THE media and the new sources they cover traded complaints against each other during the 13th quarterly meeting of the Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) held last Dec. 4, 2008 at the MBF Cebu Press Center.

This followed the screening of the documentary “Access Denied: Journalists’ Lament, News Sources’ Plea.”

A production of the CCPC and the Cebu Press Freedom Week Inc., the 20-minute film featuring journalists and news sources, including Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, Deputy Ombudsman Pelagio Apostol of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas and Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Ronald Roderos, tackled the frustrations of journalists in gaining access to information, as well as the concerns raised by news sources against journalists seeking to get information from them.

Following the screening, Rose Versoza of the Cebu Media Legal Aid (Cemla) and
Karlon Rama, justice beat reporter for Sun.Star Cebu, presented the complaints of new sources against the media, and the complaints of the media against news sources as culled from interviews with news sources for the documentary, discussions among editors of local newspapers, lawyers who are members of Cemla, interviews with news reporters and photographers, records of complaints raised at previous CCPC meetings, random surveys conducted by University of the Philippines mass communication students and complaints published in newspapers. (See listing of complaints below.)

Late media

In the open forum moderated by Cebu Daily News editor-in-chief Connie Fernandez, news sources aired more complaints against the media.

PRO 7 Director Ronald Roderos complained about the media arriving late for activities, so that he has to reenact again and again for the cameras the ceremonies that have already been completed; as well as of media’s tendency to arrive at odd hours for interviews, like when he is having lunch.

Cebu City public information officer Nagiel Bañacia also complained about media corruption, saying this raised the costs of government service because news sources would have to include payments to such corrupt journalists in their budget for public relations (PR).

In response, CCPC executive director Pachico Seares said the primary responsibility for curbing abuses of individual journalists is with every newsroom.

“We’re not unaware of this problem,” he said, but “we need proof.”

He urged news sources to alert media outlets if any of their journalists went out of line and sought money from news sources, so that the editors could watch these journalists more carefully, and in particular, check if their stories have not become one-sided and just PR propaganda for news sources who regularly paid them.

Documentation

CCPC member Ruben Almendras suggested a documentation of abuses of both news sources and the media, saying the basics of corporate governance are the same as those of press freedom—“accountability, (avoidance of) conflict of interest, transparency.”

He recommended that members of the press attend seminars on corporate governance.

Mandaue City public information officer Hidelito Pascual underscored the importance of media’s role in the community, saying, “Media does create a lot of perceptions in society.”

To show that they are trying to make themselves more accessible to the media, news sources announced the steps they have taken.

Regional Trial Court (RTC) Executive Judge Meinrado Paredes said he had designated an official spokesman, the first time the RTC has every done so.

RTC Judge Gabriel Ingles was named spokesman because he understands the problems of media and has even lectured to the media on libel laws, Paredes said.

“He is independent, and he is acceptable to all,” he said of Ingles.

For the judges, Ingles will talk to the media in situations when media are not allowed to be present, such as in cases involving children, drugs, and search warrants.

However, Paredes also said: “I told them (judges) there’s no gag rule. I also encourage judges to cooperate and talk to media.”

Police

In regard to information from the police, PSupt. Noel Gillamac, deputy police community relations and public information officer, said the chief of the Philippine National Police had issued a memorandum directing the police to be transparent to media.

“He gave us an order to have a PIO (public information officer) from the regional level down to the level of the police stations.”

“Our regional director is now planning to train the PIOs,” Gillamac said.

Seares was hopeful that with the CCPC dialogue, the news sources and the media could understand each other better and work together to promote transparency.

He said the media already know that news sources will always attempt to hide unflattering information.

So that journalists can do their work without the threat of being sued or killed hanging over their heads, he asked news sources to understand that it is media’s job to verify the information they receive from news sources and look for the truth.

SALN released

On the difficulty of justice beat reporters in getting the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) of public officials, following the refusal of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to release these documents, Sun.Star Cebu’s Rama reported that the SALNs were finally released last month.

