Mark 4 - Fine Lines

Mark #4

Place: Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Trinoma

Date: December 5 2009 - 11:25PM

Order: Large Swiss Mocha Latte and one Honey Bran Muffin

Before anything else, some shameless plugs for you guys to check out:

Guys, please check out our booth, Mashbox, at the 9th World Bazaar Festival located at the World Trade Center from December 4 to 16, 2009! From Beef Sundaes to fries and all else in between, you'll definitely get your fix right there! See you there, and prepare to enjoy awesome!

And also...

Please vote for Joan Ison in the Solo "Discover You" modeling contest! Thanks! =D (she's certainly 5-star material)

Link to her entry: http://www.solo.com.ph/postermaking/gallery/violet-vintage-vogue

That being said, my friends and I had a great time at Red Box, being able to sing and have fun (and all that jazz) before going to La Mesa (see, told you it was a popular spot =D) and eventually drink coffee at Coffee Bean. And to boot, I even tried out their Honey Bran Muffins, and I can say this much, it goes well with a hot Mocha drink.

But days before the fun and awesome day, I was a bit disturbed about something I've been seeing on the net for a while now, moreso on Facebook.

You see, having been exposed to journalism since as early as Grade School, I slowly gained a valuable understanding on what it means to be a journalist and how integral they are in allowing the people to be exposed to all sides of the story, which they have the right to know. And yes, I was one of the people who were truly disgusted with what happened with the whole Ampatuan ordeal. It is a shame that the worst mass murder of journalists had to take place in the Philippines of all places, and at this point, I really do not have to talk about all the details since you can check the news from almost any form of media, from newspapers to the world wide web. And yes, I also want to witness justice being served so that the families and friends of the victims would have some sense of closure.

But you know what did not feel right throughout the call for justice for the past number of days, in my opinion? It's the fact that pictures of the fallen bodies of the victims were actually posted online. Now, don't get me wrong. I do understand the rationale of posting these pictures and I do agree that it was a terrible act among terrible acts that no one can argue about. Yet was it really necessary to post these pictures at this point? Could you imagine how the relatives of the victims would feel if they saw the fallen bodies over the internet, which has already become a mega-paparazzi machine in its own right? And since we can virtually find anything on the internet these days, I would not be surprised if friends and relatives are to see these pictures and feel disrespected right then and there. What more if the children of the victims were to see it?

If you ask me, it is sufficient enough for news on television to show these pictures in a pixellated (censored) form. But to actually spread these pictures online, which can easily be spread in a matter of seconds? I believe there is a fine line in this case. Justice must be upheld, but in expressing our feelings of anger and sadness, we should be a little bit tactful and careful with how we do these things, like everything in life. And in this moment of grief, especially near Christmas, the last thing they, the family and friends of victims, need to see is a constant reminder of that shameless and blood-stained event that had befallen their loved ones, much less see these online.