“Commentary 3 (1 July 2013): World Bulletin jumps the gun on Japanase MOFA article regarding Philippine visa requirements
By TDP “Last 27 June (Thursday), netizens were abuzz on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites about a report issued by World Bulletin online stating that effective July 1, the Japanese Embassy is lifting visas for Filipinos wishing to travel to Japan on short-term visits (ABS-CBN, 2013). The report went viral in a matter of hours.
“However, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified that contrary to the report circulating, it will be relaxing, not lifting, visa requirements for Filipinos visiting Japan for 15 days or less. Specifically: “In celebration of the 40th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation, the Government of Japan has decided to begin issuance from July 1, of multiple entry visas for short-term stay to nationals of the Republic of the Philippines (ordinary passport holders), who reside in their home country” (J-MOFA, 2013). ABS-CBN was the first local media group to clarify the mix-up, through an article published less than an hour after the World Bulletin report was issued.
“As per Section III, Number 1 of the Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct’ of the Philippine Press Institute, “all efforts must be exerted to make stories fair, accurate, and balanced” (p. 117). On one end of the spectrum, evidently, the World Bulletin practiced poor, shoddy journalism when it failed to verify the facts, and thusly misinterpreted the report issued by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Especially in the age of digital technology where information is spread rapidly within seconds, journalists should take great lengths in making sure that all pieces of information are accurate, so as to avoid the misinformation of the general public.
“On the other end of the spectrum, it may be argued that ABS-CBN practiced responsible journalism when it swiftly squelched the inaccurate report going viral, by releasing an article online to clarify the issue. Further, the news group contextualized the situation, by alluding to the previous World Bulletin report, and then positioning the article as an erratum to avoid further confusion.”
“Maritess Vitug’s article featured in Rappler struck me not just because I rarely come across articles on journalism and media in popular news sites, but because its contents echo some points raised in my Comm 110 ethics class. Vitug was invited to the global media forum, with the theme “Future of Growth Economic Values and the Media”, by the Friedrich Neumann Foundation for Freedom in Bonn, Germany. From the forum, Vitug “picked up four strands”, namely:
“Journalists’ work has become more important in this digital, complex world.
“News organizations are no longer just limited to reporting the news.
“Media should be part of the dialogue on values in business and economic growth.
“Economically free societies do not necessarily nurture free media.”
“For this media watch, I would like to comment on the example she gave under the second point on how news organizations are no longer restricted to just reporting the news. She mentioned how BBC has an NGO, BBC Media Watch, which is “funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation”. This aims to help in disseminating information to those who’d like to be trained under their “Mobile Academy”. Somehow, Vitug’s sentiments matched mine. She said “the BBC global brand may be tarnished if the project fails or if there’s wrongdoing.” Also, I can infer that maybe (if any in the future) if bad news of Bill Gates may surface, BBC may defend or protect him since he is a project benefactor. BBC may indeed lose public trust and weaken the credibility of their news. Under the code of ethics, this is under “advocating causes”. Being a whole company involved in this organization, BBC must nurture it but at the same time focus on the news without the bias from their other involvements. While reading the article, I felt like it seems like a risk on the part of BBC to take action in these things. Then again, in the Philippines, the huge networks do have their own foundations (i.e. ABS-CBN Foundation, etc.) which cater to their many advocacies (like Bantay Bata, Bantay Kalikasan, etc.). Truly, journalists and news organizations aren’t only there to deliver the news, but also act on causes, hopefully, as much as possible, without compromising the news.” Posted by Pseudonym #1
