The proposal of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) to accredit bloggers so they can participate in Malacañang press conferences may be well-intentioned, but hardly conducive to balanced news reporting.
At first glance, the goal is to democratize news gathering and allow bloggers in social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, to inform the public about current government policies and programs.
After all, it is true that social media probably reaches more people now more than the tri-media consisting of print and radio-TV broadcasts.
So why not give bloggers as much right as those in broadcast and print media to keep the public up-to-date on government pronouncements
But the PCOO proposal has also given rise to fears that the bloggers who would be accredited by the agency may only be those who would rather toe the government position on current issues and concerns rather than write objective reports.
Worse, the presence of social media influencers in Palace pressers could be a not-so-subtle move to counter those in mainstream media considered “biased” against the government?
But let us listen to veteran journalists who recently weighed in on this issue.
For outgoing Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., himself a former newspaper publisher and columnist, “there is no journalism on social media. News must be in print and on the air to make it so expensive you make sure it is the truth before running or airing it…”
Press freedom on social media does not involve the steep price of printing or broadcast, editors and reporters on regular pay and is cost-free self-indulgence with one hand.
Vergel Santos, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, was even more scathing: “A blogger decides for himself or for herself. A journalist does not…A journalist, apart from being put through a rigorous training in the discipline and skills … [their] works are put through a system of checks to ensure that the information disseminated is truthful, well contextualized and not malicious.”
And the ultimate put-down: “Bloggers don’t understand those things.”
Be that as it may, what do we make of the answer of incoming PCOO Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles, who used to be the agency’s social media head, when asked if the incoming administration would allow all journalists to cover future Marcos events in person.
Cruz-Angeles said they would “look at existing policies first…We have to wait and see,pending the review of all existing policies.”
Does that mean the Palace would really be selective in choosing who would be asked to attend media briefings and perhaps shut the door to known critics?