The CCPC had invited Deputy Ombudsman Apostol to its 11th quarterly meeting last June in a bid to understand why he refused to release the SALN. This refusal to release the SALN was among the subjects covered in the documentary.

The SALNs were due last April 30 yet.

Complaints of sources

Against print media

• Not getting the facts right
• Reporting out of context
• Mis-slanting the focus
• Sensationalizing the story
• Displaying bad news more prominently than the good news
• Photos not flattering to the person in the news
• Acquittal of charges buried or forgotten altogether

Against broadcast media

• Sketchy and superficial reports
• Sources’ important points left out
• Quotes not cut in the right places
• Unreconciled data, unanswered questions

Against print columnists

• Biased columns
• Selection of facts to fit the conclusion of the column or editorial
• Reporting of quotes or details that invade privacy or smear reputation
• Sometimes faulty logic
• Uninteresting prose or style

Against broadcast commentators

• Use of gutter language
• Being biased and unfair
• Delivery in a shrill and loud voice, even when there’s no reason to shout
• Use of sound effects in commentary disparages the target, often unfairly
• Attacking of news sources without giving them the chance to air their side
• Criticism of officials of events beyond their control
• News source’s quotes are repeated “ad nauseam” purportedly to prove the commentator’s point

Complaints of media

Against news sources

• Stalling or hiding of unflattering information through cover-up, lying, coaching or
spinning, free lunch and other forms of bribery, bullying, intimidation or threat
• Centralized release, or centralized approval of release, of information
• Pre-screened press conferences
• Ban on release of information (through interviews: gag rule)
• Ban on access to documents, despite existing laws (government procurement
act, right to information provided by Constitution) providing otherwise
• Delayed access to documents through bureaucracy (editors’ letter sought)
• Media compelled by laws not to report certain things (which may be tantamount to prior restraint)

Recommendations

• That media, print and broadcast, continue efforts to improve standards and skills and uphold values of good journalism;
• That media be more tolerant to the critical or opposing view, opening their pages and giving broadcast time to the right to reply and corrections of errors;
• That journalists avoid conflicts of interest that invite suspicion of bias and bought journalism;
• That news sources adopt the avowed policy of transparency, stay open to media not just for the stories that are flattering to them but also to news that are not;
• That news sources don’t quickly attribute an unfavorable story or opinion to ill motive or spite of the journalist, whose job is to inform the media audience on issues of public interest;
• That journalists and news sources can still disagree on the handling of the news or the making of the commentary but without bitterness or hate;
• That problems of media coverage or access to news sources can be resolved amicably, without missing the common goal of serving the common good.

• Sun.Star Cebu leads the revival of the Cebu Citizens-Press Council, which had been in hibernation for about three years, with a meeting involving the 15 people (members of media, semi-media and the public) invited to become members of the council.
  An election is held and the following officers are elected: Dr. Pureza Oñate, president; Sabino Dapat, vice president; Atty. Jonathan Capanas, secretary; and Fr. Aloysius Cartagenas, treasurer.
• Atty. Pachico Seares, editor-in-chief of Sun.Star Cebu, presents the basic principles of the CCPC, saying a Code of Practice and Rules of Procedure still have to be drawn up.
• Members of the Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists (CFBJ) join the meeting because it is also the pre-assembly lunch of the CFBJ.

Feb. 3, 2006
2nd quarterly meeting, held at Cafe Georg, Banilad, Cebu City

• The acting executive director, through Cherry Ann T. Lim, reports that the MBF Cebu Press Center has opened as a receiving center for complaints addressed to the CCPC.
• Pachico Seares presents the CCPC’s Rules of Procedure and Code of Practice for approval by the CCPC en banc. The body approves them.
• A proposal is made to give the CCPC legal personality.
• Philippine Press Institute trustee Juan Mercado presents the ethical issue of the police parading crime suspects before media, asking if it is not a violation of their presumption of innocence. The suggestion is made to form an internal working group to come up with recommendations on this issue for submission to the next CCPC en banc.

