Media Ethics

There are 12 posts filed in Media Ethics (this is page 1 of 2).

Is This the Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy? The Bong Revilla Saga and the News Media

It was a meticulous, well-coordinated script, orchestrated down to the tiniest detail, such as what shirt Sen. Bong Revilla would wear on the day he would surrender. It should be white to symbolize purity. Or maybe innocence. It should be imprinted with a Bible verse, so that a predominantly Christian nation would see. The news […]

Fastest finger first: Police tweets about Boston bombing suspect’s arrest

Journalists depend on news sources for information. Quoting official sources also provides legitimacy to news reports. These official sources now use social media, and Twitter functions as another avenue for journalists to monitor information from sources. On Friday, April 19, as the news media and the public closely monitored the manhunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the second suspect in […]

When media coverage of a tragedy becomes tragic: The Boston bombings

In this post, I collected what I thought were very insightful and interesting analyses of how the media—and that includes both traditional media and social media—covered the Boston bombings. These pieces provide a much needed reflection amid the information chaos journalists and citizens are finding themselves in. People crave for information during a crisis, and […]

Plagiarism pandemic: Is copying contagious?

It is shocking, unthinkable, and embarrassing, that a senator of the Republic of the Philippines will deliver a speech, for everyone to hear, with passages copied from a blog that everyone with an internet connection can access. High-profile copying, however, is no longer an original act. In an online world overloaded with information, where cutting-and-pasting […]

Noynoy, Noli and the norm of objectivity

President Noynoy Aquino has been criticized for criticizing Noli de Castro, a former vice president and an anchor of ABS-CBN’s news program TV Patrol. It was very rude, even childish, others said, for the President to devote parts of his speech for TV Patrol’s silver anniversary to his tirades against the former vice president. Others […]

The media and the demigod named Willie

The media, old and new, have been understandably harsh on Willie Revillame, a former has-been television host who found a resuscitated career through variety shows that combined sleaze and dole-outs. He again earned the ire of many people, including those from the same business where he belongs, for making fun of a boy who was […]

Trial by publicity?

Former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes remained a strong force behind former president Gloria Arroyo even during the series of corruption scandals that rocked her nine-year administration. Now being accused of corruption, the former defense secretary chose to end his life than to continue defending himself. His death is a tragedy and some […]

Hating the news media?

This shorter piece is lifted from my final exam response for my Media and Politics (J9018) course. The news media enjoyed a positive image at the wake of the Watergate scandal in the 1970s (Gronke & Cook, 2007). That was the last time evaluations of the news media peaked. This year, a Gallup poll showed […]

Covering themselves: When news people become news makers (Part 1)

First of Three Parts The hostage-taker, a dismissed policeman, was in a strategic location. He parked the bus in the middle of a wide street, assuring him of a 360-degree view should anyone attempt to come close and rescue the 25 people on board. Then, as night finally crept in, shots rang. “I shot two […]

Covering themselves: When news people become news makers (Part 2)

Second of Three Parts The day before the government committee released its investigation report about the hostage-taking, the websites of the country’s two leading newspapers highlighted the debate on whether the report should be released locally first or be submitted to Chinese officials first out of courtesy. The Philippine Star focused on a senator’s comment […]