Intense media scrutiny over David Lim Jr.

APALISOK

Some quarters are quite upset by the supposed media feeding frenzy that has descended on the road rage shooting incident, with some people calling it unfair or even un-Christian. But when the suspect is a scion of one of Cebu’s wealthiest families, is the son of a businessman who, in 2014, was summoned by the Senate over his alleged involvement in rice smuggling that amounted to P7 billion in tax losses, on top of his being a brother of alleged big-time drug lord Peter Lim, can mainstream media’s 24/7 coverage and social media’s intense scrutiny be avoided?

The answer of course requires no mental effort, but in case some people are chafing that David Lim Jr. has become the demon in the classic good versus evil themes, it is worthwhile to look into the psychology of intense scrutiny.

The origin of the word comes from the Latin, “scruta” which means “to search” but actually means “to sort trash.” I guess in the context of the road rage shooting that injured Cebuano nurse Ephraim Nuñal, intense scrutiny becomes a natural thing to happen after the public was stirred up by a collective desire to separate false claims from the truth. Intense media scrutiny surrounded the 1995 Lewinsky affair which linked former US President Bill Clinton with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The sexual scandal almost cost Clinton the US presidency.

Moving closer to home, mainstream media practically set up a 24-hour watch over Senator Leila de Lima’s moves when her lover and former driver Ronnie Dayan sent surrender feelers to the PNP. Public interest and media attention somehow settle down when those in power end up in public disgrace or locked up in jail.

In the layman’s perspective, let us say that you’re a teenager who had been warned by your parents not to stay out late and drink liquor, but that’s exactly what happened one night after partying with friends. Although you didn’t reek of alcohol, your mother scrutinizes you, and tries to look for signs you’re not telling her a tall story.

That a dashboard camera produced a video which captured the incident showing David Lim Jr. as the aggressor virtually pours gasoline on the public outcry. One cannot remain indifferent after watching the video.

In fact, mainstream and social media are expected to relentlessly follow this issue in the days to come when the protagonists will face Land Transportation Office authorities to explain why their driving licenses should not be suspended or revoked following the road altercation.

I heard speculations that the sports car driven by the young Lim may be allegedly a “hot car” from Subic. Although this is all hearsay, it further fuels public curiosity if not resentment.

After posting bail for charges of illegal possession of ammunition and frustrated homicide, the young Lim came out of the Cebu City Police Office’s prison cell smiling and looking confident.

Some netizens commented that some PR practitioners are looking at a major contract in the David Lim Jr. case. This is all par for the course, but with information at the mere touch of hand-held gadgets, it would require more than PR stunts for David Lim to gain public sympathy.

Online news reports coupled with the video enabled people to have a better picture or even understanding of what really happened.

If David Lim Jr. really acted in self-defense, he could have run away from the scene after seeing Nuñal’s “threatening” built.

That is why any attempt to portray the young Lim as a pitiful victim of a class divide not of his own making will not work. The idea looks like it was lifted from a badly written script.