 15, 2011. Email at: TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com, PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com ).
My news channels can be viewed by clicking the links:
The Filipino Web Channel at YouTube:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT74cbxq6ak&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2FLYca354w&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
At Vimeo:
1. http://vimeo.com/16962555
2. http://vimeo.com/user4144767
For other stories, please visit:
1. http://currentsbreakingnews.blogspot.com/
2. http://torontonewsroom.blogspot.com/
3. http://timecircumstance.blogspot.com/
4. http://travelsthemes.blogspot.com/
5. http://gotchajournalist.blogspot.com/ .
Thursday, March 10, 2011
The Perils of Investigative Journalism
PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE/The Filipino Web Channel - Redefining Community News Currents & Breaking News
Volume 5, Issue No. 6
Commentary/Opinion
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .
The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Thursday, March 10, 2011
~ The lawyer of the publicly "private citizen" Melinda Rustia renews the warning of a lawsuit if her published images were not removed promptly from The Filipino Web Channel's news videos. The latest threat is contained in a letter emailed yesterday (Wednesday, March 9) and demanding compliance by 5:30 p.m. today (Thursday, March 10). The lawyer had earlier indicated his client's inclination to sue, which did not materialize as of the first deadline date of Feb. 25. Rustia had not denied she engaged in gossiping. What her lawyer contends is that my news videos carried what he calls "false and defamatory statements concerning Mrs. Rustia". He did not say what those were, however. What's clear is that she passed gossip via emails to her friends - an act that exposes this reporter to public ridicule. Here's the latest development.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
THE PERILS OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Bullying, Physical Violence, Intimidation and Threats
of a Lawsuit Among Tactics to Force Media Censorship
Man is the most intelligent of the animals - and the most silly. — Diogenes
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)
and Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA)
TORONTO - I was half-expecting kibitzer Melinda Rustia's lawyer, Ian A. McLaine, would still pursue her demand to remove her image in a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB2AOE9-z-o&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL ) I created a month ago and subsequently updated (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of_cOWXq9qI&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL ) on Feb. 27.
I've not had this experience being asked, and threatened repeatedly, by someone hiding under the coattails of a lawyer to force compliance to a demand which some friends and readers thought was frivolous, silly, ludicrous -- call it any which way - and it boils down to hurt pride.
I had merely asked: "what's her (Melinda Rustia's) motive in passing gossips against this reporter?" Indeed, from someone I knew nothing about except when she had signed up as a subscriber to my videos, it's astonishing how she could treat me with such condescension.
Not knowing her from Eve, I rely on what McLaine says, to wit, that she's "an upstanding member of the Toronto Filipino community". Honestly, I don't have the slightest idea how McLaine came to that assertion, specially when juxtapose with what she had peddled to her friends.
He says that my question was "personally injurious" and "damaging to her reputation". He explains: "Under the laws of the Province of Ontario, such defamatory statements constitute libel for which Mrs. Rustia is entitled to monetary damages x x x ".
Compare the question to what she had written and mass-emailed, thus: "I don't know anything about Romy Marquez until I received the Breaking News yesterday from Rory . . . so I googled him and here is a compilation of interesting and hilarious comments about him. Some are personal and below the belt . . . TAKE A BREAK guys and Enjoy! NAKAKATAWA TALAGA!" (sic).
I don't see the need to republish the substantive contents of her mass email; to do so would dignify them. Suffice it to say that the mere act of passing them to others without verifying the truth and accuracy constitutes rumour-mongering. She was spreading lies and taking delight in doing so and cajoling others to feel the same way she does, as in "nakakatawa talaga".
I doubt if Melinda Rustia was being honest and truthful in saying she harvested from Google the questionable comments against me. The controversy in San Diego, California that spawned the vicious lies had been triggered by a series of exposes I did. It died down after the authors with phony names were unmasked.
I know a few individuals -- the PNS-types, or the pinabili-ng-suka-pag-balik-journalist-na -- who were responsible for authoring and disseminating the canard. What Melinda Rustia had spread belonged to this category. I don't know if she's PNS, stupid or naive but it's quite obvious she's too gullible to fall victim to such fraud. I believe she was fed the lies and gulped them.
This evolving story versus Melinda Rustia is so full of ironies. And here's why.
She's supposedly a founding member of the social press club yet she apparently prefers censorship over an unrestrained discussion of issues. She's supposedly "upstanding" yet she engages in reprehensible gossiping. She's supposedly a "private citizen" yet one sees her name and images all over print and websites.
In my long experience as an investigative journalist in San Diego, California, it was inevitable to bump into spurious community leaders with more brawn than brain.
