Cebu Citizens-Press Council

Conversation: Cebu Media-Academe Forum
Forum 1

Topic: Media Coverage
Date: February 27, 2015
Venue: St. Theresa’s College

Panelists
Joseph Tubilan (Features Editor, Superbalita [Cebu])
Bency Ellorin (Editor, Cebu Daily News)
Razel Cuizon (Reporter, Sun.Star Cebu)
Carlo Lorenciana (Business Reporter, The Freeman)
Dr. Louise Librando (Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Southwestern University)

School participants
St. Theresa’s College Cebu
University of San Jose-Recoletos
Southwestern University
Cebu Normal University

Rationale

The event is the first in a series of fora organized by the Cebu Association of Communication Educators (CACE) and Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC). It is a dialogue between the academe and media to make media practitioners aware of the concerns of the students, and to serve as an avenue for the media practitioners and educators to address these concerns. It is also for the convergence of the traditional and modern practice of news gathering, writing, and reporting that will be very useful for future aspiring practitioners. This discussion shall be uploaded in the CCPC website, which will serve as a stepping stone in tapping students to become better media practitioners. (By Nestor Ramirez, Chairman, Department of Journalism and Communications, University of San Jose-Recoletos)

Issues Raised

1. Is it all right to hoard news stories, that is, gather stories and submit them only later for publication?

• Yes. Some news companies do not air news on weekends, so even if reporters have gathered the news, this cannot be aired until the following week.
• Yes, reporters need to stock up on the news, so that on the lean news days, like the weekends, they can still have stories to submit for publication.

2. May a reporter share with another reporter who came late to a press conference or event the material he gathered during the earlier part of the press conference or event?

• Some reporters share material with reporters from rival news outlets because they also benefited from such favors in the past, or for other reasons. But as much as possible, the information shared should be those contained in press releases only.
• Even if reporters share research material, they still compete in terms of the presentation of the facts and material in their stories.

3. May reporters accept gifts from news sources? Wouldn’t this influence their news gathering?

• Gifts are acceptable during birthdays and Christmas.
• There is a danger that reporters who receive gifts will rely only on the information given to them in press releases or press conferences by those who gave them the gifts. Reporters should also gather data outside of press releases or conferences, and ask questions which the speakers don’t bring up during press conferences.

4. What can media outlets do to improve the internship experience?

• The internship program should be standardized so students from different schools can experience the same quality of exposure in the field.
• The Code of Ethics should be part of the introductory talk of any company in the internship, so the interns know the do’s and don’ts of being a journalist.

5. What can interns do to make the most out of their internship?

• Interns should be punctual in attending events for coverage. They should do some preliminary research on the event they are asked to cover.
• Interns should coordinate with the senior reporter in the field in gathering material and writing stories. They should dig deep and not rely on information from press releases.
• Even if they are not full-fledged reporters, interns should be assertive in getting information from news sources and try not to be intimidated by these.