The Manila hostage tragedy unfolded in front of our eyes. Live media broadcasts made us all witnesses to eight innocent lives cut short by madness and incompetence. The media brought immediacy to the situation, and the Philippine authorities, unable to respond appropriately, brought the heat and pressure upon themselves.
Footage and witness accounts from the media allowed so close to the situation underpin the importance of a free press. Without it, there would have been no evidence to expose the inadequacies of the Philippine SWAT team.
The sine qua non of the free press as the source of truth gives it the power to expose and enlighten, but it does not, for a second, mean that it can excuse itself from the responsibilities and obligations that come with its power. The rolling camera that allowed Rolando Mendoza to watch - live - his brother handcuffed and arrested may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. But Radio Mindanao Network's anchor Michael Rogas tied up Mendoza's phone line - a potential lifeline for the hostages - for almost an hour. That, it has been claimed, was crucial as no one, including the police, was able to reach and communicate with the gunman before he snapped and went on his rampage.
Keeping Mendoza on the line and the airwaves superseded all remaining attempts to resolve the situation at critical moments. Whether those attempts would have been adequate misses the point: the exclusive story of the hostage-taker talking live on Rogas' radio show was apparently more important.
While the news media could have been a strategic enabler, it became an operational impediment. Even the Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility, a non-profit organisation set up to protect free press and keep count of journalists killed in the line of duty in the Philippines, criticised the media's failure to recognise that hostage-takers, terrorists and the like count on the media to help further their cause and will monitor TV and radio broadcasts.
The centre went as far as asking the media 'to abandon the urge to excuse themselves and to have the good faith to accept the errors - errors likely to have prolonged the crisis last August 23, and worse, to have contributed to the deaths of [eight] people'.