Rappler awarded simply for attacking Duterte says Mindanation

Rappler logo and President Rodrigo Duterte, photo compiled from Google

The blogsite Mindanation criticized how the news site Rappler and its journalist were granted an award for its investigative reporting on the existence of online trolls, claiming that such an award sprung only from Rappler's attacks against President Rodrigo Duterte.

Rappler, a multimedia news site established in 2012, was recently made a recipient of the 2017 Democracy Award given out by the US-based National Democratic Institute.



Mindanation, the pro-Duterte site, claimed that Rappler's selection was uncalled for.

"The truth is, the only thing that Rappler is in front of is in leading the campaign to destabilize the country by painting Duterte and the government as some sort of monster. And for this they are being feted by people who are clueless about the reality of life in the Philippines."

The blog's article, written by Carlos Mudna, said that Rappler chief Maria Ressa celebrated the recognition by proudly declaring, “We are journalists and we will not be intimidated. We will shine the light. We will hold the line.”

He said that unfortunately for Rappler's investors, Ressa and her team "aren’t as good in holding the bottomline as the company is reportedly about to go under."



He added that Ressa is tricking people into donating money for its advocacy, receiving over three hundred thousand, far from their goal of five million pesos.

"But of course, none of this matters to Ressa. Who doggedly holds to her distorted view that this is all somehow Duterte’s fault. That “bots and trolls” are to blame. That none of this is their fault. They are “award winning journalists” after all. And we should just trust them with knowing what is best for us mere mortals," the article read.

It added that the people at NDI see nothing wrong with the stance of Rappler.

"Apparently, the folks at NDI see nothing wrong with Ressa’s logic. Or Rappler’s anti-people stance. Maybe this is their version of democracy. Where decisions are made by a few, and enforced on the many by the power of the pen. Which we all know is at least just as mighty as the sword."

Munda added that such recognition does not matter for Filipinos.

" NDI and whatever else like minded organizations can pile on the awards, and Ressa can rack up those frequent flier miles globetrotting around the world – in the end, nothing will save Rappler from itself."

Source: mindnation.com

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