A new breed of pseudo-journalists has been exposed by the former chair of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) for claiming to be the photographer of an international wire service.
Inday Espina Varona, a highly respected and multi-awarded journalist took to task an editor in chief of a Bohol weekly newspaper whom she did not mention by name for posting on his Facebook page “several live videos of troop movements in Marawi.”
Varona, in her website indayvarona, castigated the unnamed editor in chief for airing live images of military operations that unduly exposed our soldiers to unnecessary danger including “our colleagues, who were also in your line of fire.”
UNETHICAL
Varona felt aggrieved that any journalist, “especially someone who claims to be editor in chief of a publication” should know that “media ethics exist to ensure that drive, zeal, or the passion to do good do not end up hurting our public.”
Obviously incensed by this editor in chief whom she addressed as “dear colleague from Bohol” for transforming his Facebook page into a “theater of sick voyeurism” by showing himself off as “some macho dude” in labeling a video “Blocking Force”
Short of accusing this editor in chief of betraying the public trust, Varona reminded that by his actions “apart from direct danger to lives, you placed a profession in jeopardy there. It’s already under fire for doing the right things.”
Varona indignantly asked the editor in chief “If Maute in Marawi can send videos to allies outside, how long do you think it will take them to figure out where targets are – – courtesy of your actions?”
PSEUDO JOURNALIST
If greenhorns know that in a warzone there is no such thing as downtime and even students know that enemy forces in Marawi have access to the net, Varona sarcastically asked the editor in chief – “where the eff did you learn the trade?”
Varona wondered why this editor in chief had nothing to say about the suffering of hundreds of thousands, the several hundred still trapped, the devastation of a historic city, the grace and heroism in the face of trauma.
“You had nothing to say about all that, Mr, Editor in Chief.”, fumed Varona.
Her denunciations of the actions of the editor in chief ended “Pero, bok, ibaba mo yang claim na photog ka ng wire service, Hindi ka po kilala.”