Since the start of the year 2016, there has been this cloud of resentment hovering over journalists in the Philippines. With continuous edited and unedited versions of reports popping up in social media from numerous sources, the people cry foul on bias. As a journalist in this day and age, you’ll be sentencing yourself to death if the public doesn’t approve of the content you write—whether it be the truth or not. If the people we need to inform turn a blind eye on us because what we’ve written isn’t what they approve, what are we to do?
We’ve affirmed that spreading news has been easier and faster with social media. Any breaking issue could be shared and read within seconds. It’s also unbelievably easy to write something and pass it off as news, and people would believe it, as long as the timing is right. Satirical websites like Adobo Chronicles have shown that if you can write it well enough, you can make people believe it. What’s worse is that news outlets have given in to competing for likes and shares, that we’re constantly given two versions of the same story. There is no greater sin to a journalist that to edit the truth, just to make your story interesting. And of course, we’ve seen the backlash of this. Some of our top newspapers and news website have been accused of bias and propaganda. Though maybe this is their fault, when actual news does happen, stories are bombarded with threats, epithets and accusations. Our audience is starting to foster disbelief in what we write, what we say, and what we show. Journalistic pride is waning. Should we give up, then?
No, we shouldn’t.
Fellow journalists, remember what drives up to do this job; passion. Being a journalist, heck being part of the publications industry, isn’t glamorous—we just make it so. There isn’t a lot of money to be had in this type of life. We plunge on day after day, waiting for that one story that could open the eyes of the people. We are driven by the knowledge that people need to know what’s going on, because we know it is our responsibility—and more so our duty—to tell the stories that people need to hear and know. It is our journalistic duty to tell the truth.
If there was ever a need for a wake up call, this would be it. Remember why we entered journalism in the first place. We write to serve the community. We do these articles to inform people, because we know that this also empowers them. Remember that our very principles are embodied on how we write these articles and stories, and that these principles exemplify what we want our nation to be, more so shape it. We are public servants, keepers of public record, protectors of democracy. We are, in fact, the very pillar of democracy. It is when we remember what we stand for will the public regain their trust and faith in us. Take pride in this profession, and remember:
“No apologies for spreading the truth.”
