The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) expressed support to veteran journalist Ed Lingao amid a verbal tussle with his fellow TV5 broadcaster Erwin Tulfo.
Lingao, in a Facebook post, called out Tulfo for reacting to fake news about Senator Risa Hontiveros allegedly supporting the Maute group. He also slammed Tulfo for cussing several times on air, a clear violation Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP)’s code of ethics.
“At a time when Philippine journalism is being challenged by many Filipinos to be true to its vow of being truthful, balanced and fair in our reportage and commentaries, we hereby reaffirm our commitment to the same,” the NUJP said in a statement on Sunday.
“At a time when it has become even more difficult to ferret truth from lies, spins and fakery, we hereby restate our firm promise to a high sense of responsibility and honesty in the practice of our chosen profession,” it said.
“We do so as we express our support to our esteemed colleague Ed Lingao who is now being pilloried and threatened by some quarters,” the NUJP said.
The NUJP then said that media practitioners are duty-bound to observe the Philippine Broadcast Code of 2011.
“According to the Philippine Broadcast Code of 2011, we should observe the following:
- To broadcast (and publish) commentaries only by persons who have thorough knowledge of and practice of broadcast (and journalism) ethics, present opposing or contrasting views fairly, and not allow our personal bias or prejudice to distort the facts (Article 2. ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARIES);
- To prohibit personal attacks and unfair criticism (Article 4. PERSONAL ATTACKS);
- To acknowledge and rectify mistakes as soon as possible (Article 5. CORRECTING MISTAKES);
- To prohibit offensive, obscene, profane and vulgar words and phrases as well as name-calling and personal insult (Article 25. SEX, OBSCENITY AND PORNOGRAPHY and Article 27. ON-AIR LANGUAGE); and
- To adhere to the basic principles, ethical standards of journalism as well as code of conduct for broadcast media (Article 29. QUALIFICATION OF ON-AIR/PROGRAM PERSONS and Article 33. UNIVERSAL ETHICAL STANDARDS).”
The NUJP lauded Lingao for reminding Tulfo and the members of the media to protect the journalism profession from further erosion of the people’s trust and respect.
“Admittedly, some colleagues have forgotten these ethical standards that should govern our work as broadcasters and journalists. We believe Ed Lingao’s main intention in calling out a fellow broadcaster who commented on a fake news item was to remind us of these and to protect our profession from further erosion of the people’s trust and respect of Filipinos,” it said.
“We take Mr Lingao’s criticism as a general challenge to all journalists and broadcasters. Indeed, we, from time to time, need reminding,” the NUJP added. JE/rga
