Official statement of AnakTV on ‘Willing Willie’ controversy

ANAKTV, with all its network members and affiliates, is aware that there are critically important lessons to be learned from the recent incident involving a 6-year-old boy thrust unwittingly into the limelight.

It is clear that certain parties may have overshot their boundaries. That the management of TV5 has opted to probe the incident, make the appropriate public apology is a commendable first step.

We believe that there’s an opportunity for all concerned parties to take a broader, more intelligent approach, by discussing ways for media to become more sensitive to the needs of the young viewing public, balancing entertainment value with social consciousness and responsibility. We must engage the imagination of creative teams to come up with programs that uplift rather than risk degrading the human spirit.

Reputation

Focusing too closely on this single incident further endangers the privacy and reputation of the child and delays his return to a normal life. He doesn’t need any more insensitivity than he has already been subjected to thus far.

AnakTV wishes instead to focus on what this has taught us: That the nation desperately needs continuous media education of the robust kind; one that will teach media its powers, responsibilities and limitations.

Media education will breed an informed, discriminating and savvy audience, one that the country deserves, not an audience that rallies behind glitter and trends, and whose tastes will be influenced by ratings alone.

Furthermore, let us be reminded that more support should be given to television programs that promote positive values even as they entertain. Television is a powerful medium that divides as much as it unites a nation. Responsibility is key.