Before I forget, here’s a photo of the Inquirer of the highlight of the passing of the torch during the celebration of the U.P. centennial published last Wednesday, January 9, 2007; and
my rainy photo, the first photo of the lighting, published in the blog last Monday, January 7, 2007, a shot of the 5-minute test run (the only set of images of it), the men in umbrellas, in silhouette, are the donor-alumni (i didn’t interview them, it was raining!)
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On the front page of the January 14 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer was a story with the headline “Former drug addicts now high on God.”
This article has the trappings of a press release turned into news, given that it heavily relied on a single-source and was printed – just in time – for the National Bible Week. This is in violation of Article II of the Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct of the Philippine Press Institute which says that “Individual journalists must weigh their obligations against the impact of: Involvement in particular activities, affiliation with causes or organizations, acceptance of favors or preferential treatment, financial investment, outside employment and friendships.”
Of course, articles that tackle similar issues such as religion and stories that involve the youth should be given column space, but the front page is never a place for press releases disguised as news articles.
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The January 14 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, on its A7 page, featured a story on the Philippine National Police’s yearend report for 2007 with a headline that read “PNP: Extrajudicial killings fell by 83% in 2007”.
The article is, of all things, single-sourced, with statements coming from Department of Interior and Local Government personnel, and appears to be written in such a way that puts the administration and the police in a good light. There was a part that mentions how the Philippines was included in the human rights watch list of the United Nations and the US Congress, and how “a UN special rapporteur criticized the Arroyo administration for not doing enough to stop the killings” and then goes on to enumerate how the government, with the help of the PNP, managed to deter extrajudicial killings.
This is in violation of Article III, Number 3 of the Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct of the Philippine Press Institute which says that “Single sourced stories must be avoided as a rule. There is always the imperative to get a second, third, or more sources, the contending parties to an issue, the expert source, the affected party, the prominent and the obscure, in the story. We must strive at all times to ascertain the truth of our sources’ assertions.”
In this case, a separate and contending opinion from a stakeholder in the issue of extrajudicial killings (eg. The Commission on Human Rights) would have helped put a better perspective and dimension in the story.
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A story entitled “Palace appeals for public support for Cha-cha for sake of peace in south” ran in the January 13 issue of the Philippine Star. The story, from the headline down to the last sentence, echoes Malacanang’s appeal for Charter change through the statements of Presidential Management Staff director general Cerge Remonde.
The article focused on the creation of a federal state in Mindanao through the constitutional amendments to be done if the Cha-cha pushes through. It also mentions how Remonde “clarified Malacanang has no intention of pushing for Charter change to extend the term of president Arroyo beyond 2010,” a possibility that is pointed out by most anti-Chacha groups. The article, in its entirety, tackled only how the amendments can lead to peace in Mindanao, without any mention of viewpoints that attack the feasibility and beneficiality of the Chacha.
This is in violation of Article III, Number 1 and 3 of the Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct of the Philippine Press Institute. Number 1 of the aforementioned article in the code says that “All efforts must be exerted to make stories fair, accurate and balanced. Getting the other side is a must, especially for the most sensitive and critical stories. The other side must run on the first take of the story and not any day later.” Number 3 of the same article states that “Single sourced stories must be avoided as a rule. There is always the imperative to get a second, third, or more sources, the contending parties to an issue, the expert source, the affected party, the prominent and the obscure, in the story. We must strive at all times to ascertain the truth of our sources’ assertions.”
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On page A17 of the Philippine Daily Inquirer last January 14 were two stories placed side-by-side, both discussing the issue of granting pardon to “Ninoy killers.” The first story, which started at the front page of the PDI was entitled “Pardon Ninoy killers, Joker urges,” while the other story has the headline ” ‘No medical checkup order.”
The stories presented both sides of the story. The first one quoted Sen. Joker Arroyo, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales, Public Attorney’s Office head Persida Acosta — all supporting the call for the release of 13 ex-soldiers out of the 16 (three have died in prison) who were sentenced to double-life imprisonment for the assassination of Ninoy Aquino. The other story quoted Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita denying that he ordered the medical examination of the 13 detainees, contesting Acosta’s claim that “the medical examination was conducted upon the instruction of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita” and that “the order from Secretary Ermita was urgent.” Ermita also noted that “not one of the 13 convicts were near age 70, their ages ranging from 48 to 63 years,” a fact that those quoted in the first story failed to mention.
This is in accordance to Article III, Number 1 and 3 of the Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct of the Philippine Press Institute. Number 1 of the aforementioned article in the code says that “All efforts must be exerted to make stories fair, accurate and balanced. Getting the other side is a must, especially for the most sensitive and critical stories. The other side must run on the first take of the story and not any day later.” Number 3 of the same article states that “Single sourced stories must be avoided as a rule. There is always the imperative to get a second, third, or more sources, the contending parties to an issue, the expert source, the affected party, the prominent and the obscure, in the story. We must strive at all times to ascertain the truth of our sources’ assertions.”
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