Dec 9, 2006
In this podcast
we present excerpts of remarks by Max Soliven, publisher of the
Philippine Star newspaper, from his presentation to the Public
Relations Society of the Philippines at the 13th National Public
Relations Congress in Manila on September 28, 2006. I met Max when
we both spoke to the PRSP conference, and was impressed to learn of
his journalistic career, which began when Vietnam was still called
Indochina. As a "newsman in the trenches," Max covered the French
military disaster in Indochina, the US military conflict in
Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, and went on to cover insurgencies and
uprisings all over Southeast Asia. He was jailed for a time during
the Ferdinand Marcos regime in the Philippines, and was charged
with criminal libel by President Corazon Aquino for a story his
paper published claiming that she hid under a bed during the
military coup that overthrew her regime. As publisher of one of the
largest newspapers in the Philippines, Max wrote a 2,000 word
column six days a week. Max Soliven died of a heart attack in Japan
on November 24, 2006. His last column, "Is a jingoistic Japan on the rise
under Abe? Or is this aging powerhouse no longer dangerous?" filed
from Japan, expressed concern about the rise of a new nationalism
in the Japanese government. His newspaper, The Philippine
Star, captured his essence in a tribute the next day. Download the podcast here
(38.8 mb stereo MP3 file, 00:27:37 duration).