Coverage of rape, wars, inventions

 

“Rape of the Sabine Women” (sculpture) by Giovanni de Bologna 1524-1608, Florence, Italy from http://www.faculty-staff.ou.edu

Posted by Student # 21 A. Antonio

“By A. Antonio #21
J192
(unedited by blog administrator)

Quote “Last night (August 8), while I was watching Bandila at around 11pm, I was not prepared to see disturbing images that almost did not make me sleep. There were two news items which I found to have violated the Television Code provision of the KBP. The first news was about the six people being rescued after the wall in Antipolo City collapsed and fell on three shanties after the heavy downpour. The victims were shown all bruised and injured while being carried in the arms by the rescuers. The visual image of a woman looking almost dead from the tragedy made me feel nauseated. I just hope it was at least blurred to conceal the identity of the victims and their pitiful condition.

Quote “The second news was I believe mishandled and even caused sensationalism. The story was about a raped pinay domestic helper in Saudi Arabia by the name of Leila Cabignon. She was said to have been repeatedly raped by her son’s employer. What caught me off-guard was the sex video clip to prove her claim. There’s nothing wrong about having that hard proof evidence other than the way it was presented in the news. It was flashed twice on screen. The first was for about three seconds distorting only the sex organ parts. The woman was blindfolded while her arms were tied. It was clear that the Arab was thrusting to the woman showing the real sexual act. The second part was now more blurred where the act was no longer visible. (which should have been done in the first place) I do not know whether or not the staff of Bandila intended to do this for the sake of ratings.

Quote “I know children are “supposedly” sleeping by this hour but that doesn’t give them the right to evade rules. They should be responsible and accountable for their actions and certainly they are not practicing this correctly. News programs in general must be more sensitive to their viewers’ sensibilities to avoid repulsive reactions and unethical practices.

Aug 9, 5:16 AM” closed-quote.

\XXXXXX

Posted by Student #7 unedited by blog administrator

J192
quote “Today’s issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer released a story entitled “GMA sends docs to Mindanao” on its second page.

Doctor, nurse, wounded soldier. France, 1940. http://www.library.utmem.edu

A part of this story tackled the war in Basilan which broke out after PGMA delivered her speech, yesterday.

stamp, Jean Henry Dunant (1828-1920), Swiss philanthropist and initiator of the movement to create the Red Cross. Algeria, 1954, supra

Quote “I noticed that the story only contains statements from an unnamed military official and Albarka Mayor Jakilan Karam, both represent one side of the issue. The military official confirmed that the suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf Group attacked the members of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 8 in Barangay Sungkayot in Unkaya Pukan town. I suppose that this story about the war in Basilan is an example of single-source news which is contrary to a balanced report. Prof. Crysta Rara, in her article “Terror and the Press,” states the danger in this kind of reporting. She says “the constant use of the military, police, and government as the single source in a story could make readers think that their version of the truth is the only one.” I believe likewise.

Aug 7, 6:35 AM” closed-quote.

XXXXX

Posted by Haydee Bautista – Comm191 WWX |

“Jeepney” by Vicente Manansala 1951, oil on canvas, from www.iloko.tripod.com/Manansala

Quote “For the second time, I happened to watch “Umagang Kay Ganda” of ABS-CBN Channel 2. That was their July 19 edition. There was a news story about the EJ or the elctronic jeep. There were two speakers – the first one talked about the ordinary jeep as still the better option, while the second speaker talked about the EJ as a better alternative since we are now experiencing environmental problems.

Quote “And so, the problem with this news has nothing to do with getting both sides of the story. The thing is that the two speakers were not identified. They looked dignified and seem to hold high positions so I was waiting for the text that would flash and reveal their names and positions. But there was none.

Quote “This violates a provision of the KBP code for television on news sources where it was stated that “Care shall be exercised in the selection of news sources. Voice and VIDEO clips of persons involved in the news shall be properly identified.”

Quote “In addition, properly identifying the sources for these kinds of news stories is crucial so as to prove that it is not just a discreet form of advertisement.

Aug 10, 1:46 PM”.