Raul S. Gonzalez, whose recent death the Inquirer reported (5/18/13), was truly an outstanding man of letters. He was a writer, editor, educator, public relations man, and mentor to many now-accomplished writers.
“PINABILI LANG ng suka sa kanto, pagbalik journalist na” (Told to buy vinegar at the corner store, he trotted back a journalist).
Big money is about to descend once again upon the media industry, if it hasn’t already. Election campaign seasons always bring the industry a windfall, via both legitimate political ads and illicit payments to buy favorable coverage from members of the press. The magnitudes are now so staggering that in the last election year of 2010, the recreational services sector, which includes the broadcast industry, leaped from the previous year by a zooming 30.4 percent in our gross domestic product (GDP) accounts. To show how unusual this was, the growth rate stabilized back to 7.2 percent in 2011, and had ranged from only 3 to 11 percent in the past decade (with that previous peak also posted in the election year of 2007).
