Monday, June 16, 2008 Editorial: No split mentality
THE abduction of an ABS-CBN news team by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) trails a tangled skein of issues concerning press freedom and responsibility.
Many have prayed and expressed hopes for the safety and eventual release of journalist Ces Drilon, cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and their guide, Mindanao professor Octavio Dinampo (assistant cameraman Angelo Valderama was released last Thursday night).
But according to the pulse of many commentaries made by journalists and non-media bloggers or online citizen journalists, the kidnapping, seen through a glass darkly (Corinthians 1:13), is splintering into other controversies more complex than the threat posed by militant opportunism.
Managing the news
The news embargo requested by the ABS-CBN network was not followed by all news organizations (including Sun.Star Cebu) that perceived running the story about the kidnapping did not threaten the safety of the victims nor jeopardized ongoing rescue efforts.
On the contrary, the news embargo unsettled many veterans for its close resemblance to “news management,” a journalistic euphemism for a press-imposed control on the news flow for reasons that may include but is not exclusive to personal or national security.
According to Bong Osorio, ABS-CBN head of corporate communications, the news embargo was a “gentle request” to hold the publication of the kidnapping as the network did not know yet last Monday “what their situation was.” Osorio also said the request for an embargo was “not company policy (and will be pursued) on a case-to-case basis.”
On the other hand, others shared the stance of journalist Vergel Santos who argued for media releasing a carefully verified story to alert the people in the affected area; dispel a sense of false security; and prevent speculations in the absence of information.
The dearth of information may have spawned irresponsible commentary.
Another news veteran, Ding G. Gagelonia, observed in a post uploaded in FilipinoVoices.com that “pseudo-analyses” on the Internet suggested that the recent Sulu kidnapping could be a “case of ‘kidnap-me.’”
“It is such thinking which erodes the credibility, and currency, of so-called citizen journalism,” commented Gagelonia.
Life first, information second
Jose Torres, chairperson of the National Union of Journalists, supported the exigency of respecting a news embargo during the “initial hours” when confusion reigned and anyone could have used the opportunity to do more harm.
Torres expressed the hope though, echoed by many others, that ABS-CBN will observe the same discretion to uphold the “safety and security” of victims in other abductions or similar sensitive situations.
In his blog “Splice and dice,” freelancer Herson Juego posted that “the media which has sworn to protect the public by informing us in many ways is now the same media, or a portion of it, which has sought to withhold information about Ces Drilon and others while the rest of us grope in the darkness… Some say it’s a matter of balancing public interest with private interest—public interest being the public as it is, and private interest being the family, corporate and genetic, of Drilon and her crew—in cases where the delicate balance between life and death or harm is as thin as impoverished limbs.”
While Manuel L. Quezon, in his blog “The Daily Dose,” interpreted many media institutions’ support of the news embargo as a sign of “solidarity in adversity,” he acknowledged that some may view the uncharacteristic restraint the press has shown in releasing the news of the ABS-CBN abduction a “matter of journalists being clubby.”
To prove its sincerity in prioritizing life over the right to information, the press should also show its willingness to hold a story if its publication jeopardizes the safety and security of victims even though they are not part of the press corps.
As Torres observed, “reporters aren’t any more special than everyone else.”
