Tag: Ethics

Students scope Phil Star, Rated K, Rappler, GMA7 News, Top Gear

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Post written by papa smurf: “The article below details the horrific fate of two siblings who were brutally murdered by their neighbor. The two siblings, whose names were mentioned, were both minors and the article accounts the details of how the alleged suspect murdered the two. The writer of the article should have been sensitive enough to not give the names of the murdered victims as well as the other victims who survived because of their ages.
“The article violates the ethical principle of minimizing harm. The nature of the crime committed is different compared to theft crimes because it involves the murder of innocent children. The trauma caused by the crime is sure to haunt the surviving victims and the family members of the murdered victims. The article by mentioning the names of the victims, adds additional injury to an already painful situation. The victims clearly deserve their privacy.
philstar.com/police-metro/2014/09/16/mag-utol-tepok-sa-amok “
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By: Stephanie Ledesma
“For this week’s media monitor, I will talk about some segments of Rated K. These days some product advertisements have become part of their show. On their show last September 14, they featured not just one but two food supplements. The first supplement was endorsed by a beauty queen, Ms China Town 2014 while the second one was endorsed by Piolo Pascual and Daniel Matsunaga. I noticed that the advertisements were subtly done. The product brand was not even mentioned. Pictures and video clips of the product were just flashed between the endorsers’ statements.
“Why is this type of advertising continuously being added to journalistic programs even if it can be considered unethical based on the code of ethics of journalists? According to a Rated K program analyst, after some research on the response of viewers on their program, it showed that there were certain factors that can really tickle viewers’ minds. This was the reason why they came up with a recipe for their program: unusual human experience, sci-fi, gadgets, featured celebrity, and health. After making combinations out of these types of stories, they noticed a higher rating percentage than expected. After which, program sponsors came and they accepted these offers in exchange of short airtime. As the analyst said, as much as they do not want to include such advertisements, in real life, programs need money to survive.
“Indeed, journalists cannot run away from these commercials and product endorsements. This was one reason why some journalists became subjects of criticisms. But how can they avoid such act when the present world literally revolves around commercialization and modernization? Maybe it is safe to say and better to accept that sometimes, no matter how hard we try to remove these “businesses” away from the journalism industry, we cannot do so due to the promises included in its package. All we can do is to help slow it down and eventually help in preventing journalism become a money making industry.”
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By: Darien on: “xxx the report by Rappler covering two separate clashes in the province of Davao Del Norte xxx”
“straightforward and the details were complete xxx nowhere in the article was there a labeling of the suspected guerrillas based on their religious beliefs or race because that is not necessary in the context of this news and I have seen this happen in other news networks before like ABS-CBN and GMA news and especially in TV5 where they label suspects on the basis of their beliefs and race and it’s good to see that the suspects were presumed innocent until proven guilty.xxx rappler.com/rebels-militiamen-davao-del-norte-clashes xxx”
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By Dianne on gmanetwork.com/uk-warns-of-mayon-s-eruption-risk-cites-phl-s-limited-capacity-to-deal-with-disasters
“Yesterday, Philvocs raised the alert level at Mayon to 3. Albay Governor Jose Salceda ordered a 24-hour evacuation of residents from the danger zone. UK, concerned with the safety of their citizens, then released a travel advisory.
“GMA News then published this entitled, “UK warns of Mayon’s ‘eruption risk’, cites PHL’s limited capacity to deal with disasters”. As much as the travel advisory published in the UK government website REALLY CITED that “the capacity of the Philippine emergency and rescue services to deal with large natural disasters is limited”, the title of the article, I believe, sets an agenda.
“Instead of focusing on the warning itself, the mood/focus of the news article projects that the Philippines should be offended because the UK Government thinks we are incapable of efficient and effective response during disasters.
“Moreover, in the body of the article, the initial focus was on the commentary on our ‘limited’ effective disaster response capacity. The actual warning published was just tackled on the last part of the article.
“Other news platforms such as Interaksyon and Inquirer just released a news article citing the warning about Mayon without adding the commentary, while GMA News, I believe, sets the mood of the audience.”
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By Mark Sing on: “Top Gear Philippines Receives Anonymously Sent Revealing Photos of Suspects in Enzo Pastor Case” at http://www.topgear.com.ph/news/racing-news/mystery-source-sends-us-revealing-pics-of-suspects-in-enzo-pastor-case
“Last week, I chanced upon an article published in the website of auto magazine Top Gear Philippines about the Enzo Pastor case. They allegedly received revealing photos of two suspects in the murder case of the famous racer. They have revealed such information but chose to not publish the said photos since the ‘source’ did not send them the ‘actual’ files of the images. They avoided to try the suspects through the media and minimized harm by trying to ‘validate’ the images from the anonymous source, who, as of posting, has not replied to their query.
“Even though they are an auto magazine, Top Gear PH exercised due diligence by refusing to publish the photos and initiate a trial by publicity and tarnishing reputations of people who are still deemed as suspects.”
(2nd of 4 parts, results of the 4th media monitor)

students review Phil Star, Rappler, Inquirer (results, 4th media monitor, 1st of 4)

by giancoante Sep. 15, 2014 on philstar.com/headlines/2014/09/15/chinese-nationals-p7-b-drug-raid-charged

“The media have the power to create, reinforce, and promote certain stereotypes. According to the PPI Code of Ethics, journalists must be careful to avoid stereotyping of any nature.