I'm beginning to think -- and I say this based on my own knowledge -- that Toronto's Filipino community looks almost the same. But if it's that way, what the heck, be prepared to face the challenges.
That's how I approach this job as a journalist. Bullying, intimidation, hints of violence and threats of lawsuits are routinely slapped on the journalists who set out to uphold the virtues of journalism that they no longer quiver in fear.
The very task of journalism perforce a certain amount of digging . . . for dirt, for the hidden trail, for the secrets, for skeletons in closets, for masks needing unraveling. The danger approximates the importance of the story. Where one is truly committed to finding the truth, all the risks would be worth taking.
Investigative journalism is not something for the weak of heart; that kind of journalist must have the gumption to absorb and repel the kind of stinking kitchen sink thrown his way . . . and survive!
I have not yet engaged in investigative journalism in Toronto the way I did it in San Diego, my home for 16 years before I moved temporarily to Canada a year ago. But the challenges are there, e.g., the non-profit organizations, the private foundations and the many money-raising community organizations.
But I digress.
Comes now Mr. McLaine. After his first letter demanding removal of her picture came and went on Feb. 25 with a hint of a possible lawsuit if not complied with on that very same day, he emails a letter dated March 9 reiterating the same demand.
He writes, and I quote: "The actions you have taken to disregard our demands and to further defame Mrs. Rustia are clearly malicious and wholly indefensible. Accordingly, you have exposed yourself to additional liability from which you cannot be shielded by invoking a 'journalism' defence."
Further, he says: " x x x Please notify the undersigned in writing before 5:30 PM Eastern Standard Time on March 10, 2011 that you are in full compliance with our demands. Failure to do so will result in the initiation of legal proceedings seeking significant monetary damages along with any other remedies, injunctive or otherwise, to which Mrs. Rustia is entitled".
I see a dramatic change in McLaine's warning. His first letter dated Feb. 25, 2011stated that "we will have no choice but to initiate legal proceedings seeking monetary damages . . . " The latest letter dated March 9, 2011 was upgraded, thus: " x x x will result in the initiation of legal proceedings seeking significant monetary damages x x x ".
Note the word "significant" inserted between "seeking" and "monetary" in the March letter. That's quite signficant too.
(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author and the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 5, Issue no. 6, March 10, 2011. Email at: TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com, PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com).
My news channels can be viewed by clicking the links:
The Filipino Web Channel at YouTube:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT74cbxq6ak&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2FLYca354w&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
At Vimeo:
1. http://vimeo.com/16962555
2. http://vimeo.com/user4144767
Volume 5, Issue No. 6
Commentary/Opinion
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .
The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Thursday, March 10, 2011
~ The lawyer of the publicly "private citizen" Melinda Rustia renews the warning of a lawsuit if her published images were not removed promptly from The Filipino Web Channel's news videos. The latest threat is contained in a letter emailed yesterday (Wednesday, March 9) and demanding compliance by 5:30 p.m. today (Thursday, March 10). The lawyer had earlier indicated his client's inclination to sue, which did not materialize as of the first deadline date of Feb. 25. Rustia had not denied she engaged in gossiping. What her lawyer contends is that my news videos carried what he calls "false and defamatory statements concerning Mrs. Rustia". He did not say what those were, however. What's clear is that she passed gossip via emails to her friends - an act that exposes this reporter to public ridicule. Here's the latest development.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
THE PERILS OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Bullying, Physical Violence, Intimidation and Threats
of a Lawsuit Among Tactics to Force Media Censorship
Man is the most intelligent of the animals - and the most silly. — Diogenes
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)
and Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA)
TORONTO - I was half-expecting kibitzer Melinda Rustia's lawyer, Ian A. McLaine, would still pursue her demand to remove her image in a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB2AOE9-z-o&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL ) I created a month ago and subsequently updated (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of_cOWXq9qI&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL ) on Feb. 27.
I've not had this experience being asked, and threatened repeatedly, by someone hiding under the coattails of a lawyer to force compliance to a demand which some friends and readers thought was frivolous, silly, ludicrous -- call it any which way - and it boils down to hurt pride.
I had merely asked: "what's her (Melinda Rustia's) motive in passing gossips against this reporter?" Indeed, from someone I knew nothing about except when she had signed up as a subscriber to my videos, it's astonishing how she could treat me with such condescension.
Not knowing her from Eve, I rely on what McLaine says, to wit, that she's "an upstanding member of the Toronto Filipino community". Honestly, I don't have the slightest idea how McLaine came to that assertion, specially when juxtapose with what she had peddled to her friends.
