Category Archives: journalism

Emil Guillermo:Britt McHenry’s video displayed how “Media Privilege” is more intoxicating than “White Privilege.”

BrittMcHenry

Still talking about that “ugly” Britt McHenry video?

Kudos to her employer for getting it right.

No matter what anybody says, her words and tone on that video were indefensible.

A suspension is light by comparison.  I explain why in this column you can click on here.

Every person who has been on TV for a living knows this is the dual edge of “media fame.” You can cross the line and think you are “above it all.”

You’re not.

 

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Emil Guillermo: My take on Britt McHenry and what I call “White Media Privilege,” the sleeping baggage handler, and those world champion SF Giants.UPDATED

 

Once again video is our collective social conscience, or at least the instant replay of life that enables all of us to judge. High and low.

BrittMcHenry

And that’s what ESPN’s Britt McHenry’s rant at the towing company was all about.

Arrogance.

I mean really, when you begin a rant with “”I”m in the news, sweetheart,” you are not talking about fat-shaming.

Should we be surprised that  TV people are full of themselves?  I watched that ESPN Britt McHenry blowup and was surprised that people were surprised.

Britt’s no Reese Witherspoon, but remember how the “Wild” star threw a fit and was arrested by a cop in Atlanta?

People in the media, high and low, get these “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM” moments. It’s because “MEDIA PRIVILEGE” is more intoxicating than “WHITE PRIVILEGE.” And when you are white and in the media, it’s even more toxic.

For people who protest McHenry’s suspension by saying it’s not work related: Who do you think is watching the news? It’s all those people who work at towing companies. That’s the audience on the other side of the camera.

Update on McHenry: Britt backers say the tape was edited. Sure. But they didn’t put the words in McHenry’s mouth. Believe me, I hate tow companies as much as the next guy, but McHenry had a chance to use her power positively. And she didn’t. I know what happens when you work in TV. This is the reason why beauty pageant contestants want to be anchors. It’s cheap showbiz entitlement. This incident serves as  a wake up call for everyone on the “talent” side.

THAT BAGGAGE HANDLER NAPPER BANNED BY ALASKA AIRLINES

His identity is still not revealed. But I can tell he’s Asian. Maybe even Filipino. It’s his accent on the 911 call.  There’s a magic phrase that resonated.

He said “stop it.”

THOSE WORLD CHAMPION SF GIANTS

That 7-6 loss in 12 innings could become a symbol of the season.

The Giants battled and the players with something to prove, Matt Duffy and joe Panik, did what they could to extend the game, getting key hits to tie the game in the 9th and the 10th innings.

They almost did it again in the 12th.

The seventh loss in a row puts the Giants  in last place, the second worst team in the NL.

It’s early, yes. But there’s something about an early Thursday night extra-inning loss as the team tries to win their first game at home.

That’s the kind of thing that could prophesy  a 162 game season.

A theme emerges.  Yes, the  team battles, comes back,  but comes up short by a run.  In soccer, the phrase often used is “Unlucky.”

It’s something a team that has won three World  championships since 2010 has rarely heard.

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Emil Guillermo: Sensitive Filipinos criticize my reporting on the Beverly Hills Bakery lawsuit filed by 11 employees against owner Analiza Moitinho de Almeida.

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Just saw the hit piece another Filipino columnist wrote criticizing my reporting on the lawsuit against Beverly Hills Bakery owner, Ana Moitinho de Almeida, her husband, Goncarlo, and their corporate entities.

Just want to point out, that my reporting included three of the principals  involved, the people who filed the suit and their stories. I didn’t pass judgment. That’s what the courts are for.

But the critic puts much weight on the fact that these former employees who are suing are much closer to the family. So that puts them in a different class? Or makes them easier to manipulate and to be taken advantage of?

The critic also makes it sound like I made up the stories.

It’s all public record in the lawsuit. I just humanized the story by actually reaching out to talk to real people–on both sides.

The Moitinho de Almeidas were contacted and declined an interview.

The critic seems to make a lot about these former employees  gambling and going on trips in the U.S., as if that alone proves anything besides their personal preferences. They weren’t free to leave the country or their jobs  by their visa, and they did talk about real threats to their families back home.

But the bottom line seems to be the critic’s concern that I invoked the name of Juan B. Santos, the head of the Social Security System in the Philippines, and the former head of Nestle in the Philippines.

He’s the father of Ana, the baker. He also had some financial involvement with the bakeries of his daughter. No charges are against him, but the actions of his daughter, and their relationship is newsworthy.

If Ana is as innocent as the critic claims, what difference does it make to mention Santos, who was one  of the Hyatt 10 who pressed for honest government during the Arroyo era.

We know what happened in the Arroyo era. It was Marcos Lite.  So Santos should be a hero, somewhat.

I can’t fault the critic for wanting to defend his friend.  But my reporting is sound. Other U.S. news organizations reported the story. The facts are all there. If they omitted Santos’ name it’s because they are U.S. based media and not Philippine-based as was my original column for Inquirer.net.

I took an extra step by talking to the employees who sued, who told me their stories. But I also gave the Moitinho de Almeidas a chance to respond.

The subsequent story is even more telling, that the Moitinho de Almeidas are in a second legal battle about the bakery with their own relatives. The relatives say its intimidation. The Moitinho de Almeidas once again declined to comment.

I reported this last week, based on legal docs that  are public record. But my offer stands: I would love to tell the  Moitinho de Almeida’s story objectively and without the bias shown by my critic.

My interests are only in the truth.

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Emil Guillermo: Journalist Danny Schechter died on March 19, his WBCN radio pal, Charles Laquidara, released this interview recently.

I went to college in Boston in the ’70s and while I was messing around on WHRB as Emil For Real, the  radio king in the market was  Charles Laquidara and his “Big Mattress” morning radio show on WBCN in Boston.

His newsman was Danny Schechter, the “News Dissector.”

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Schechter died on March 19th. Earlier today, Laquidara released this interview with Danny conducted a few months ago.

It’s an interesting history of American progressive radio before it was overly corporatized. And well before the world was digitized. “I Heart Radio” it’s not.  But it was what you needed.   If you were in Boston in the ’70s, you will be nostalgic over how simple things were back then, when all we had to worry about was U.S. imperialism and ordinary greed. 

Listen to the interview  here.

You should also check out  Laquidara’s FB page.

In the interview, Danny mentions  his involvement with the Media Channel. 

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