Philippine media

For PH journalists, ‘timid reporting should be a thing of the past’

Camille Elemia

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For PH journalists, ‘timid reporting should be a thing of the past’

Supporters troop to ABS-CBN in July 2020 to protest the shutdown of the Philippines' largest broadcaster

Photo by Jire Carreon/Rappler

President Rodrigo Duterte 'reminded us what one can do and get away with when the free media opt to keep silent and go about their usual business,' says journalist and McLuhan 2020 fellow Christian Esguerra

With declining trust in media amid continuous attacks, journalists said it’s high time Filipino journalists let go of “timid reporting.”

Three award-winning journalists, all recipients of the Canadian embassy’s Marshall McLuhan Fellowship, discussed on Saturday, May 8, the state of journalism in the virtual forum, Philippine journalism in the new normal: Challenges and opportunities.

Christian Esguerra, ABS-CBN News anchor and the McLuhan Fellow for 2020, cited the 27% trust rating of the Philippine media and said journalists should do more to counter it.

Esguerra said “timid reporting should be a thing of the past,” adding, journalists are now more fearful of public criticism with the rise of a cancel culture.

“Any journalist can say that [we are here to ask the hard questions] but when put in that situation when they are supposed to do that, they become very deferential. We’re too concerned with how the public reacts,” he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s attacks against the press, including the shutdown of the Philippines’ biggest broadcaster ABS-CBN, are proof of what can happen when the media succumbs to fear and pressure.

“Duterte showed us, reminded us, what one can do and get away with when the free media opt to keep silent and go about their usual business. We cannot deal with these challenges like business-as-usual because these are the concrete impact or effects,” Esguerra said.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Manny Mogato, McLuhan Fellow in 2017, called out Malacañang reporters for not challenging the lies of the executive, especially Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque who has repeatedly lied to the public.

“Umaayon na lang lahat sa sinasabi ng spokesman, ‘Di siya kinukuwestiyon ng ‘Ano ba basehan mo?’ Eh minsan lumalabas na after a few days, mali pala sinasabi niya, hindi pala totoo…. Makikita mo si Harry Roque nagsisinungaling, ‘di siya nakukuwestiyon ng reporters sa Malacañang. Dapat tama lang na tanungin sila pero i-challenge lahat ng assertions,” Mogato said.

(Everyone just accepts what the spokesman says, they don’t question him, ‘What’s your basis?’ There were times we would find out after a few days that what he said was a lie. You see Harry Roque lying but the reporters in Malacañang don’t question him. It’s just right to ask them questions but all their assertions should be challenged.)

For Rappler investigative editor Miriam Grace Go, McLuhan fellow in 2002, journalists have already faced two “new normal” events way before COVID-19 happened: the advent of social media and the Duterte presidency.

“The ways that Duterte has attacked the media are unprecedented definitely. He’s been making the public doubt the credibility of the media by calling us corrupt and fake news,” Go said.

He’s been harassing us online and putting our lives in danger offline…. He’s been crippling independent media,” Go added.

The pandemic, she said, has presented a new challenge – the lack of shoe leather reporting due to health restrictions.

Media covering media, quit viral stories
For PH journalists, ‘timid reporting should be a thing of the past’

Moving forward, Esguerra, Go, and Mogato have some suggestions for journalists to regain public trust.

Esguerra said media coverage of other media organizations should be normalized and that “coopted colleagues” – such as compromised journalists on sources’ payroll – should be rendered “irrelevant.”

“Let’s not be sensitive about it (reporting on media)…. Let’s not leave that to academicians, politicians. Let’s not wait for politicians to lecture us how to do our jobs,” he said.

Go and Mogato said journalists should also step out of social media, quit focusing on viral information, and instead use these online information as possible leads to pursue deeper stories.

“We must not waiver on truth-telling to serve public interest,” Mogato said. – Rappler.com

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Camille Elemia

Camille Elemia is a former multimedia reporter for Rappler. She covered media and disinformation, the Senate, the Office of the President, and politics.