Monday, September 15, 2008 Seares: Violating privacy of news sources By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
ACCUSED of siring two kids with two women, a priest flees his Cebu City parish to sulk in his hometown.
Playing mahjong at a public beach, he spots a reporter and a photographer. The priest explodes. Telling them to leave, he shouts expletives and the threat “Pamusilon tamo!”
At a funeral home, a father sits beside the coffin of his 25-year-old daughter who fell, or was pushed, from a high-rise building.
A radioman thrusts a microphone in the father’s face and asks, “How do you feel?” Pushing aside the mike and resisting the urge to punch him, the old man walks out. Later, he publicly complains against “offensive” media.
DNA tests confirm the captain of mv Princess of the Stars was among those whose bodies were retrieved. Family members plead with media to back off as they bury their dead.
‘Trabaho lang’
Journalists do pry to get the story, varying only in manner and degree. Yet, they aren’t always pushy.
They asked the priest for an interview. When shooed, they left. No photo taken and what they reported was only the un-priestly threat of murder.
The radioman who asked the grieving pa was in a rush to get the job done but didn’t persist.
With the captain’s funeral, media also buried the mystery of his role in the ship’s sinking.
Reporters tell you that it’s their work and editors nag them to do their job. But they know the “trabaho lang” excuse isn’t a license to be insensitive and boorish.
Reporters are often rebuffed or scolded. To them, doors or phones are slammed. Or, they’re beaten up or shot.
Amazing that most of them can still file stories without losing their humanity.
