Writing Commentaries: Queen of Journalism

By Ronald Meinardus

MANILA - During my training as a journalist in Germany many years ago, I was taught to respect commentaries as the queen of journalistic genre. Arguably, good commentaries are the most valuable texts in the printed media. Writing commentary poses special intellectual challenges for the writer: Not only should he or she comprehend the complexities of the issue handled before presenting the information together with the contentious standpoints to the reader; toward the end of the oeuvre, the writer is also expected to come up with a conclusion or synthesis, which as a rule contains personal opinion. Unlike news stories that are supposed to be factual, commentaries are opinionated. Here, the writer communicates his or her opinion _ always also with the clear intention to influence the reader intellectually. If a newspaper has an editorial line (or political preferences), this becomes apparent first in its commentary pages.

Being the queen of journalistic genre, editors usually don’t allow beginners to publish commentaries in their papers. I remember that it took me well over a year of training before I was asked to write my first opinion piece. I was a journalism apprentice at Radio Deutsche Welle in Cologne at the time. Like many of my younger colleagues, I too had just left university, where I had graduated with a Ph.D. in international relations. Not surprisingly, my first published commentaries dealt with the topic of my doctoral dissertation, the antagonistic relationship between Greece and her neighbor Turkey.

Early on I learned a commentator should not only respect the basic journalistic rules (with the accuracy of facts the most important). As a radio journalist, I soon appreciated the importance of considering the listener. Who are the people you are writing for? What do they know and what do they expect from the commentator? This point has become a special issue as I worked for the German foreign broadcast company, whose target audience, to use the technical term, is spread all over the world.

German being my mother tongue, I began writing commentary in English while I worked in South Korea. There, like here in the Philippines, I was the representative of the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation, the German foundation for liberal politics, as it is also called. Although Korea is often called the Hermit Kingdom, media-wise it is quite the opposite: No fewer than three English-language daily newspapers cater to the expatriate community and a growing number of Koreans interested in a more international perspective. I soon found that many South Koreans are interested in learning what foreigners have to say about their own matters. Hailing from Germany, which in 1990 had stunned the world with its peaceful unification, my opinion was particularly cherished. Over the years, I was invited to write about the different aspects of German unification, constantly comparing the situation in the heart of Europe with evolving developments in East Asia. For me, this has been a valuable exercise, as it forced me to read up and study the history of my own nation in a manner I would probably not have done in any other country.

In the Philippines, I have encountered a slightly different situation regarding political commentary by foreigners. While in Seoul, most if not all, major newspapers entertain foreign columnists who write about issues of national concern, there are hardly any non-Filipino opinion writers in the Philippine press. This surprises me as the media here is extremely vibrant and prints myriad of columns on a daily basis. I have not yet found a convincing explanation for this ethno-centrism of the Filipino press. Is it that foreigners are not interested in writing for Philippine media? Or are the Filipino readers and media not interested in what foreign observers have to say?

One explanation for the lack of foreign commentary in many papers may be the sensitivity regarding criticism from outsiders. ‘’Filipinos are ultra-sensitive to being reminded by foreigners about what’s wrong with their society, culture and government,’’ opined a commentator from the country’s leading newspaper after an ambassador from a major country last year stirred up a political tempest when he said that corruption was discouraging foreign investors. ‘’Filipinos don’t want foreigners telling them what they already know. It is a defense mechanism,’’ is how another respected local commentator explained the outcry from parts of the public.

This episode took me back to some advice given to me before I moved to Manila by a German colleague who had worked in the Philippines for many years and who quite openly discouraged me from commenting publicly on Philippine affairs. I am not quite sure whether it has been this friendly advice or other factors that have kept me from dealing with Philippine affairs in the op-ed texts I submitted since I arrived well over year ago. Be that as it may, I have now decided it is time to refocus my attention, as with every day that passes I come across Philippine subjects that stimulate my journalistic instinct as a commentator.

As my interest in Philippine and South East Asian affairs is growing, I notice the time I dedicate to following up on what is happening in and around Korea is diminishing. This, combined with the geographical distance, makes it increasingly difficult for me to comment on current developments on the peninsula. Still, I intend to continue writing for the Liberal Times column occasionally in the future. The themes may be different but the ideological orientation should remain the same: To present and write about timely issues with a liberal predisposition.

Dr. Ronald Meinardus was the former Resident Representative of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in the Philippines and will leave Manila late September for a new posting in the Middle East. He writes a blog at www.myliberaltimes.com