Tag: Ethics

blog admin’s note: the pertinent provision is from the broadcast code but the media have merged/ converged in the internet, hence, we widened the search and applied the principle online…

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by giancoante on: philstar.com/news-feature/2014/10/30/specters-and-other-spooks-malacanang

     ” “The Malacañang Palace is not only rich in historical tales, it is also rife with haunted and supernatural stories.”

      “The article above is a feature article on ghostly sightings in Malacañang taken from the Palace website. The article narrates stories of disembodied priests, headless guards, haunted pianos, balls of fire, kapres, among others. According to Article 13 of the KBP Code of Ethics for Broadcast Media, “programs featuring superstitions shall not induce belief in them.” Although the article features these supernatural stories, there are attempts to debunk them. For example, Wig Tysmans, the photographer who took the panoramic shot of the Palace featuring a headless guard, explained that long exposure caused the phenomenon. “The now-immortalized security personnel must have held his pose throughout the exposure, only to move his head before it ended,” according to the website. This is ethical because it does not induce belief by presenting a logical explanation. However, not all stories were given logical explanations such as the moving cellist painting and the disembodied priests.”

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by Pauline Celerio on: gmanetwork.com/news/story/publicaffairs/aha/true-horror-stories-sa-aha
“xxx AHA’s special entitled “True Horror Stories.” However, what I will be analyzing will not be the video itself, but the teaser article that is published on GMA News Online. xxx the writing style on the article was scattered with “daw”. The word “daw” meaning, they are not espoused and promoted by the show itself, but a general belief of the populace. The writer did not make the claim himself, and attributed what he has written to a belief that somehow, he framed, as “accepted.” xxx the mere presentation and labeling of a story about occult as “True”, means that there is a promotion that such events are real. Is it ethical to air a “true ghost story” without backing it up with facts?
“I am in dilemma right now. As I have written before, the purpose of airing topics like these is related to the commemoration of the dead itself, and the ever-pervading interest of the Filipinos for stories of the unexplained.
“ “True ghost stories”, they said. But in the end, they questioned its validity, and has not made any claims that it was really true.”
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      The 10th media monitor can be posted here, either as an embedded comment or an embedded link.

     Here are two more samples of reviews of news reports or news features  on ghosts (see advisory on previous media monitor posts). The pertinent KBP Broadcast Code provision reads (ito po ang tinutukoy na probisyon ng KBP Broadcast Code): 

       “KBP Broadcast Code, Art. 13. Superstition and the Occult. Sec. 1. Programs featuring superstitious and pseudo-scientific beliefs and practices, such as supernatural powers, foretelling of the future, astrology, phrenology, palm-reading, numerology, mind-reading, hypnotism, faith healing or similar subjects shall be careful not to induce belief in them. Care shall be taken to prevent the exploitation of people who may be easily swayed by such superstitious and pseudo-scientific beliefs and practices.
“Sec.2. Programs or program materials that promote or encourage occult practices, black magic, witchcraft, and similar activities are prohibited.” (KBP Broadcast Code).

      Para po ito sa kursong Comm Ethics (This is for the course Comm Ethics). Kasama sa saklaw ng kursong ito ang mga probisyon sa mga code of ethics para sa iba’t ibang media (the scope of the course includes provisions of the code of ethics applicable to various media.).
 

    The reviews are the students’ own interpretation of the provisions. If you have any disagreements about the students’ interpretation or discussion, you may post a comment here. 

I guess a news feature on ghosts as news subjects should include, as a minimum requirement, in feiyyrness (in fairness), an interview of the ghost  being featured — failing which, the reporter should end the feature with: “sinubukan po naming kunin ang panig ng multong si Casper ngunit hindi po siya tumutugon sa aming mga tawag. Nanatili pong bukas ang aming programa para makuha ang kanyang panig. ” (“we tried to contact Casper the ghost at his office and home number to get his side but as of broadcast time, he was unable to respond to our request for an interview. Our lines remain open to air his side.”).

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Ghost Rider by mattgador
“xxx article posted on Inquirer.net (link) about the Barangay Chairperson of Malubog in Cebu, Marjorita Cangmaong, fearing that her government-owned vehicle was haunted. It talked about her experience with the car making strange noises. She and others believed it was haunted because it used to be used by the former Barangay Chairperson of Mabini, Rey Oybenes, who committed suicide over a year ago.
“What bothers me about this article is that it makes no motion to try to air a more scientific side of this. It’s possible that it’s a psychological fear, as people connected the car to the now deceased official. It’s also possible that it’s a totally fixable engine problem. It may also be neither of these. The thing is, however, the article makes no attempt to try to explore these possibilities, and instead ends with Chairperson Cangmaong saying that she is glad she is not bothered by the spirits anymore after having the car blessed. It seems to want to propagate the belief that these ghosts are real, which is an unethical media practice.”
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blog admin’s note: can you hear that…? (if your internet is of decent speed). No, it’s neither your imagination nor the stirrings of a perfectly baritone ghost — it’s the voice of James earl jones reading the iconic edgar allan poe piece “the raven” on podcast on auto play — you knew i had to include james earl jones because the previous post had benedict cumberbatch’s voice, didncha? (didn’t you?)

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By Kristine
“Last October 26, 2014 an online article was posted on ABS-CBN News online regarding a suspected ghost sighting in Tondo Manila. In the article it was said that a white figure resembling a woman was caught on camera by one of the crew members of ‘Rated K’ during their shoot in Tondo Manila for their Halloween special.
“Although it was stated in the article that it could have been “light that bounced off from the camera to the grills, resembling a ghostly figure of a woman” I still believe that the article is in violation of the KBP Code of ethics, which states that public affairs materials/ programs must not promote superstitious beliefs and that care should be taken on super natural events to prevent the exploitation of people who may be easily swayed to such ideologies. Here’s the link: abs-cbnnews.com/10/26/14/look-ghost-caught-rated-k-cam”
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