Group 4 Members:

Christine Mae J. Levida

Sharie Manalansang
Sebastian Theodore Miranda
Justerini Sofia Montenegro

M5L1: Short Response Answers

1. What did the speaker discuss about the Philippine press and journalistic freedom?

In today's time, the media plays a vital role in today's society that we live in. It has been
widely used in different parts of the world to deliver information, awareness, and especially one
way of communication. In other words, the media helps keep the public informed about what is
going on and enables people's lives by instilling their criteria and viewpoints. The media is
democracy's sword arm. The media serves as a watchdog, protecting the public interest from
wrongdoing and raising public awareness (Role of Media in Society, 2019). Furthermore, media
ethics basically refers to standards of behavior appropriate to media practice wherein you have to
care about what you right and broadcast because it might impact people's beliefs and destroy
people's reputation if you practice unethical (Teodoro, 2020).

Concerning the PILS we have watched, the speaker stated that Philippine Press is a
powerful platform with many highly skilled practitioners. However, unfortunately, some
problems still occur and affect the Philippine Press. The video with Prof. Luis Teodoro mainly
revolved around the Philippine press, fake news, and alternative facts. One of the problems
discussed was failing to provide context or conflict reporting, meaning reporters or journalists
didn't have enough context or background information about the particular issue being broadcast;
as a consequence, it may lead to enabling people to understand what is going on that may even
lead to misinformation to the public. The second issue discussed was disinformation; according
to the video, truth-telling and being factual to the public where some of the issues media ethics is
currently facing, and we're contrary to the principles of media ethics, specifically in truth-telling.
In conclusion, the PILS video mainly discussed the issue of media ethics that we're currently
facing; misinformation, false accusations, and distorted news were some of the results of failing
to comply with the principles of media ethics.

2. What are the ethical problems that negatively impact Filipino journalism in today’s
time?
 According to Professor Luis Teodoro (2020), under Marcos's regime and the
implementation of martial law before, they shut down media and arrested journalists who
committed violations of their rules; additionally, within the Duterte Regime, about 12 journalists
died. He mentioned that the majority of the journalists now are thinking about what they should
report and whatnot. Journalists are scared of being shut down and are careful about what they
should present in the media, and they also think that it could lead to misinformation to the
citizens. An example of that is some people believe that the earth is still flat, while some may
not. Within this example, journalists should also consider fairness in their reports.
There are dilemmas in the Intellectual public series, such as the internet age, speed versus
accuracy, and conflict of interest (Teodoro, 2020). But there are real-world examples that the
Professor stated. For instance, he said a 60 million contract between the government and the
broadcaster. Professor also noted that Ramon Tulfo expressed that Filipino workers are lazy. But
contrary to the Professor's opinion, he said that Filipinos are in demand in other countries.
Another incident is that there has been a shooting and the news team arrived late, then
they see a wounded fellow, but instead of calling the police and bringing the fellow to hospital,
they are desperate to get the news out of that injured person. The interviewee should also
consider the convenience, and in getting the information, respect should be present. Journalists
have this thing called "embargo" and is not being followed by some. Furthermore, journalists
need to be truth-telling, compassionate, independent and forget that role in their country
(Teodoro, 2020).
3. How did the speaker relate the value of truth in journalistic practices? Why is it
important?
In the Public Intellectual Learning Experience by guest speaker Professor Luis Teodoro,
many situations are given as an example of how the value of truth is essential. Such situations,
for example, are the issue of the Muslims, wherein a particular article showed that the Muslims
are hostile to others which is a poor choice of words because the word “Muslims” can be thought
of as the general public of Muslims making the image of Muslims bad and dangerous which is
the opposite of what is true. Another is how some journalistic practices should be done not only
with a few sources when making articles but also with a wide array of sources to be a reliable
source of information. This is why having the value of “truth” embedded in the minds of those
who tamper with the media is important. The spread of information is fast nowadays, so
misinformation is easily disseminated among the public.
 References:

Role of Media in Society. (2019, December 13). Medium.

https://medium.com/@kashafmurtza655/role-of-media-in-society-760db2844ae3

Teodoro, L. (2020a, September 22). FEU Public Intellectual Lecture Series | Part 2.

Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrUtr6vcFlY

Teodoro, L. (2020b, September 22). FEU Public Intellectual Lecture Series | Part 1.

Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeTf3eakrVY