“The headline of the article reads “4 Chinese Nationals in P7-B drug raid charged.” Was it really necessary for the journalist to specify in the headline that the drug dealers were Chinese? Even without specifying that the drug dealers were Chinese, the headline would still be effective. Instead, this info could be included in the article itself rather than in the headline.

“ “A Parañaque court, meanwhile, sentenced three Chinese nationals last month to life imprisonment after they were caught inside a shabu laboratory in 2010.”

“The writer adds this statement near the end of the article referring to another story that also involved Chinese drug dealers.

“ “Twelve Chinese fishermen were also convicted last August by a Palawan court and sentenced to six to 12 years in jail for poaching after their vessel was stranded in Tubbataha Reef.”

“This was the last statement in the article. The focus is no longer about drug dealers, but solely on Chinese nationals. This statement is problematic because it perpetuates the stereotype of the Chinese as lawbreakers. A journalist must, at all costs, avoid stereotyping by race and ethnicity. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case in this article.

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By serendipity: “xxx avoiding discrimination by gender, age, race and religion.xxx As much as possible, journalists must not address their news subjects based on their religion especially when their membership has nothing to do with the issue at hand. A September 12 article from Rappler entitled “China Warns citizens to avoid the Philippines”, the author used the phrase “Muslim rebels” in relating the kidnapping of an 18- year old Chinese man on Thursday with the crimes committed by the said group. This practice is contrary to what Code of Ethics teaches.

       “On the other hand, it is right to commend the author’s attempt to present the opposing sides of the conflict- that of the Chinese and Philippine government.

       “On: rappler.com/nation/china-warns-citizens-avoid-philippines”

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By cyrusfigueroa on: philstar.com/metro/2014/09/04/enzos-widow-now-malaysia

“The Philippine Star published an article about the widow of slain racer Ferdinand “Enzo” Pastor allegedly fleeing to Malaysia. The journalist, Reinir Padua, reports on Dalia Guerrero Pastor’s attempt to avoid jurisdiction of the Philippine government by spending P8 million on a chartered plane under Lion Air to fly her from Luzon to Tawi-Tawi, and then from there, she took a speed boat to Malaysia. What was unethical about this was that the journalist depended on only one source for all this information, and an anonymous one at that. Though the source’s life or job might have been at stake, there was no description to establish the credibility of the source.

         “Another violation Padua made was the lack of official documents to back up the statement of The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). The CAAP denied the reports, even saying that they “double-checked the flight manifest of Lion Air,” and saying that Lion Air only has flights from Manila to Naga or Cauayan, Isabela. The CAAP may be a national governing body, but the source may be polluted.

        “According The Philippine Press Institute Expanded Code of EthicsL Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct: “We must strive at all times to ascertain the truth of our sources’ assertions.” “

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By Pauline Celerio on philstar.com/2014-09-15/alleged-mnlf-rebel-falls/71858

xxx “xxxThe journalist who wrote the story treated Haylol Sakinal, the arrested suspect, with respect while not giving up the right of the public to know of his circumstance. He did not brand Sakinal as a “criminal” right away, and put “alleged” to protect his right to a fair trial. Xxx”

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By naomicristell94, on: inquirer.net/637015/cop-hulidap-mastermind-a-multimillionaire

      “The news article was about the suspects for the “hulidap” incident that happened along EDSA. First, it focused on a background and lifestyle check of the police who are suspects of the case. According to the Philippine Press Institute Expanded Code of Ethics: Code of Professional and Ethical conduct documents are required when stories involve the alleged corruption or a wrongdoing of a public official or agencies or publicly accountable agencies.

         “In this news story, police officers are suspects to a crime of robbery in which case it is being tied up to the increase in their money and properties. An investigation of this was done by checking their data sheets, their declared assets at the QCPD human resources division. Second part of the news article involved a cross-checking of the photo and the suspects based on the statement of De Vera as well as identifying Villanueva as the mastermind based on both statements of De Vera and Rodriguez.

       “This news article used documents as sources for the lifestyle and background check as well as noting two statements noting Villanueva as the mastermind.”

               (first of four parts, results of the fourth media monitor)