“Deception”
By: Kristine Felisse Mangunay
5th blog entry
Unedited by blog administrator
quote “Last Sunday, the Inquirer ran an article in the sports section, quoting yet again an only source for the story on the Don Pocholo Razon Golf Tournament in Laguna. Besides having violated provisions on single-sourcing in the Philippine Press Institute’s Expanded Code of Ethics (see 4th blog entry), what seems to be the graver ethical violation is the deception involved in the release of the “article”. While the legitimacy of the story may appear to be valid, certain sentences used by the author put this into question.
Suspiciously, the article centers merely on golf player Elmer Salvador (he is the writer’s only source for the story as well). Sentences such as “the 32-year-old flourished” and “Salvador played with the poise of a grizzled veteran…” appear to depict him in a good light. The writer’s untimely (sic) prediction of the player’s so-called victory even before the end of the tournament adds to the question of the article’s legitimacy as well.
The quote and the lead chosen for the article are as suspicious as the rest of the story. “I will try to stay focused, play my game and not be intimidated” and “Elmer Salvador continued to pull surprises in the P4.4 million Don Pocholo Razon Invitational…” seem to emphasize much of the player’s positive traits. As a result, the other players in the tournament are ignored by the author (although some are briefly mentioned, the writer does not use flattering words to describe them).
Clearly, the author should have interviewed more sources besides Salvador for his article. Then again this could have been done deliberately, considering the story’s PR slant in favor of the player. If this is the case, indeed it is a grave ethical violation on the part of the writer. Deception is, after all, always involved when PR is passed off as a legitimate article.
“Salvador hangs tough, pads Razon lead to 4? (from the Philippine Daily Inquirer): http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/fmangunay/detail?.dir=6789scd&.dnm=e9fcre2.jpg&.src=ph
2
03
2007
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