Vulgar parody news on the free-for-all Internet

            We cannot deny the emerging trend of Internet use today, especially in our generation. With it, the rise of citizen journalism is gaining ground: You Scoop, I-Patrol, etc. There are advantages: less expenses for media companies since news is handed to them by citizens, more awareness brought by citizen journalism and others. There are also disadvantages which include the assumed degradation of the quality of journalistic reporting and professionalism, reliance on the quantity of news item over quality, and many others.

I came across a Youtube user named TomoNews Philippines, its user description was ‘ang iyong one-stop source ng pinaka-nakaka-entertain na news sa Internet, animation-style! Panoorin ang aming mga animated videos, na nagmumula sa mga viral headlines sa bawat sulok ng mundo, mula celebrity news at politics, mga eskandalo at katangahan ng mga kriminal - at marami pang iba!’ As a journalist, I am insulted by how the user treated news lightly. I will not judge the way the user gives news but I will provide a constructive criticisms of one of its playlists titled ‘What The Freak’ which supposedly included some kind of ‘news’ around the world.

TomoNews Philippines, I researched had counterparts in other countries, so I realized they must be some kind of organization of YouTube users providing entertainment news using animation. There should be no problem about how they presented the news but the content of the supposedly ‘news’ was rated X enough that it should not be freely accessible to anyone. I am not merely talking about my opinion but the accepted moral values of Filipinos. I will show more of that later.

The playlists I was talking contained the list of following news (not complete):

Lalaking teacher, nag-alok ng magandang grade kapalit ng sex!

Doktor sa New Mexico, naglalasing at nakikipag-sex sa oras ng trabaho!

Abugado, gumamit ng hypnosis para maka-sex ang mga babaeng kliyente!

Grand Theft Auto V: may kontrobersiyal na violence at sex scenes!

Russian na lalake, ginawang 'human platypus' ang kanyang sarili!

Mag-syota, naaresto para sa pag-sex sa kotse sa harap ng jail!

Police officer, pinakita ang kanyang private parts sa mga traffic stops!

Aussie na kolehiyala, nahuling gumagawa ng porn sa university library!

Lasing na estudyante, nahuling nakikipag-sex sa tupa!

British na lalake, ginamitan ng super glue ang vajayjay ng girlfriend!

Porn website, ginamit ang Facebook photos ng isang estudyante sa UK!

Lalaking nurse, hinipuan ang isang naka-sedate na lalaking pasyente!

VIDEO: Mga doktor, humugot ng vibrator mula sa puwit ng isang lalake!

VIDEO: Threesome sa loob ng isang hatchback, napahinto dahil sa fireworks!

Beteranong firefighter, nakipag-sex sa walong babae sa firehouse!

Pervert, naglalagay ng dildo sa kalsada, para sa mga batang babae!

Mag-lola sa UK, nahuling nagse-sex sa public toilet si Tigger!

VIDEO: Lungfish, tinanggal ng mga doktor mula sa puwit ng Brazilian na lalake!

German na babae, ginamit ang breast milk para nakawan ang pharmacy!

VIDEO: Chinese na mag-syota, nagsagawa ng oral sex sa public bus!

Pulis, inalok na amuyin at dilaan ang paa ng isang traffic offender!

VIDEO: Chinese na mag-syota, nag-sex sa harap ng mga tao!

Lalake sa UK, maaaring makulong dahil sa Lolita manga at anime!

Porn star Rebecca More, magsasagawa ng "sex tour" sa UK!

Mag-BF, nag-sex sa dagat; na-stuck ang penis sa loob ng vagina!

Lalake, nakipag-sex sa isang stuffed toy horse sa Wal-Mart!

Lalake sa Washington, nakipag-sex daw sa 700+ na sasakyan!

Unfortunately whatever way you want to look at it, this is a classic example of a sensationalized and exaggerated information-giving and all the superlatives of ethical lapses.

Yes, Filipinos are now on the verge of liberating young minds but we still have our conservative beliefs in mind. Though they are not covered by the ethics of television (parens patriae) as a supplementary device for education purposes and development of children, they should keep in mind that anyone can access Internet. As communicators we should always uphold accepted moral values in the society, not degrading it by offering sensationalize news.

The social responsibility among others is more important than merely providing entertainment for the viewers. I will also used freedom in a different context. Freedom is freedom from government and other restrictions, but in this critique we can see that there was an abuse of the freedom offered. It involved the corruption of young minds who will view the presented news and it also involved the irresponsible practice of journalists/communicators in providing news.

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A Rape Story: Balancing complete truthful reporting and sensationalism

UPDATED! New blog appended below!

Journalists are tasked to report news daily; to deliver news, to inform and to entertain. But what comes out of the newsroom, particularly television, is a rush of who will do this and that. With this kind of environment, always running and hurrying, someone along the way will make a mistake –professionally or ethically –but we [journalists] should always keep in mind that we are supplying information to millions of people and that we need not make mistakes.

I was browsing on YouTube when I came across the ABS-CBN TV Patrol News published last August 18, 2014 entitled ‘The family of the latest rape victim calls for justice. A woman in Calumpit, Bulacan was raped then killed’. I thought it was a simple rape case, and then I found out that yes it was a simple rape case with an ethical lapse of reporting.

TV Patrol News is aired from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm when many watchers are having dinner. And by merely describing how the rape was done, it can invoke a loss of appetite. Reporter Doland Castro specifically described, “…halinhinang hinalay ng higit sa dalawang lalaki ang biktima bago tuluyang sinaksak ng screw driver at tinalian pa ang leeg ng kadena…”

It is always important to present accurate reporting at the same time upholding truth telling and providing the right basic information. However, when sensationalism is involve by adding unnecessary details in order to boost ratings or appeal to the emotion of the people, you become guilty of violating the journalist’s code of ethics. Whereupon,

“I shall scrupulously report and interpret the news, taking care not to suppress essential facts nor to distort the truth by omission or improper emphasis. I recognize the duty to air the other side and the duty to correct substantive errors promptly.”

            In order to avoid such mistakes, we should always check and recheck news stories, taking care to omit unnecessary details that will only appeal to the emotion of the people. When reporting a rape case it is enough to state the who, what, where, when, why and a little of how. Since rape cases sometimes result to more traumas to the victims when repeated descriptively, we must refrain from doing so.

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Morbid Representation of a Rape-Slay Case by ABS CBN

On August 18, 2014, ABS CBN covered a rape-slay case at Calumpit, Bulacan. The images and descriptions shown in the aired report were the ones that caught my attention.

At first, they showed pictures of the victim that they got from Facebook. Naturally, I assumed that the next pictures are the same but I was wrong. They showed the actual picture of the girl in the actual crime scene without even blurring the content. She was faced down and her head was submerged in the water. This already violated Article 24. Sec. 3 (Violence shall not be encouraged and horror shall be minimized. Morbid and gory details are prohibited.) of the KBP broadcast code. Yes morbid is relative to people but I did consider that particular picture as very morbid and a very wrong representation of the victim.

     

            Second, with the same violation, the way Doland Castro relayed the crime to the public.

Doland: At dito nga po sa Baranggay Sapangbayan, halinhinang hinalay ng mahigit sa  dalawang lalaki ang biktima bago tuluyang sinaksak gamit and screwdriver at tinalian pa ang leeg ng kadena.

            Rape cases are very sensitive subjects to air. So please practice sensitivity. Again, morbidity is relative.

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