Grieving Mother: Assessing the sensitivity of Aksyon

      The media have been very fond of interviewing family and other relatives of victims even if these people are still in grief. In one of the news published by TV 5 in their news program “Aksyon” (December 5, 2014), they interviewed the mother of a real estate agent who died from a shooting encounter. Majority of the interview were actually just clips of the mother crying. She was unable to speak properly because she could not stop crying.

      For me, the news team should have not included this in their report. First, I do not think it is essential to the story. The story regarding the death of the real estate agent can stand alone without having to show videos of his grieving mother. Second, it is insensitive to the family of the victim and a violation to their privacy. Article 7 Section 2 of the KBP Broadcast Code says, “Persons affected by tragedy or grief shall be treated with sensitivity, respect and discretion; they should be allowed to suffer their grief in private.”

      However, like many networks, aesthetic value is highly given importance. Videos of crying families of victims add a dramatic element to the story. For me, it is always important to be sensitive enough especially to those who are currently emotionally unstable. If I were in the place of the news team, I would consider whether or not this is needed to complete the story. If I was able to ask the side of the family, I would include it in my report without having to show (editor’s: in excessive duration) videos of them crying. We should always respect the privacy of these people. Using them to make our stories more dramatic is not only a form of disrespect. Turning news into drama or adding these kinds of dramatic elements to a report also challenges the truthfulness of the story.

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Anne-laswa at Anne-insensitibo ng Remate

            Kamakailan lamang ay nabulabog ang tanyag na networking site na Twitter, lalo na ang mga 6.8 na milyon na followers ni Anne Curtis, sa isang tweet umano ng artista. Laman ng tweet niya ang “Ngayon ko lang na-realize sobrang gwapo ni (Luis) Manzano! he is sooooooo hot.”

            Sa huli ay binawi din ito ng artista at sinabi na na-hack daw ang kanyang Twitter account.

        Kung sa totoo lang, hindi naman ito isang malaki bagay, ngunit dahil sa paraan ng pagbabalita ng Remate, isang tanyag na tabloid sa bansa, ay hindi maiiwasang bigyan ito ng pansin. Sa ulat ng Remate sa kanilang website noong ika-5 ng Disyembre, nakasulat ang headline na “Anne Curtis may pagnanasa kay Luis Manzano.” Kilala umano ang mga tabloid sa mga hindi kanais-nais na paglalahad ng balita, ngunit ang partikular na ulat na ito ay nasa ibang lebel na ng kalaswaan.

         Maaari nating sabihin na nagawa ito ng Remate upang makatawag pansin ng kanilang mga mambabasa. Kung ito man ang kanilang pakay, matagumpay nga sapagkat nakakatawag nga ng pansin ito sa kung sino mang mata’y naibaling sa headline na ito. Ngunit, napakamali nitong ginawa ng Remate sa napakaraming paraan.

         Unang-una, napaka-insensitibo ang kanilang paraan upang maipalam sa publiko ang nasabing insidente. Nakasalalay rito hindi lang isa, kundi dalawang tanyag na aktor, lalo na si Anne Curtis. Sa kanyang twitter account pa lang ay nakapagtala na siya ng 6.8M na followers. Hindi pa nabibilang diyan ang kanyang mga taga-hanga na walang account sa nasabing networking site. Kung nabasa man ito ng kanyang mga taga-hanga ay posibleng bumaba ang tingin nila sa nasabing aktres. Hindi lang kanyang mga taga-hanga ang mandidiri, kung hindi sa kung sino man siguro ang makabasa rito. Sa tingin ko, hindi umano isinaalang-alang ng Remate ang kapakanan at dignidad ni Anne sa ginawa nitong balita.

         Pangalawa, hindi lang ito insensitibo sa panig ni Anne, kundi pati sa mga mambabasa ng naturang balita. Ating tatandaan na ang report na ito nakahayag sa Internet na kung saan ay maraming tao, lalung-lalo na ang mga kabataan. Posibleng mabasa ng mga ito ang sensitibong pahayag ng Remate ukol sa artista. Ating tandaan na ang mga kabataan umano ay natututo sa mga bagay bagay na kanilang nakikita, at kung mabasa man nila ito, ay maaaring makaapekto ito sa kanila sa isang negatibong paraan.

