Public Apathy Toward Repression

Media’s bigger problem
Public Apathy Toward Repression
By Don Gil K. Carreon

Then Presidential Proclamation 1017 was declared, placing the country under a state of emergency, there was little public outcry.

Even when Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the government was planning to issue guidelines on how media should conduct themselves, not much concern was heard beyond concerned journalists’ groups.

It became apparent that more than the threats to free expression, the media were faced with the greater problem of public indifference to their plight.

Such apathy can be seen in the cases of journalists who have been killed. Although the killings are supposed to be the highest form of attack against media freedom, as this directly muzzles free expression and propagates a culture of silence, news of such incidents generally receive a lukewarm response from the public.

In the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility’s (CMFR) seminar titled, “Training of Trainors: Safety and Alerts Reporting,” held Sept. 28-30 in Davao City, the organization’s executive director, Melinda Quintos de Jesus, said this indifference to attacks against and  threats to press freedom shows the public’s growing weariness of media excesses, a trend that will continue unless journalists show they can practice their craft responsibly.

According to De Jesus, practicing ethical journalism is the best defense against these attacks.

“If journalists do the right thing, they will be protected by the people. There will be public outrage when someone is killed. There will be action at the highest level because it is outrageous that a good journalist is killed,” De Jesus said.

But De Jesus stressed this does not mean that it is justifiable to kill irresponsible journalists.

Capacity building
Another way of defending oneself against threats is by going on the offensive through alerts reporting.

Alerts, which are reports on attacks against and threats to press freedom, are an effective way of calling attention to violations of free expression and speech.

Roby Alampay, Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) executive director, told the forum that community journalists are better equipped as alerts writers since they are more familiar with the press freedom cases in their areas. This, in turn, will produce more comprehensive alerts that will give international press freedom groups a better idea of the dangers faced by journalists in the country.

This was displayed when the group produced an alert on the recent development on the killing of Aklan broadcaster Herson Hinolan. The suspect in Hinolan’s slay had eluded arrest, according to Augusto Tolentino, Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) chair in Kalibo, Aklan, and Nestor Burgos, an Iloilo-based correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Although most participants were aware of the Hinolan case, the proximity of Tolentino and Burgos to the event where the killing happened gave them knowledge which the others were not privy to.

Useful pressure
De Jesus said one of the purposes of the seminar was to impart participants with the knowledge and skills for writing alerts so that CMFR could rely on them whenever threats to press freedom occur in their areas.

“We want their help in cases where we cannot go over immediately,” De Jesus said.

De Jesus said she hopes the participants retain the energy in writing alerts and continue communicating with CMFR.

Alampay admitted that there is as yet no way of determining how effective the alerts are in deterring threats.  However, he said that in many countries, alerts have been proven useful in pressuring governments to provide solutions to problems related to press freedom.

“When the Committee to Protect  Journalists and Reporters Sans Frontiéres branded the Philippines as the second most dangerous place for journalists, the government responded by creating Task Force Newsmen,” Alampay said. “And we would like to think that we had a hand in that happening.”

He added that aside from teaching participants how to write alerts, SEAPA also wants to develop a separate group composed of lawyers who are dedicated to the protection of press freedom.

Professionalization
The effort to improve professionalism among journalists is meant to show the capacity of media for self-regulation and thus lessen the opportunities for state intervention in media affairs.

According to De Jesus, while journalism is technically not a profession—as there is no government regulatory body for it—the effort to professionalize shows that the press is trying to improve the quality of service it offers to the public.

For example, the KBP had passed a memorandum requiring radio broadcasters to obtain accreditation before being given airtime.

Professionalization can also contribute to the safety of journalists. In the CMFR’s analysis of journalist killings during the Arroyo administration, it was found that 22 of the 28 killed were radio broadcasters, of which only 25 percent had accreditation from KBP.

Passing on the knowledge
De Jesus expressed the hope that participants, aside from learning about safety in the profession, would pass on the information in their respective areas and organizations.

Yvonne Chua, University of the Philippines journalism professor and the seminar’s safety and security resource person, said that in imparting their knowledge, participants must craft training modules that would cater to the specific safety problems that confront jour-nalists in their areas.

Participants from Palawan, for example, planned a safety training seminar that seeks to inform the public of the usefulness of the Citizen Press Council as a way of addressing complaints against journalists.

Tentatively titled “Never Again,” derived from the group’s wish to make the killing of broadcaster Fernando Batul the last in Palawan, the proposed seminar  promotes safety by giving an option to grievances being raised against the media’s excesses, thereby lessening the possibility of violent retaliation.

The Philippines as model
According to De Jesus, the Philippines is slowly moving away from its libertarian image due to the growing perception that government must become more actively involved in the affairs of the press.

“We are now at a point where we have moved away from the constitutional provision guaranteeing freedom of expression,” De Jesus said.

Despite the problems facing media in the Philippines, it remains the freest in the Southeast Asian region.

“Whether for good or for bad, the entire region is looking at the Philippines as a model,” Alampay said.

That, however, is something that is increasingly becoming difficult for the country to live up to.

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