Media orgs call out Duterte in pooled editorial
A rare pooled editorial was published in several broadsheets and online sites a day before Rodrigo Duterte is inaugurated president, with media groups calling on the new chief executive to recognize his "common duty in law and tradition" with the media.
"All but lost in the noise is the two parties’ common duty in law and tradition to serve and to inform the Filipino people on issues, events and policies that affect their interest and welfare," it said.
This came days after Duterte vowed anew that he will not grant media interviews until the end of his term.
The pooled editorial, 'The Prez and the Press,' published in rival broadsheets Philippine Daily Inquirer and Philippine Star, as well as in sites of media organizations, pointed out that the president "is the most important pivot of news and policy in the land," and is then mandated by law to lead the country and "promote transparency, accountability, and good governance."
The Constitution, which gives the president such tasks, meanwhile also affords the citizens their rights to "free speech, free press, free expression, and peaceable assembly," and the news media must serve as the custodian and gatekeeper of some of these rights, it said.
"Thus, despite his vexation with those he calls the 'lowlifes' and the 'mouthpieces' in the news media, we must at all times cover him, his actions, and his statements. In truth, the news media must report more—and better—about him, his policies and his actions, with our reports guided by the best standards of accuracy, fairness and context."
The groups vowed to perform their task, however noting of "at least two disturbing 'messages' from the President-elect."
The editorial hit Duterte's statement that “corrupt journalists … vultures of journalism can die for all I care [because] you’re asking for it," saying the statement mocked the memory of slain journalists which account to at least 172 since 1986.
The pooled editorial also noted that whether intended or not, Duterte's "volcanic language" has affected journalists' reportage, leaving "journalists with valid, if testy, questions are seemingly forced to eat expletives by way of a response."
The groups, for their part, did not deny the existence of corruption in the industry but issued a suggestion to Duterte to "slay it at the source."
"The government’s own media agents, as well as politicians and corporate PRs who offer more than stories to get favorable coverage or to spike bad news, must, in the President-elect’s words, 'stop it'."
They however lamented that some local politicians and their families have acquired ownership and control of some agencies, tainting news media with "institutional capture."
"The corruption of the news media thus also involves partisan political interests driving editorial processes—as the President-elect knows full well," the editorial said.
Despite the differences, the editorial affirmed Duterte's premium on the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Law.
"The issuance of an FOI executive order on Day One of his presidency should prevent the 17th Congress from tarrying in its task," it said.
"An FOI Law will provide the necessary institutional and legal framework for full and true functional links between transparency and accountability in government, and for the right of all Filipinos to access information in order to take part in nation-building."
The pooled editorial was published and signed by the Philippine Press Institute, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, University of the Philippines-College of Mass Communication, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
The editorial was also carried by Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation, Mindanao Cross, Mindanao Gold Star Daily, Sun.Star-Cagayan de Oro, The Journal, The Freeman, Bicol Today, College Editors Guild of the Philippines, Kodao Productions Bulatlat, Philippine Collegian, Eastern Vista, Pahayagang Balikas, Banat News, Northern Dispatch, Panguil Bay Monitor, Mindanao Monitor, Catarman Weekly Tribune, The Standard, Lanao del Norte Today, Panay Today, Pinoy Weekly, BlogWatch, The People’s Alternative Media Network, Golden Journal, and individual journalists from print, broadcast, and online media.
No comments:
Post a Comment