“Not all bloggers do journalism. Many in fact don’t. But when they do, they should be ethical.”
But who decides what’s ethical anyway? Traditional journalism, after long years of practice, still does not have a uniform code of ethics applied across all borders. There are still a lot of gray areas. Most of the time journalists are made to answer for any false information they spread through libel suits against them and the network/ publication they represent. Or the audience simply stops trusting them.
But how about bloggers who practice journalism?
It’s been said that the internet is full of unreliable information. And blogs provide everyone a chance to publish information- whether true or false, good or bad. And so it doesn’t come as a surprise why many are still wary of this new medium. Because who can tell whose blogs are to be trusted?
In fact, even journalists who do blogs are asked why they do so. Is it an extension of their work? Or do they post things their papers/networks do not allow them to? If journalists do commentaries on their post, doesn’t it go against their goal of being neutral on issues?
Another thing said is that blogging is a powerful tool of freedom of expression for ordinary people. Some might say it’s not as big in the Philippines as in countries where the press is censored; the Philippines being one of the freest press in Asia. But for those whose freedom to report in this democracy has been questioned, blogging has also been a welcome medium.
But how powerful can a tool for the ordinary people be when only 11 million out of the 86 million Filipinos are internet users? That’s not even half of the population.
But who decides what’s ethical anyway? Traditional journalism, after long years of practice, still does not have a uniform code of ethics applied across all borders. There are still a lot of gray areas. Most of the time journalists are made to answer for any false information they spread through libel suits against them and the network/ publication they represent. Or the audience simply stops trusting them.
But how about bloggers who practice journalism?
It’s been said that the internet is full of unreliable information. And blogs provide everyone a chance to publish information- whether true or false, good or bad. And so it doesn’t come as a surprise why many are still wary of this new medium. Because who can tell whose blogs are to be trusted?
In fact, even journalists who do blogs are asked why they do so. Is it an extension of their work? Or do they post things their papers/networks do not allow them to? If journalists do commentaries on their post, doesn’t it go against their goal of being neutral on issues?
Another thing said is that blogging is a powerful tool of freedom of expression for ordinary people. Some might say it’s not as big in the Philippines as in countries where the press is censored; the Philippines being one of the freest press in Asia. But for those whose freedom to report in this democracy has been questioned, blogging has also been a welcome medium.
But how powerful can a tool for the ordinary people be when only 11 million out of the 86 million Filipinos are internet users? That’s not even half of the population.
7 comments:
Should we trust professional journalists in the first place? Journalism for me is presentation of facts based on someone's perspective. Facts are facts but there could be different interpretations. And journalist are there to write, based on their views.
Journalism is not like technical writing where everything is supported by known theories and proofs.
Journalism expresses only views of the writer. This is why blogs is a good medium since it is accessible to more people. Anybody can post his views. And by rule of probability, if there'll more views, the better we approach truth.
In countries where there is a big community of bloggers, more often times the information their present has become more reliable.
As they say "there is strength in number".
Should we trust professional journalists in the first place? Journalism for me is presentation of facts based on someone's perspective. Facts are facts but there could be different interpretations. And journalist are there to write, based on their views.
Journalism is not like technical writing where everything is supported by known theories and proofs.
Journalism expresses only views of the writer. This is why blogs is a good medium since it is accessible to more people. Anybody can post his views. And by rule of probability, if there'll more views, the better we approach truth.
In countries where there is a big community of bloggers, more often times the information their present has become more reliable.
As they say "there is strength in number".
Since the Internet is a FREEDOM WALL for everyone,we can't trust the credibility of the "news"...
views of journalists can be addressed using Net as a medium..but we must be cautious of the stand of a journalist... please remember that here in the Net, we can't simply draw a line with a hope that prying (i just coined the term for subjective journalists)will not cross it.
Caution should be taken because journalists who threw their views will not be held accountable regardless of the impact to the community..they just receive criticisms...
On the other hand, it's a thrill to a journalist to work without fear of losing his/her job our of expressing views...that makes the Net an easier medium to express their views with (this is parallel with La Solidaridad once a upon a time, when journalists use pen names and incorrect publishing house address..)
The bottom line is, bloggers should weigh blogs posted by journalists against accepted facts/doubts casted on other medium such as newspapers and television..
Thanks marieton for a question: "Whose blogs do we trust?"
trust no one blogs EXCEPT you knew the credibility of the blogger himself/herself.
bert from doha, qatar.
Since the Internet is a FREEDOM WALL for everyone,we can't trust the credibility of the "news"...
views of journalists can be addressed using Net as a medium..but we must be cautious of the stand of a journalist... please remember that here in the Net, we can't simply draw a line with a hope that prying (i just coined the term for subjective journalists)will not cross it.
Caution should be taken because journalists who threw their views will not be held accountable regardless of the impact to the community..they just receive criticisms...
On the other hand, it's a thrill to a journalist to work without fear of losing his/her job our of expressing views...that makes the Net an easier medium to express their views with (this is parallel with La Solidaridad once a upon a time, when journalists use pen names and incorrect publishing house address..)
The bottom line is, bloggers should weigh blogs posted by journalists against accepted facts/doubts casted on other medium such as newspapers and television..
Thanks marieton for a question: "Whose blogs do we trust?"
trust no one blogs EXCEPT you knew the credibility of the blogger himself/herself.
bert from doha, qatar.
Since the Internet is a FREEDOM WALL for everyone,we can't trust the credibility of the "news"...
views of journalists can be addressed using Net as a medium..but we must be cautious of the stand of a journalist... please remember that here in the Net, we can't simply draw a line with a hope that prying (i just coined the term for subjective journalists)will not cross it.
Caution should be taken because journalists who threw their views will not be held accountable regardless of the impact to the community..they just receive criticisms...
On the other hand, it's a thrill to a journalist to work without fear of losing his/her job our of expressing views...that makes the Net an easier medium to express their views with (this is parallel with La Solidaridad once a upon a time, when journalists use pen names and incorrect publishing house address..)
The bottom line is, bloggers should weigh blogs posted by journalists against accepted facts/doubts casted on other medium such as newspapers and television..
Thanks marieton for a question: "Whose blogs do we trust?"
trust no one blogs EXCEPT you knew the credibility of the blogger himself/herself.
bert from doha, qatar.
i'm sorry ms. pacheco for the duplicated posts...i didn't mean to flood with your blogsite..the reason is, the SITE kept informing me that my gmail account isn't correct,so my comment will not be posted..so i kept on re-entering my account..then i gave up..too late when i checked the blog few minutes later, i found out that four of my attempts posted succeessfully...
oh, my fault...sincerely, i have a feeling that some of our journalists might find my comment annoying and it will look like i am a newbie/neophyte in the Net particularly in blogging...
having high respect to the journalists, kindly accept my apology for the duplicate posts..if i can find way to delete unwanted posts, i will..
thanks ms. pacheco..and God bless..
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