Broadcasting: Good Manners and Right Conduct

Philippine media is the most accessible information distributor in the country. Not every person has the privilege to use the internet while a television is the most common source of what is happening around the globe. Especially the current events in the country that everyone needs to know. So it is important for the media practitioners to follow certain standards, rules and regulations that will respect the rights of the masses.

                

            KBP or Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, is the forerunner in implementing the rules and regulations to be followed by the different networks for a more professional and ethical broadcasting practices in the Philippines. KBP also puts strict responsibility on what should or should not be broadcasted in different media practices.

            Based on their “Broadcast Code of the Philippines 2007”:

Part I: Program Standards, Article 1: News and Public Affairs, Sec. 3: Fairness and Objectivity,  

                                “3.a. News reports shall be fair, factual, and objective. (G)

                                3.b. Receiving bribes, gifts, privileges or any

                                Consideration to favor one side of a story, stop a

                                story from airing , or put any person in either bad or

                                favorable light is prohibited. (G)          

     

                                3.c. Side comments expressing personal opinions while

                                a news item is being reported or delivered are

                                prohibited to prevent the listener from mistaking

                                opinion for news. (S)

                                3.d. When presented as part of a news program,

                                editorials or commentaries must be identified as

                                such and presented as distinct from news

                                reports. (S)”¹

On what I gathered from the interview of Ms. Pinky Webb with Mr. Rene Saguisag on ANC,² there are times where she shows unbalanced interest on the issue on hand, which is Saguisag’s opinion on Chief Justice Renato Corona’s impeachment trial. There were times in the interview where she puts Mr. Saguisag on hostile grounds. For example, her line of questioning about the flag raising ceremony in the Supreme Court plus the Mass after, where nine justices were present is somehow biased in tone. She seems to denote that the presence of those justices was a misconduct and Saguisag must raise a contradiction or criticism about it.  Another one is where she asked Saguisag “…hindi ba magulo yun?” after where she asked about the prosecution’s plans on bringing the motions dumped by the Senate up to the Supreme Court. Again she wants Saguisag to go to a predetermined answer hence the question “…hindi ba magulo yun?”. Lastly, she suggested that the impeachment is either an attack to Corona or the judiciary system of the Philippines, Saguisag answered her by saying that she should not confuse the people about attacking Corona or the judiciary system because the truth is it is an attack to the case and misconduct allegedly committed by Corona.

             News and Public Affairs is about the people not the reputation of the station. If you are a station and you are worried of what you can and cannot ask in TV because it might hamper your reputation then you are not a fair station. You are also not objective. Why? It is because the objective of being in the industry of News and Public Affairs is to serve the people, not to popularize the station. News and Public Affairs is a public service, not a popularity contest.

References:

¹http://www.kbp.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Broadcast%20Code%20of%202007.pdf

² http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iIl5w5zacc&list=UUE2606prvXQc_noEqKxVJXA&index=6&feature=plpp_video

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.

“OVER USED FREEDOM”

Donna Joana Soriano 

Democracy where in the society is characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges. Often referred to as freedom. Mass media, a means of communication that reach large numbers of people in a short time. I can say the most influential way of pursuing people.

In the world of latest gadgets and newest trending technology, media has been also the latest trend in showing how freedom is expressed in our country. Under our constitution, we have this Bill of Rights, which includes the Freedom of Expressions.

Freedom of expression, something every media men is holding into. This right can make them say, do or write at least almost everything they want to.

Media has played a big part in achieving our so called freedom today; people during the 1986 People Power were witnesses of this event, since not everybody where near the vicinity of this historic moment, people from other part of the country witnessed it through news coverage over television and radio, pictures through the newspaper.

But today, the same power that the media once used, is still taking over the society. Everyone is so aware of how the media works; a lot of people in this business were doing things that are best beneficial to those people who have great power. So influential that even it can even change a perception of a person for a certain thing, take for example by simply choosing what brand of shampoo will you use, since there are a lot of advertisement on different brand names on television, there can be a tendency that people will try something that will be new for them or they will try it ‘cause the ad made them curious on trying it. Also like in choosing which candidate will you choose in an election, candidates spends how much for their candidacy just to be voted. The mass media may be manipulated by giving out information which may convey the real interest of the candidate, which at the end the people will choose that candidate.

Expressing out our opinions is one of the identities of being in media that at some point some media men are over rated in doing it to the point we are hurting other people’s feeling and dignity. Yes we may be exercising democracy but it is way over when we started to hurt other people. For me it is something that most people not only media people are forgetting about.

THINK ABOUT IT

Silva, Cristine Hazel S.

THINK ABOUT IT

According to unknown author, media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. They have the ability to control the minds of the mass.

It’s true that mass media can manipulate on how we think and somehow react on certain and controversial issues. Journalism has an unusual capacity to serve as watchdog over those whose power and position most affect citizens. That is one of the reasons why it has a huge impact to our society.

Just as reflected in the article of Maria Ressa, if there are certain issues about their network, they just bear in mind and treat the story as if they aren’t ABS-CBN, they are journalist first.

The main purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with accurate and reliable information they need to function in a free society. Their first obligation is to deliver just and truthful news. They make sure that they do not protect any vested interest. They must be accountable for the benefit of the people. With that few principles of journalism, it evidently affirms that every journalist must have a personal sense of ethics and responsibility- a moral compass.

