Stupid Question from a Reporter

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

I exchanged notes lately with some media colleagues at Gloria Maris Restaurant when one of them told me about his anecdote with a fellow woman reporter.

He said he was with her when they interviewed the chairman of a party list for the forthcoming election.

He recalled that he asked the chairman with the following:

“Sir, are your top party list's nominees are Mr. A, Mr. B, and Mrs. C?”

“Yes, the three of them!” chairman, a rich man, retorted.

Not to be outshone, the woman reporter confidently interjected:

“Sir, if you have three nominees who among them was your favorite to support?!”

The male reporter told me he cringed near the wall where he was seated. He was too embarrassed about the stupidity of the question.

“The office’s staff of the chairman were seen restraining themselves to guffaw," he told me, of course, in Tagalog.
 They, son of a gun, could not believe that the seemingly intelligent looking reporter riding in a then flashy car could ask that idiotic question.

As you know a partylist organization, upon applying for accreditation with the Commission on Election, also submitted a list of up to five (5) nominees. Nominees mean SUPPORTERS of the chairman, his friends my gulay!

If the party or group wins, the first nominee becomes the congressman. If the group wins another seat, the second nominee becomes congressman too. Each of the party lists, according to the Constitution, can have three nominee-congressmen just like the ACT - CIS Party List in the May 2019 poll.

“You should have shaken her hand after that boo - boo interview,” I told the radio reporter.

“Why?” he posed to me.

“Because her prestige before the intelligent public is still intact. Can you imagine if you were both on radio or television and that blunder ensued?

Lesson learned there: Reporters should force themselves to read newspapers or research at the internet topics they are going to ask with their interviewees to avoid a faux pas.

***  

When then Mangaldan Mayor Bona Fe de Vera-Parayno came from an administrative hearing she presided versus two of her department heads who swindled a bank in Villasis town, a lady reporter of  a lousy religious station, a laggard in almost every radio polls, confidently asked her when the two would go to prison.
The mayor could just shook her head on the uneducated question.

“Por Dios Por Santo, when did it happen that an administratively liable public official goes into prison?” I asked her.

“ Walang nakukulong sa administrative o civil case, iyong nakukulong iyong nasira ang door knob ng kuwarto niya kaya hindi siya makalabas ng bahay o iyong na convict ng criminal case, “  I told another media guy whose education was a diploma also with the Low School of Saint Andrew’s Field or Mababang Paaralan ng San Andres Bukid.
But still the wannabe reporter persisted in asking some other out- of- this- world questions that the mayor found queer.
An irritated Parayno (now she could not be irritated because she lost to Mayor Marlyn Lambino), asked her to go to the town’s legal consultant and inquire what she wants to report.

“Ano ang natapos mo?” I asked the reporter.

“Theology, “ she retorted.

“Theology, ano iyan study ng mga uncle or tiyo?” I asked.

She said Theology is the study of God.

“May itatanong ako sa iyo, basic ng political science. Ano ang pinag-kaiba ng Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary as branches of government?”

“Ay, hindi ko po alam iyan.Theology kasi ang natapos ko,” she turned pink embarrassed.

MY GOD, I’ll be damned, Theology nga study of God!

This is the problem with media outlets; they sent nincompoop, imbecile, and idiots to gather news for them. They don’t know that it has a repercussion on the stocks of their stations before the eyes of their listeners or viewers.


READ MY OTHER ARTICLE:

The Humorous Ambassador Amadito Perez, Jr

 (You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too attotomortz@yahoo.com).