Maria Ressa, Defense Of Democracy Is Not The Issue! Development Is

This is the headline of 11 December 2018 news by The World Staff of Public Radio International: "Maria Ressa Says Journalism Is Democracy's 'First Line Of Defense' And Rappler Won't Back Down" (pri.org). I believe Miss Maria is 50% wrong about Defense.

To clear the air, I am 50% pro-Duterte – I favor his federalism initiative; I voted for Mar Roxas as my President and will vote for him again if given another chance. I am 100% pro-Democracy and, yes, ours is being treated exactly like what happens when you have a bull in a china shop. Which is a very interesting study in itself; consider now some synonyms of the expression "bull in a china shop" (Cambridge Dictionary, dictionary.cambridge.org):

inability and awkwardness;
accident-prone;
amateurish;
at your worst;
functional illiteracy;
uselessness;
woodenly;
worst.

Yes, the bull we have is a mix-match like that, noun, verb, adjective! And the bull is oblivious of all that. Crazy!

Self-proclaimed digital journalist, I am not afraid of Miss Ressa or any of TIME's Person of the Year 2018, 5 persons in 1, "in what (TIME) said was an effort to emphasize the importance of reporters' work in an increasingly hostile world" (David Bruder, 11 December 2018, Chicago Tribune, chicagotribune.com). Neither am I afraid of TIME emphasizing the importance of investigative journalism, ijournalism (my coinage), in these destructive times.

I believe that ijournalism should instead stand for inclusive journalism, that one practiced towards not simply Inclusive Growth as the World Bank would have it, but Inclusive Development, as the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, has been preaching (I know, having been an international consulting writer of ICRISAT). In an essay earlier today (02 January 2019, "What's Wrong With This Picture? What's Wrong With PH Agriculture, Really!" QuickBytes, blogspot.com), I said "Growth is merely incremental and sectoral; Development is distributive and national" (emphasis in the original).

Since the Philippines is agricultural, I believe Filipino journalists, award-winning or not, should be fighting for Development, not fighting against what they perceive is wrong. It's also much safer!

In fighting for Development, journalists should be fighting in the name of Truth; now, the formula for investigating and eventual reporting is embodied in this single word

THINK.

THINK is Zig Ziglar's improved version of Rotary International's 4-Way Test, enriching the content as well as making it much, much more memorable:

T?H?I?N?K?

True? Do the facts bear it out? You investigate, and investigate widely, deeply, highly.

Helpful? Will such Truth help people in their search for Inclusive Development?

Inspiring? Will such Truth inspire people to do what they have to do, for instance, to help their village?

Necessary? Will such Truth add to the beauty and goodness of what is already there?

Kind? Will such Truth bring about or bestow mercy, compassion, love?

Thus, the word think has been redefined as no other word has been in the history of any language I know. I am now going to call it:

The 5 Measures of Truth for Development.
To be used at all times.517