1001 and more reasons why we say NO to ABS
CBN
0003
FAIRNESS,
FIRST AND FOREMOST
by Ernesto M. Hilario
Business Mirror columnist
February 22, 2016
IN the past several weeks
members of the homegrown Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC), the third-largest religious denomination
in the Philippines, are said to have called for a boycott against a leading
broadcast network for its “biased reporting.” The reason: The “family” network,
they claim, has been blowing out of proportion the smallest incidents in the
INC’s internal affairs and making every move of expelled members worthy of
coverage and airtime.
The INC has made it clear that
it has not issued any official boycott orders. But it hastened to add that it
cannot prevent individual members from expressing their displeasure regarding
alleged one-sided reporting through both mainstream and social media.
Should the INC be defensive
and apologetic about the boycott?
It’s a religious organization,
after all, that has its own set of rules and is accountable to its own members.
Whether it authorizes a boycott or not is its own choice.
Perhaps the more important
question should be: Is the “family” network’s reporting biased and unfair?
Let’s look at what really happened.
One, the expelled members are
said to have repeatedly made premeditated moves to forcibly enter the INC
compound in Tandang Sora, always with the “family” network news crews and
ex-military personnel in tow.
Do these former INC members
have the right to be allowed inside? The INC doesn’t think so, since they have
been expelled, and have in fact filed a string of cases against the INC
leadership. The last thing the expelled members should expect is a welcome mat
at the INC’s private property. Still, the “family” network made a big to-do
about being denied entry.
Two, the “family” network
often gets exclusive access to the press conferences of the “tiwalag” members,
whose smallest complaints are made national news. It reported an expelled
member’s “plan” to file charges against PNP officers who were serving a validly
issued warrant of arrest, but the network has kept mum about their criminal
complaints against the INC having been dismissed by the Department of Justice
for being baseless. Isn’t this being choosy about what “news” to feed the
public?
Let the public be the judge.
The broadcast network isn’t
likely to publicly admit or reveal if it is aiding what seems to be a
demolition job against the INC by disgruntled ex-members and their financiers.
The least it should do is to demonstrate some semblance of fairness, by
allowing both parties to air their side.
SOURCE: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/fairness-first-and-foremost/
Let everyone know that INC members are just like any members of the society with their basic rights to express redress for what they perceive as unjust, biased and unprofessional way of delivering news reports.
ReplyDelete