Nuseir Yassin (left) and Wil Dasovich. Photos from @nasdaily and @wil_dasovich on Instagram
MANILA (UPDATED) -- Filipino-American vlogger Wil Dasovich appeared on the latest podcast of his friend and fellow content creator Nuseir Yassin, more popularly known as Nas Daily.
On the second episode of "Nas Talks," the two discussed the positive and negative aspects of vlogging, as well as online content creators becoming sources of news and information.
At one point, Yussein brought up the recent shutdown of ABS-CBN as he hoped to get Dasovich's insights on the matter.
"Recently, the Philippines literally canceled the biggest media company in the country. ABS-CBN or something, correct?" he asked, to which Dasovich responded with "yeah."
The Israeli vlogger went on: "I don't know what happened, I don't want to get into the specifics on why it happened. Actually, I don't know why it happened. But essentially, the CNN of the Philippines was literally canceled... so now where do you go for information?"
After saying that many people in the Philippines consume online content, Dasovich told Yussein that he is not as updated with current events because he has made a conscious effort to stay away from news and politics.
"I just have to stay more away from politics. I kind of have a golden rule, it's I try to limit and not talk about politics because you're always going to upset a huge group of people," he explained.
Yussein pointed out, however, that Dasovich has already worked with him in a "political" project, and stressed that politics and news do not always have to be negative.
"Wil, I'm going to stop you right there because you already did talk about politics. How do I know that? Because we partnered together on a project, it's the Taiwan project. That is politics. That is information, where you uploaded a video where we were talking about Taiwan's response to coronavirus. That's not divisive politics, that's good news. But that is still news which you have done," he said.
"And that's fine, right? News doesn't have to be a bad thing," he told Dasovich. "Just to clarify, when I talk about news I don't just say the bad things. I mean like, I learn something about the world from you. If you want to make it positive, then it's positive. If you want to make it negative, then it's negative."
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Yussein then reminded Dasovich that he is "a news channel whether you like it or not," noting his wide reach as a content creator, and encouraged him to use his platform to both inform and entertain.
But Dasovich reiterated that he would rather focus on "being happy," and that involves limiting his exposure to news.
"Okay, this is my take. I am very mindful and aware of how things affect me and my emotions. And I noticed that the more I watch the news or follow the news, it makes me more sad. And I want to do everything that I can to be happy because, simply put, when I'm happy, I'm able to transfer that energy to everyone who watches me and be happy. The easiest way to make the people around you happy is to be happy yourself, so I limit the news as much as possible," he said.
"Yes, I may talk about the news every now and then when you need to, but me in creating content, I really try and keep it light," he continued. "Because at the end of the day, I believe that people come to watch my videos because they want to rest and relax and be stress-free for 10 minutes."
The friendly clash continued as Yussein said he "vehemently" disagrees with Dasovich and called him a "dormant news channel."
He told the Filipino-American vlogger: "When something major happens in your country, you will be forced to talk about it. If the Philippines right now declares war on China, and China declares war on the Philippines, you're not gonna go and make a vlog saying, 'Hi guys, let's play video games.' I don't see it. Impossible."
"So you're essentially, I'm sorry to break it to you, but you're a dormant news channel," he said, as Dasovich replied with a brief laugh. "You're like an inactive news channel right now. But I'm willing to bet $10,000 right now that if, God forbid, some major event happens like a tsunami or a war or an earthquake or whatever, you are going to become a news channel."
"A news channel for good, right, but nonetheless to tell the news."
In the end, Dasovich agreed with Yussein's points "100%," but said that he will "cross that bridge when it comes."
Listen to the two content creators here, with the issue on vloggers as sources of news and information starting at the 25:00 mark
NAS DAILY RELEASES STATEMENT
On Saturday, Yussein released a statement emphasizing his friendship with Dasovich, and encouraged people to watch the whole podcast and make an informed opinion of their own on the role of social media influencers, such as them, in terms of politics.
"Everyone has a different way of achieving their goals. And we have to respect that," he wrote.