LESSON 10: What are the threats and risks that

media practitioners face? How can media be

abused or misused?

Target:
• Describe the threats and risks that media practitioners face.
• Explain how media can be abused or misused.
• Create a podcast that discusses threats and risks in media and cases
of media abuse and misuse
• Justify the importance of media and information literacy in
combating the threats and risks in media.
• Mainstream media have become vulnerable to disinformation with rumor
and gossip being passed as legitimate news, particularly through social media
sites.
• Facebook for example, has admitted to being party to the spread of gossip
and rumor which has besmirched reputations and destroyed the credibility of
leaders.
• Fake sites and parody sites have embarrassed a lot of newsrooms and
journalists.
 According to the Committee to Protect Journalists,
there have been 77 killings in the Philippines since
1992.
Most of the killings are due to work by journalists in
the issue of politics (61%), corruption (43%), crime
(25%), human rights (6%), business (3%) and war (1%).
Many cases remain unsolved.
 Bias – a particular tendency, trend, feeling or
opinion, especially one that is preconceived or
unreasoned” and reporters are sometimes
accused of letting their own biases come into play
when reporting a story.
 The Citizen Reporter

Citizen journalism refers to the reporting of news events by

members of the public using the Internet to spread the
information.

Citizen journalism refers to all forms of public reporting

carried out online

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2386/citizen-journalism
Being a Citizen Reporter is as big a responsibility as being a reporter
for news media outlets, and it is important that:

• The news you send presents all the facts, and not just parts of
these.
• There is no oversight on the items you post.
• The burden of responsibility falls on the reporter and on nobody
else.
• The content provider is a responsible internet citizen.
Threats and Risks to Consumers
To be on the safe side, a content
consumer should always practice due
diligence in checking and cross-
referencing any content or information
that they encounter.