I believe that news is not just all about truth and integrity; it must possess an ethical standard. There are principles that will guide us to better public service. There are limitations to remind us in our boundaries and restrictions in press freedom.

Once we enter the gigantic world of media, we must already set our minds in the focal point of the work, which is to deliver fair and reliable news. There are lots of criticisms and dilemmas along the way. It’s a step by step process of getting use to it and remembering your purpose. It’s a day by day working and learning experience.

“Mass Media and Democracy”

Marielle Khate Garcia

 

When a country is under a democratic law, everyone has a free will. Every people has the right to own a property, right to go to school and be educated, right to enjoy a healthy living, right to vote and right to have a fair judgment. In order for the government to accommodate all these needs, there is a department assigned for each of them, but how about the right of people to be informed about the latest and most significant news and events? Of course, this is the reason why media exists.

As a Mass Communication student, I am still in the process of familiarizing the rules and regulations in our field but I’m glad that the years spent in this course have taught us a lot.

From the time that we are freed from the dictatorship of the Marcos regime, that’s also the time when media people were released from shackles and grief. And when the late former President Corazon Aquino ousted Marcos from his throne, the Philippine journalists celebrated as they attained the freedom of the press in the 1987 Constitution.

Since we are given this press freedom privilege, great responsibilities arise. Its role as a watchdog in the society must be justified. Just because we have the power to be transparent and opinionated, it doesn’t mean that we should be rude to the government or to its officials. Naturally, we are bound by limitations.

From our lesson in our Media Management class, these limitations (libel, anti-obscenity law, invasion of privacy law, law on national security, contempt of court and copyright law) teach the journalists to be more careful on every step that they’re going to make.

But because of the power that the media have, some politicians take advantage of their weakness. We are all aware that money is very hard to earn especially nowadays, so in order to make money fast, they agree to receive money from some officials which is called “envelopmental press”.

This kind of give-and-take process is a widespread issue among the journalists. Many are saying that there’s nothing wrong with this kind of activity but the problem is that once they give in, they are no longer playing the part of an adversarial press.

Without any doubt, living in a democratic country gives us the power to choose and it is up to us on where we’ll go--- to the road less travelled or to the other side of the road. As a future media practitioner, I am now aware of my duties and responsibilities and I am challenging my self as early as now to be loyal and honest as I can be.

REAL AND ETHICAL JOURNALIST

Genalli Francisco

What is a journalist? A journalist is a person whose job is to collect news and write about it for newspapers, magazines, television or radio. To basically define the article of Maria Ressa, “we are journalists first,” it means the main role of a journalist is to write.

Upon reading the article, I have pointed out three sentences that stood out for me and those three made the article more concrete.

The first one was – “Treat the story as if we aren’t ABS-CBN because we are journalists first.” The word “bias” does not exist in their vocabularies. And that is what a REAL and ETHICAL journalist must possess. Freedom is so much a part of the human makeup. We are made to have freedom of association, of expression, and of movement. And in so doing, we have the right to choose whether we will be stuck within the perception that in every article we make, we live under the name of our bosses and the company, or we will be as free as a bird to write whatever we want to write.

The second statement was – “Our interest is to get to the truth because we are responsible to the people.” As what President Noynoy Aquino has said, “kayo ang boss ko.” It also applies to a REAL and ETHICAL journalist. They owe the truth to the people not to their boss nor the company. The people deserve the truth for they are the ones to judge if you’re a credible journalist or not.

The last statement that caught my attention was – “if we do our jobs well, all Filipinos will benefit because we will help build a better nation with more transparent processes.” Building a better nation with the help of truth in writing will benefit not only the Filipinos at present, but also, the nest generation.

The main role of a journalist is to write. And in so doing, he or she must ne responsible and must be prepared to justify his or her actions.

Mass Media Democracy: Freedom has its limitations

by April Joy Apilado 

 

  Here in the Philippines, the government type is democracy so it just follows that mass media is all about freedom of expression and speech. But a lot of media practitioners do not know how to handle such freedom and it results to negative results. First, democracy is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections and mass media is defined as a medium of communication (as newspapers, radio, or television) that is designed to reach the mass of the people. 

           Freedom is often mistaken that a person can do anything he wants, but in reality if a person does that, it would often lead to other person’s demise. Freedom comes with a responsibility, that when a person does something, he should know his limits and the consequences of his actions. Freedom of expression does not give you the power to destroy another person’s life or reputation; it gives the person the power to reach out to a lot of people, in the world of mass media that is.

          Mass media must not be used to a person’s personal gain, it should not be used incorrectly and most of all it must not be used in an abusive way. Being a media practitioner is a great opportunity to start change in the society but it can also bring doom to the society. It means that a practitioner must know his/her limits in giving out information to the society. For example, there is a hostage taking in a house, the police are trying to negotiate with the suspect. It came down to the decision that the SWAT Team will take down the suspect. The media reported the said plan to the news and was televised. The suspect is watching the news for information about his demands and it lead to him knowing the police’s plans. You may know the outcome and it certainly will end up in a couple of dead bodies.

        That is what I am talking about with the said limitations of media practitioners. Certain information must not be televised or broadcasted because it may cause negative outcomes and may endanger a person’s life.