A true JOURNALIST

Aquira Lat 

After reading the article by veteran Journalist Maria Ressa, I admire her courage to put her commitment as a Journalist first before patronizing the wishes of her then immediate superiors at ABS-CBN. Despite the comments from her bosses that she was being ‘too critical’ at times, did not stop her from being accurate, complete and precise in her reporting.

Instead of giving into the pressure and demands of her peers and their judgments that ABS-CBN will not and cannot be fair in reporting when it comes to issues involving companies owned by the Lopez clan, she in turn believed that this was a “good time to an ABS-CBN journalist because times like these define a news organization and tell us much about our society”.

I like how Ms. Ressa believes that the only way to “manage the interest of the Lopezes” is to NOT manage their interest, because their interest is NOT the interest of the newsroom. By doing this, she clearly affirms that she is a journalist first and an employee second. In a country like the Philippines where the economy is not doing well and re-employment is very difficult, Ms. Ressa showed that her integrity and principle can never be bought nor dictated.

It wasn’t really important which company was being mentioned in the article, I believe a good Journalist does not even consider what ‘name’ and what ‘company’ is involved in the issue; rather we should be concerned about the Filipinos that are being affected by the decisions that we make.

As a senior Mass Communication student, I will set my goals high but my principles intact. I will do my best to not give in to the temptations of “overnight income” and shady deals. By doing so I will not only make my parents and family proud; but also, as Ms. Ressa stated, I can make my country a better one ‘with transparency.