He says that my question was "personally injurious" and "damaging to her reputation". He explains: "Under the laws of the Province of Ontario, such defamatory statements constitute libel for which Mrs. Rustia is entitled to monetary damages x x x ".
Compare the question to what she had written and mass-emailed, thus: "I don't know anything about Romy Marquez until I received the Breaking News yesterday from Rory . . . so I googled him and here is a compilation of interesting and hilarious comments about him. Some are personal and below the belt . . . TAKE A BREAK guys and Enjoy! NAKAKATAWA TALAGA!" (sic).
I don't see the need to republish the substantive contents of her mass email; to do so would dignify them. Suffice it to say that the mere act of passing them to others without verifying the truth and accuracy constitutes rumour-mongering. She was spreading lies and taking delight in doing so and cajoling others to feel the same way she does, as in "nakakatawa talaga".
I doubt if Melinda Rustia was being honest and truthful in saying she harvested from Google the questionable comments against me. The controversy in San Diego, California that spawned the vicious lies had been triggered by a series of exposes I did. It died down after the authors with phony names were unmasked.
I know a few individuals -- the PNS-types, or the pinabili-ng-suka-pag-balik-journalist-na -- who were responsible for authoring and disseminating the canard. What Melinda Rustia had spread belonged to this category. I don't know if she's PNS, stupid or naive but it's quite obvious she's too gullible to fall victim to such fraud. I believe she was fed the lies and gulped them.
This evolving story versus Melinda Rustia is so full of ironies. And here's why.
She's supposedly a founding member of the social press club yet she apparently prefers censorship over an unrestrained discussion of issues. She's supposedly "upstanding" yet she engages in reprehensible gossiping. She's supposedly a "private citizen" yet one sees her name and images all over print and websites.
In my long experience as an investigative journalist in San Diego, California, it was inevitable to bump into spurious community leaders with more brawn than brain.
I'm beginning to think -- and I say this based on my own knowledge -- that Toronto's Filipino community looks almost the same. But if it's that way, what the heck, be prepared to face the challenges.
That's how I approach this job as a journalist. Bullying, intimidation, hints of violence and threats of lawsuits are routinely slapped on the journalists who set out to uphold the virtues of journalism that they no longer quiver in fear.
The very task of journalism perforce a certain amount of digging . . . for dirt, for the hidden trail, for the secrets, for skeletons in closets, for masks needing unraveling. The danger approximates the importance of the story. Where one is truly committed to finding the truth, all the risks would be worth taking.
Investigative journalism is not something for the weak of heart; that kind of journalist must have the gumption to absorb and repel the kind of stinking kitchen sink thrown his way . . . and survive!
I have not yet engaged in investigative journalism in Toronto the way I did it in San Diego, my home for 16 years before I moved temporarily to Canada a year ago. But the challenges are there, e.g., the non-profit organizations, the private foundations and the many money-raising community organizations.
But I digress.
Comes now Mr. McLaine. After his first letter demanding removal of her picture came and went on Feb. 25 with a hint of a possible lawsuit if not complied with on that very same day, he emails a letter dated March 9 reiterating the same demand.
He writes, and I quote: "The actions you have taken to disregard our demands and to further defame Mrs. Rustia are clearly malicious and wholly indefensible. Accordingly, you have exposed yourself to additional liability from which you cannot be shielded by invoking a 'journalism' defence."
Further, he says: " x x x Please notify the undersigned in writing before 5:30 PM Eastern Standard Time on March 10, 2011 that you are in full compliance with our demands. Failure to do so will result in the initiation of legal proceedings seeking significant monetary damages along with any other remedies, injunctive or otherwise, to which Mrs. Rustia is entitled".
I see a dramatic change in McLaine's warning. His first letter dated Feb. 25, 2011stated that "we will have no choice but to initiate legal proceedings seeking monetary damages . . . " The latest letter dated March 9, 2011 was upgraded, thus: " x x x will result in the initiation of legal proceedings seeking significant monetary damages x x x ".
Note the word "significant" inserted between "seeking" and "monetary" in the March letter. That's quite signficant too.
(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted upon request by interested parties. Permission by the author and the editor must be obtained before any re-posting online or re-publication in print or re-broadcast. Copyright by Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 5, Issue no. 6, March 10, 2011. Email at: TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com, PhilVoiceNews@aol.com or CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com).
My news channels can be viewed by clicking the links:
The Filipino Web Channel at YouTube:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT74cbxq6ak&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2FLYca354w&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
At Vimeo:
1. http://vimeo.com/16962555
2. http://vimeo.com/user4144767
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