         Pangatlo, hindi lang ito nakakaepkto kay Anne, kundi pati sa kaniyang pamilya at ang kanyang istasyon, ABS-CBN. Hindi malabong mainis o sumama ang loob ng kaniyang pamilya sa tabloid dahil sa hindi kanais-nais na pagpapahayag nito ng balita. Maaari ding makaapekto ito sa hanapbuhay ni Anne bilang artista. Puwedeng bumaba ang mga ratings ng kaniyang mga show o mawalan ito ng gig.

            Hindi kapani-paniwala na hinayaan ng editor ng Remate na mai-publish ito sa kanilang website o dyaryo. Napakamali at napakalayo ng mensahe ng headline mula sa balita. Taliwas ito sa saysay ng buong istorya.

           Hindi dapat hinahayaang mangyari ang ganitong mga bagay. Dapat inihayag ng Remate ang katotohanan at hindi kalokohan. Mas mabuti na idiretso nila ang mga mambabasa sa balita at hindi pa nila ito lituhin. Huwag dapat nilang balewalain ang mga inilathalang code of ethics bilang mga journalist o mamamahayag.

             Hindi ko masasabing taga-hanga ako ni Anne Curtis, pero bilang isang tao, alam ko kung ano ang kanyang mararamdaman. Kung minsan ay mas inuuna pa ng mga ng ilan ang kagustuhan nilang kumita kaysa sa kapakanan ng iba. Bilang isang journalist, trabaho nating ipahayag ang katotohanan sa mamamayan at hindi sila linlangin sa isang bagay na wala namang katotohanan.

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Sensitivity, is it a thing of the past?

            From November 25, to 30, reports about a school teacher sexually abusing his student started filling up the internet through multiple news websites such as wnd.com, truthrevolt.org,  lifenews.com, and even big news network companies such as lasvegas.cbslocal.com. Well, these sites are not famous locally, but eventually, it made its way through social networking sites which we, Filipinos are addicted to.

            What made me write this article is because of the unethical treatment of these multiple sites on the infamous case. They elaborately explained to the readers how the teacher constantly sexually abused his 15 year-old student, adding that his colleagues repeatedly saw both the 29 –year-old teacher and his student spend time with each other even after class hours.

            All of these sites even published the names of the abusive teacher, his minor student, and the school they are in.

            What made this case even more gruesome is when the teacher found out that the student was pregnant; he began an act of abortion in a way that you could never imagine. Surprisingly, the news websites described the incident in full detail.

            Is sensitivity and censorship not a factor in determining whether an article is worth being published? Is ethics a thing of the past?

            My exact point is that sensitivity and censorship to the readers is now rarely seen today and may be considered as an extinct norm. Why? Because websites such as those stated earlier prove it. We may be forgetting the fact that the internet is so open to everyone that no matter what age you are, as long as you know how to access a device connected to it, you’d see the dirty world the internet provides.

            To further elaborate my point, a perfect example is the fact that when the news broke out because one of the school’s officials released a statement about this, the victim began to be the butt of jokes by her classmates around the school. What’s worse is that she again became a victim of sexual harassment. Her classmates even call her a “slut” and “whore.” As a result, the student became emotionally distressed, and even thought of taking her own life.

            Considering that anyone can read such articles or reports, this may trigger things in a way that it can give the reader a feeling of lack of safety or mistrust to people around him or her. The perpetrator in the case was a teacher, someone who young students or people look up to, but again, this teacher is a not that kind of person. Readers, especially the young ones may develop a “mean world” syndrome where they incur lack of trust against people who surround them.

            Lack of censorship, even self-censorship, among articles may really lead to bad results. It can cause humiliation, or trauma to the victim’s families, or threat against the perpetrators.

            So to answer my question, is sensitivity and censorship not a factor in determining whether an article is worth being published? Is ethics a thing of the past?

            Seemingly, yes.

            The media today is overrun my unethical practitioners who seems to be careless and insensitive. I’m not saying that articles like this should not be published; I’m just saying that a little censorship and sensitivity should be applied because not all of us have the same way of thinking. We may consider these as acceptable, or also unacceptable, what matters most is that we deliver the news properly, without anyone being stepped on.

           

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(Editor's note: As much as we can, we do not support censorship of news items. However, the editor believes that the blogger refers to self-regulation or self-censorship with respect to sensitivity in the publication of details, and not government censorship.)