The Lonely Side of it All

Lively, jolly and all hyped up are some of the common characteristics that people regard radio personalities, more popularly known as DJs. They are celebrities in their own field who dominate the airwaves and fill them with music pleasing to the listeners’ ears. But what really happens to the people behind the voices is something that is not really familiar to the majority.

Oftentimes, it is very easy for people to jump into conclusions and that, unfortunately, includes the mentality that being a radio personality only requires eloquence. In reality, the job requires more effort than what people perceive. Jessica Moldez, a [former] radio personality of Killer Bee Dumaguete, believes that her job is, more often than not, underestimated. She thinks the reason behind this is the people’s lack of information about her career. Attending to thousands of listeners, hundreds of text messages, arranging the flow of songs, answering phone calls, preparing information tidbits as well as getting all-hyped up has become part of her system as a radio personality. But despite those, Moldez still loves what she’s in right now.


(Jessica Moldez and me. KB Tech JC behind us.)
“This is an avenue where I can express myself and at the same time, entertain people with the right dose of music they love to hear.” Moldez further explained that music has become a stress-reliever for her especially that she’s usually stressed as an employee of a BPO company. At the same time, she finds joy in pleasing her listeners, “hearing simple admiration from listeners is a very pleasing experience that never fails to make me smile.”

They say nobody can please everybody; that applies to the job of a DJ too. Radio is a very complex medium and so is its listeners and Moldez understands that it is either a please or piss situation for anybody in the industry concerned. “It’s all a matter of taste. Apparently it’s mandatory for us to welcome comments or criticisms or let’s just put it this way, we just don’t have any other choice.” She is better off facing criticisms, taking them as challenges to further enhance her performance. In radio, there is really no way to control who the listeners should be—one reason why radio personalities should all the more understand that it’s a diverse community out there.

“Sometimes listeners tend to be so harsh on us but even though it hurts a lot, it must not get into us and affect our performance because the rest of them will surely notice it.” The more depressing fact is the presence of listeners who send criticisms, often without any basis, aimed at bringing radio personalities down. Those are just some of many problems that Moldez and people in the same field are faced with.

A lot of people ask Moldez what exactly happens inside the studio off-air. Contrary to what it may seem, it’s a lonely world for her inside the DJ’s booth especially when alone. In her case, she has to face the computer and read numerous text messages that people send within her 3-hour shift. “I myself thought I’d go nuts after a few months working here [at Killer Bee] in a sense that the computer and the microphone are the ones I usually talk to on-air.” What’s more difficult for Moldez is the part where she has to do away with certain dilemmas and emotional pains just to entertain her audience. For her, it’s essential because most, if not all, listeners care less about what’s happening to the jock on board—a sad reality that radio personalities are aware of. “A lot of our listeners miss the point that we are also humans who are prone to hurting at any given time, even at work.”

For a rate of Php 25.00 an hour, Moldez is ought to do multi-tasking and worst, troubleshooting. Just like employees of other companies, she gets her fair share of reprimands whenever mistakes are committed though she always view them as constructive. Whether or not the salary is worth-it, she doesn’t really mind. What’s more important to her is the experience that she’s enjoying and the opportunity given to her that not everybody is entitled to.

In a world where what is apparent becomes the majority's reality, Moldez is forced to wear a mask because in reality, it’s all happy when the microphone turns on but it’s different when it’s shut off.

***Article written August 24, 2009. Minor changes done.***

How 69 Brought Bad Luck

It was not so long a time since Dumaguete/Negros Oriental made it to global news. Now another set of write-ups were published involving such a humble city and province. Unfortunately though, it was not something majority would have wanted to hear of.

February 6 - A magnitude 6.9 earthquake brought about panic and mass destruction to the laid-back province of Negros Oriental. Though not as severe as that of Japan's 8.9 magnitude earthquake, numerous people in the northern part of the province were left homeless, hungry, miserable and worst of all, broken. Over a hundred are believed dead as earth abruptly ate people unable to escape such ill fate. For a number of survivors, a dark tomorrow became crystal clear. Having lost every single thing and person valued most marked a not so fresh start and since majority of the affected are financially incapable, moving on was never an easy way out of their fall. Despite such sad reality, the northern municipalities weren't the only places affected.


Dumaguete, reported to have felt the devastating intensity 7 shake, had its own story as well. Hundreds fled to higher lands upon knowing that a tsunami level 2 alert was issued by Philvolcs. People near seashores were reported to have left their households with the fear of getting an experience of Japan's fate. But that move was far from necessary.

Precaution was the main implication that the government agency wanted to get across. Needless to say, such alert was way too misunderstood. Dissecting at the triggering factors of the people's hysterical moves led to spotting the gap at which information dissemination was transmitted between the agency, media and the people. With the media having the most weight in the process, failure to clearly emphasize what the alert level accurately meant was evident. That automatically became a theory right after seeing how people reacted to the situation. It is undeniable how people feed information from media especially in cases as such. However, it is likewise high likely that people may have been informed well but have over-reacted to what has been communicated.

Taking a look at both sides of the coin brings to conclusions that people's knowledge of procedures pertaining to natural calamities are arguably poor and that media fell short at going the extra mile in letting everyone, affected or not, know how to get by situations where mother nature takes credit.

One Big Turn© has several basic tips to help everyone save their asses in case of an earthquake:
1. Stay calm despite how exactly opposite your environment is. Your mind thinks better when you are calm than in panic.
2. Look for a heavy piece of furniture (table etc.) that can protect you from falling objects/debris in the entire duration of the quake.
3. Stay inside a building especially if the exit is quite far from your location. However, if you are lucky enough to be near a building's main exit, do go out and look for an open area where nothing can fall on you.
4. Never take the elevators when getting out of a building; even minutes after the earthquake.
5. Expect aftershocks to happen and when they do, refer back to the previous instructions.
6. Be informed. Get the latest information from a trusted media institution for instructions and updates.

Note: To those who expected this write-up to be about something else, sorry to have you disappointed.