Boycott People Asia! why should Malu Fernandez suffer alone??
What has been circulating in the blogosphere for the past week or so made front page of the Inquirer today. That erstwhile unknown writer, Malu Fernandez, has become a celebrity bigot (well, at least she attained her desired celebrity status) for her insensitive article (see inset) belittling her own countrymen--the country's new heroes-- the OFWs.While the blogosphere is full of castigating remarks against the recently retired (hahaha) writer (see PDI article) , no one seems to realize that the editors who decided to publish that piece of trash are equally --if not even more culpable--of insensitivity and bigotry against the hard working Filipino overseas workers. Who made the editorial decision to publish the article in the first place??!!!
A writer may be stupid, but her article will remain in the archives of her hard drive unless an editorial board with a lesser intelligence chooses to publish it.
My message to OFWs and all concerned Filipinos, don't punish Malu alone...let's also boycott People Asia magazine until it goes out of business!!!!!!
posted by rek @ 8:17 AM
8 Comments:
good thing she still has that sensitivity to quit (well, after all the threats) - reading excerpt of what she wrote reminded me of a colleague who said that he would accept anything to edit/proofread, but not lifestyle/society columns!
not to generalize, but it's noticeable though that "trying-hard" journalists find their way to the papers through writing such stuff.... at least, we got rid of one of them now? :-)
Dear Ma'am K:
I so agree with you. I'm not an OFW but I feel that the Malu Fernandez column was very insensitive, to say the least. Unfortunately, she alone was made to suffer when in fact her editors could've held the publication of her now infamous piece.
This reminds me of one of the lectures you gave in our Comm 191 class ;-)
hear hear! after all, the trashy article would not have been printed had the editors took a second look at the copy.
but of course, that may be a manifestation of the staff's bias against OFWs?
Thanks for the comments lynda & marlon...it is a perfect piece indeed for a discussion on journalism ethics.
Chase, precisely as you said, if it is a manifestation of the staff's bias...it means the editorial board are a bunch of bigots themselves.....
Editors of both publications were remiss in their duty to edit out such remarks. While boycotting them is an option, owners of these publications should reprimand their editors. This thing would not have reached its massive heights had Malu's comments been edited out. They should resign as well. Why let the rest of their workforce suffer when only a handful are guilty?
Schumey, you are right...it is really only the editors' who are at fault. But the magazine is such a disgrace to journalism (apart from the malu affair) anyway that I'd really prefer that it closes down.
your post, "That erstwhile unknown writer, Malu Fernandez, has become a celebrity bigot (well, at least she attained her desired celebrity status)"... reminded me of the story of the unknown White House intern, Monica Lewinski, who became a worldwide celebrity after the infamous scandal with then US president Clinton... a theory, is it possible that Malu intentionally wrote that 'trashy' article to boost her career, or at least make her name searchable on the web? just asking... ;-)
Gee makabayan, you may be right...if you can't be famous then be infamous...and now she resumed her column in Manila Standard.
I still think that the best punishment for this writer and and the publications that support the unethical practice of journalism is to BOYCOTTTTTTTTTTTTT them until they are forced to pay for the consequences!!!!!!!!!
Post a Comment
<< Home