It’s a cardinal rule in journalism: protect your sources. At Rappler, they don’t just protect the anonymous sources that allow them to produce journalistic gems; they also protect their sources of funds.
It’s a cardinal rule in journalism: protect your sources. At Rappler, they don’t just protect the anonymous sources that allow them to produce journalistic gems; they also protect their sources of funds.
That would be quite a no-no in an industry that expects public officials to follow a high set of ethical standards (Read: Renato Corona and his secret bank accounts). Fortunately, the High Priestesses of Honesty at Rappler live under a different set of rules.
Seems like Rappler-in-Chief Maria Ressa is having a difficult time explaining why a major shareholder of Rappler, Inc., a Makati-based shell company called DMT Ice Angels, Inc., is choosing to remain anonymous.
As in our previous post, “Who owns Rappler,” allow us to do our Thought Leadership a favor by shedding some light on the matter.
Curious name, DMT Ice Angels. It’s obviously some sort of an “angel investor,” defined by Investopedia as “an investor who provides financial backing for small startups or entrepreneurs … usually found among an entrepreneur’s family and friends.” Documents we’ve seen claim the initials DMT don’t mean anything.
At any rate, this “40-something couple” whose identities Ressa does not want to reveal must have a large net worth, not unlike Renato Corona whose ass Rappler and the rest of the Yellow Media so proudly kicked from his lofty perch at the Supreme Court last year.
That’s because the private bank where the Rappler investment was coursed through caters only to clients who can spare a minimum P10 million.
The mystery shareholder has some P30 million in assets, almost all of which is held by the private bank as “trustee bank.” The corporate officers are employees of the same bank, obviously occupying those posts at the behest of their wealthy clients.
What we do know is that DMT Ice Angels needed to change its address to the BDO Equitable Tower on Paseo de Roxas in Makati City, from Ayala Tower One in Ayala Triangle on Ayala Avenue. Hmmmmm.
We’re just exercising our journalistic curiosity here. After all, journalists poke their noses into things that are none of their business, to earn a decent living.
Some questions:
1. Does this mean journos can now accept money from anonymous rich people to finance their business ventures?
2. Should we take these journos’ word that these wealthy financiers in the shadows won’t, in any way, compromise editorial independence?
3. Is fear of some kind of retribution enough ground for a media investor to remain anonymous? Can their journalist-beneficiaries protect their identities even if they demand utmost transparency from everyone else?
4. Is accepting money from anonymous individuals whose motivations are as mysterious as their identities any different from day-to-day envelopmental journalism? (In both cases, the readers are clueless.)
If, indeed Thought Leader Marites Vitug is correct in her sweeping claim that 90% of the industry is corrupt, then, at some level, her lowly media colleagues are in good, nay, great, company.
source: the spin busters
