Naming the victim

JEERS TO several media organizations for  naming the 14-year-old boy who died in a hazing incident allegedly perpetuated by a gang in Bulacan province last June 23.

In their reports, which all came out online on June 26 and in print on June 27, the Manila Bulletin, The Philippine Daily Inquirer and The Manila Times mentioned the full name of the victim, who was declared dead on June 24 due to internal bleeding.

The Times report even stated the grade level, school and address of the victim.

The Philippine Star released a similar report on June 26 but it did not reveal the victim’s name.

GMA-7’s 24 Oras and TV5’s Aksyon, meanwhile, released a video report in its June 26 episode which, aside from naming him, also showed the face of the victim. The 24 Oras report, furthermore, named the victim’s mother.

The video reports were also uploaded online, each accompanied by an article published on their news websites: GMA News Online (“Teen dies due to alleged hazing in Bulacan,” June 26, 2015) and InterAksyon.com (“14-year old dies in Bulacan after hazing by True Brown Style gang,” June 27, 2015). Both articles mentioned the name of the victim.

ABS-CBN also covered the story. While it did not disclose the victim’s name in it online article (“Teen dies after alleged hazing in Bulacan,” June 26, 2015), it did, however, do so in the June 26 TV Patrol report.

The Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility (CMFR) Ethics Manual states that “the media must take the greatest care to assure and observe the protection of minors and children, and must refrain from identifying them or showing them in TV footage or in still photos so they can be identified.”

The CMFR Ethics Manual adds: “Do not divulge their [minors and children] addresses, their parents’ names or any other information that can identify them.”