Media’s fault again?

“Don't find fault, find a remedy.”
-- Henry Ford

By Alex P. Vidal

NEWARK, New Jersey -- The Municipality of Malay, Aklan in the Philippines could be barking at the wrong tree when it blamed the media for depicting a “very dirty” Boracay.
In fact, the “bark” was unnecessary and misplaced, to say the least.
In an official statement released through its website recently, the Malay local government unit (LGU) lamented: “We do accept the constructive criticisms of our President and use it as the fundamental aspect of our improvements.”
“However,” it stressed, “the online news scoops of GMA and ABS-CBN attached a photo of the seasonal algal bloom in Boracay Island in order to increase the magnitude of their articles and hook people into it -- thinking that the waters of Boracay Island are entirely full of algae.”
It added: “This is not the case. We condemn the recycling of photos for the selling of their ‘news’. These news institutions gain profit from their news that ultimately degrades the image of Boracay Island which is highly dependent on the Tourism Industry.”

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I don’t think the two giant TV networks mentioned in the official statement had an intention to degrade the image of Boracay when they supposedly used “recycled” photos in their respective websites showing the beach waters full of algae.
But I believe the photos used in the websites were really taken from Boracay and not in other beaches.
In other words, the photos were real, not fake.
If not the latest, the photos were most likely from the websites' news files.
It is not a question, however, whether the photos were current or, to borrow the word of the Malay LGU statement, “recycled.”
Using old photos or file photos isn’t prohibited in newspapers, magazine, and, in this particular case, news websites.
The cutlines of the photos stated that “President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to shut down popular tourist destination Boracay, describing it as a ‘cesspool,’ if the island’s environmental issues will not be addressed. (GMANETWORK.COM)” and “Duterte warned the situation was a looming environmental ‘disaster’ and a ‘tragedy’ that could soon drive visitors away from the island. (NEWS ABS-CBN.COM).”
Captions and cutlines are terms that are often used interchangeably.
There was no mention of the two photos’ specific date, and they were copyrighted.
The cutlines were explicitly telling the readers about President Duterte’s “threat” and “warning,” not the photos' "wild arts."
The cutlines, or the words under the captions, weren’t trite writing-type or the description where the obvious is being pointed out by using such phrases as “looks on,” “is shown” and “pictured above.”
The cutlines did not use descriptive terms that characterize the two photos.
Interestingly, the Malay LGU did not react in the same intensity when President Duterte called Boracay as a “cesspool” which was considered by many observers to be more alarming and damaging.
Was it more a case of over acting?