wars, children

“The Night Has Eyes” , artist unknown, National Vietnam War Museum donated by Mac Shafer of Shafer Oil and Gas Properties in remembrance of his parents Marilyn and Arthur Jack Shafer, from nationalvnwarmuseum.org

Posted by Student # 20

Unedited by blog administrator

Either that (sic) the Inquirer had a poor choice of quotes or just plainly making fun of others for their mistakes. Today, (this blog post dated Aug. 19 – blog administrator) part of their streamer (sic) quotes an AFP official as saying, “The fallen fought hard until they captured Abu camp.” Surely the fallen soldiers didn’t turn into zombies AND fight hard until they captured the Abu Sayyaf camp, right?Aug 19, 9:29 AM —

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Posted by Camille Mendigorin – On Using a Single Source for News Reports

|Reporter Ina Reformina provided an update on the current situation of the armed conflict in Sulu for TV Patrol last August 9. The news story has AFP Chief Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. claiming that Jemaah Islamiyah official Dulmatin was reported injured during a clash with the AFP soldiers. However, such was only based on an intelligence report. Though the news story has (sic) clearly stated that this claim is still yet to be confirmed, the report only rested on a single source – the AFP. It is understandable that a war or an armed conflict is difficult to cover. At times, reporters only depend on the AFP for the updates. Same is true for the report by Reformina. The whole news story only rested on the interviews and statements of Esperon and another military official. Though it is difficult, if not almost impossible, to get the other side of the story, that is getting statements from the Abu Sayyaf group, the reporter may have opted for interviews of civilians from the involved locality so as to confirm the reports of the AFP. But no interview of any civilian was featured in the entirety of the report. Moreover, the news story also claimed that the armed conflict in Sulu has registered a total casualty of 41 members from the rebel group while 12 have been reported as wounded. However, the figures are only based on the statements of the AFP and no dead bodies were shown as proof. Article 3.1 for News and Public Affairs of the KBP Television Code stated that “News reporting shall be factual, fair and as objective as possible.” This means that news reports should be based on facts and should present both sides of the story. The said provision further added that “Unconfirmed reports shall be identified as such and verified for accuracy at the soonest time possible.”Aug 17, 12:49 PM — [

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Posted by student #14 (Unedited by blog administrator)

I was in a friend’s house for lunch today (Aug. 17). His mother let me sit first as she prepared the table. I helped by clearing everything on it. I picked a half-folded tabloid at the center of the table and set it aside. Since not everyone was ready yet, I took the tabloid again and read. Much to my surprise and dismay, three photos in the Front Page took away my appetite.

“Boy Bitten by a Lizard” by Caravaggio c..1593-1594. Oil on canvas. The National Gallery, London, UK, from abcgallery.com

First, a traveling bag with legs sticking out from it; second was a whole body shot of a little girl and the third, a close up photo of the FACE of the poor child. She’s dead. Her body was found inside the traveling bag as it was noticed by three garbage boys. They thought they won some kind of a jackpot. The story said that the child was probably around 8-12 years old and she may have been dead for at least a day. Evidence of strangulation was seen as her neck bore a wire when she was found. The police are still in the process of identifying the child.This is by far the most disturbing photo I saw (sic) in a tabloid. I know that tabloids really sensationalize their stories and photos to attract attention. That is why I thought I shouldn’t be giving much attention to such publications. But I didn’t know that they would go too far. So I felt it was my responsibility to blog about such disturbing action. The tabloid was PM. its front page bore a close-up photo of the face of a dead child, no blurs whatsoever. The tabloid clearly violated ethical standards on publications of pictures of victims especially minors. I believe that even though sensationalism is rampant in the country, this kind of abuse must be penalized. I practically screamed “Oh my God!” when I saw the photos. Of course, I had to explain to my friend and to his family that what PM did was a grave abuse of its power and a definite inconsideration (sic) of the victim, its (sic) family, and the public. Again, this tabloid should be punished.Aug 17, 6:40 PM XXXXX

Coverage of rape, wars, inventions

 

rapesabinewomen.jpg
“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.

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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.

doctorfrance.gif

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.

redcrossalgiers1.jpg

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.

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Posted by Haydee Bautista – Comm191 WWX |

jeepney1951_oil51b59.jpg

“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”.