June 28, 2006
3rd quarterly meeting, held at MBF Cebu Press Center, Lahug, Cebu City

• The acting executive director, through Cherry Ann T. Lim, reports that the CCPC website has been launched at www.cebucitizenspresscouncil.org with Sun.Star managing it.
• The CCPC en banc adopts in principle the committee report on the standards of identifying crime suspects that might be issued as an advisory to Cebu journalists. But the committee (composed of Mayette Tabada, Jerry Tundag and Joy Tumulak) is tasked to meet with the police authorities to get their thoughts on this issue.
• The CCPC en banc expresses support for two bills:

* House Bill 4835, amending the Sotto Law–which grants journalists the right not to divulge their news sources–to include journalists of broadcast stations, wire agencies and the Internet.
* House Bill 77, which limits the venue of civil and criminal libel against community print and broadcast journalists and newspapers and broadcast stations to the principal office of business of the publication or station.
* The CCPC agrees to send a resolution of support for the two bills to the Senate and to the local government units.

Sept. 21, 2006
Annual and 4th quarterly meeting, held at MBF Cebu Press Center, Lahug, Cebu City

• The acting executive director, through Cherry Ann T. Lim, reports that:

(a) CCPC has been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-stock, non-profit organization;
(b) The rules on the beneficiaries of the Cebu Media Medical Aid Fund, as well as a list of journalists in Cebu, has been uploaded on the CCPC website; and
(c) Letters have been sent to each senator requesting that the two House bills the CCPC voiced its support for in the last meeting be acted upon before the Senate adjourns that year; and that a tie-up was established with the Philippine Press Institute, whose board made the same appeal to the Senate.

• Since it is Press Freedom Week, representatives from the Church, business, government, law enforcement, academe and media have been invited, and a presentation is made on how the CCPC model works.
• Mayette Tabada, head of the committee tasked to study the issue of parading suspects before the media, reports on the commitments made by law enforcements following an Aug. 31, 2006 meeting between the committee and the police authorities regarding the proposed standards on describing or identifying crime suspects. After comments made by Monsignor Achilles Dakay and Minerva Newman, OIC of the Philippine Information Agency 7, on why priests, women and children who figure in wrongdoing or are victims of crime should not also be shielded from publicity, the CCPC decides to form a study group to propose standards on the coverage of priests, as well as women and children.
• Lens, the association of news photographers and videographers in Cebu, turns over the “Journalists in Action” photo exhibit–mounted at the MBF Cebu Press Center on the occasion of Cebu Press Freedom Week–to the Cebu News Workers Foundation.
• The convenors of the Cebu Media Legal Aid are introduced: Pachico Seares, Pedro Rosito, Elias Espinoza and Eddie Barrita.

Dec. 5, 2006
5th quarterly meeting, held at MBF Cebu Press Center, Lahug, Cebu City

Things reported at the meeting:

• The acting executive director, through Cherry Ann T. Lim, reports that:

(a) The Cebu Citizens-Press Council has opened a bank account and deposited there P30,000 in grant money that CCPC received from the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility intended for the study groups that will draft the media standards for the coverage of religious officials and women and children.
(b) Nine lawyers last Nov. 24, 2006 signed a commitment as volunteers to the Cebu Media Legal Aid organization, which will provide pro bono assistance to journalists with inadequate or no counsel in answering complaints for libel and other violations of law.

• To CCPC members, as well as a group of religious officials invited to the meeting, Mia Embalzado, committee chairperson, presents the committee report on the coverage of religion and religious officials, which was arrived at after consultations with stakeholders. The CCPC en banc then approves the standards.
• Pachico Seares, CCPC acting executive director, proposes an appeal for both media and government to show a greater sense of responsibility during the 12th Asean Summit that Cebu is expected to host later that month.