SPEC 120-E Campus Journalism

Primer Activity

2.
a. Cite a news story which you consider an example of yellow journalism. Explain why you
consider such. Provide details.

Answer:

SOURCE: https://twitter.com/GrowlHarhar/status/1346610269519110144/photo/1

As you can see from the photo above, 2 news stories are being compared from
each other which are posted from different TV Networks here in the Philippines. It has
the same content which was about the statement of our dear President Rodrigo Duterte
regarding on Tarlac killer who was Police Senior Master Sgt. Jonel Nueza. We know that
"Topak" that had been mentioned by our President is an expression for someone doing
something outrageous – in other words: a nutcase, a fool. ABS-CBN News page
interpreted it as "suffering from mental illness" and only fools would interpret it that way.
 They changed the thought and the statement of the President and clearly, rephrasing is
different from spreading false statements. Yet, this is another case of intellectual
dishonesty and yellow journalism here in the Philippines. This is why ABS-CBN
deserves no franchise.
I am a Kapamilya viewer for all of my life. I’ve been faithfully watching their
shows every noon until the evening before. Their shows are made with such quality that
is entertaining and fun to watch, especially their daily noontime show which is Showtime,
it never failed to make me laugh. Last year, violations and Quo Warranto petition is filed
against them. And even I’m a Kapamilya, I am agreeing or in favor of the ABS-CBN
shutdown.
As we go back or reflect on Election 2016, at this time, Duterte is still running for
President. Duterte paid ABS-CBN to advertise his campaign for the presidency but the
said network didn’t show or view his advertisement on the screen. This just proved that
the network is for business and political purposes. Even until Duterte got the position,
they never report or rarely report the accomplishments of our president in our country,
just like about Manila Bay. I only knew before that Manila Bay had already cleaned just
because of Facebook or social media. A netizen made a blog regarding it. It was late
reported by them and clearly, they reported it because it went viral. ABS-CBN willingly
violated the principle of fairness and equality. They are supposed to be the vanguards of
responsible, fair, impartial, and truthful journalism. And another time before, during the
campaign, their headlines in their reports about Duterte are such that they show him in a
bad light. They disregarding the good traits of Duterte and highlighting his bad traits.
They only showed reports which can be used as potential tools for political mudslinging.
They are supposed to be independent, not affiliated with any political, corporate, or
cultural interest, unfortunately, they have journalists who are affiliated with presidential
candidates and that constitutes a conflict of interest which affected the way they report
on certain individuals. They can do these such things to Duterte even he’s our president,
how much more they can do to the individuals or workers who couldn’t defend their
selves because they are powerless. If ABS-CBN is emphasizing freedom of press or
press freedom, well, press freedom does not entitle anyone to spread false information
and favoring individuals that they can benefit from. If a network is so irresponsible and
bias, then there is absolutely no point in them staying. Also, the Quo Warranto petition
that was filed against them is not a move to restrain press freedom, but an action to
correct a public wrong on the violations committed by the network. Regarding ABS-CBN
entitlement of renewal franchise, if the congress and senate allow ABS-CBN to renew
franchise despite their violations, then let every Filipino be allowed to violate laws. Our
laws are not for the oligarchs to be exempted from committing violations. Nobody is
above the law.

b. Among the criteria of a quality newspaper, which do you think is the most important?
Why?

Answer:

For me, among these criteria, integrity is the most important because having
integrity in writing means you are doing your work in the right thing in a reliable way. You
did your work under your deepest values. Honesty and trust are central to this criteria, as
is consistency which is a kind of quality that has a strong ethical principle that should be
followed at all times by a journalist. It's the criterion which we should admire and apply
most since it means that this news story has a moral compass that doesn't waver. It has
an objective not to be on either side of an argument and essentially, reporters or writers
 should not only approach issues in an unbiased manner but also with a dispassionate
and emotionless attitude.
c. Cite an example that best explains paragraph IV of “The Journalist’s Code of Ethics” that
states “I shall refrain from writing reports which will adversely affect a private reputation
unless the public interest justifies it.”

Answer:

A journalist reported that a politician and at the same time a director of a well-
known orphanage center together with his sister had been involved in sex games with
the patients of the center. Although his sister was not ultimately convicted, reporting
about the allegations, which involved private sexual activities, contributed to the public
interest. A journalist may intrude into his private life since the man behind the incident is
a politician which a type of person who carries a public responsibility, whose private
affairs may have an important impact on their public duties. If the sole aim of a news
story is to satisfy the curiosity of the readership regarding details of a person’s private
life, it cannot be deemed to contribute to any debate of general interest to society.

d. As mentioned in the Journalist’s Creed, why is public journal considered a public trust?

Answer:
A public journal is considered a public trust because these journalists who wrote
written reports studied well and are experts in this profession. Before they got to that
position, probably most of them got a degree first and gone through several seminars
and training. So, in other words, they know what they are doing. They are
knowledgeable and applied to themselves the Journalist’s Code of Ethics, and they
know what is their purpose or primer function to this community. I could say that being
journalist has a similar duty in the Teaching profession because both should have
qualifications, including specialized knowledge, skills, and judgment, to serve human
needs. Both professions have public trusts. In that case, whatever these journalists are
writing and telling us, mostly all people believe in it. Their work should be reliable and by
breaking this principle, a journalist will in turn break the trust of viewers or readers.
These violations can tarnish a journalist’s reputation for being a reliable source of news
and can lose the trust of the public.