Media Literacy Seminar: The Reporter's Side

credits: Raymund Gines

“Journalism is a public trust, therefore they must take care of that trust,” a quote said by a journalist, Toni Tiemsin, during his speech in Media Literacy Seminar at Asia Pacific College. Now, if journalism is a public trust and the journalist take care of this, does it mean that all the reports are true? Or there’s another side of a news that is left unspoken?  

According to Mr. Webster (Merriam Webster Dictionary) “News is a new information about something”. It should be fresh and factual. Biases are not allowed in Journalism industry because in this case balance is one of the keys to avoid misunderstandings.

For others especially for teenagers, news might look boring but its not as easy as we think. Journalism is kind a threatening job. It is because one mistake can lead to destruction of one’s credibility, trust, career and life. So the reporters should choose their words wisely. We are all aware of the threats that a journalist may encounter as they broadcast the truth.

Toni Tiemsin admitted, that being in mass media industry doesn’t mean that you are free to say whatever you want the public to know. It goes the other way around. They have limits. There are times that not all information are being broadcast not just because of lack of time (though its one of the reasons) but also because they have to protect themselves. Sometimes they just follow their boss’s command when they want them to abolish an issue or articles. This is a tough situation because they have to choose between their career and advocacy. Then, another factor that contributes with this issues is having biases, which you can’t take away from a person. Sometimes, no matter how they try to avoid, their work seems to be bias. On the other hand, we can’t escape with the fact, that there are some people who are willing use their power and influence to control the media.

Credits: Raymund Gines

Mass media is not that easy nor free. There are so many ways to hide the truth. Being in this industry is like being in between of two bumping rocks. For the people behind the mass media, it’s a tough battle between their career and advocacy while for me, this shows that,” Every freedom has its limit.”