TAGAM! …if you want to be a journalist, learn how to behave when covering a story - Anderson Cooper Journalism is not just getting your stories/photos published. It’s all about ETHICS! I salute Anderson Cooper for the reminder. Thus, I had removed a photo of me, last November 25, 2013 in my timeline, brushing my teeth at the parking lot of DZR Airport in Tacloban City, was posted. It was captioned “we start our day here”. At the background of such photo is the ruins left by the storm surges caused by super typhoon Yolanda. Coming to mind about this incident between Cooper and the “aspiring journalist” in Ottawa, my act was indeed inappropriate. Around 300 meters north from the spot where I brushed my teeth was the Philippine Air Force base where more than twenty airmen perished. Southward was San Jose District where hundreds died, west side was the city where more vanished. Three days after Yolanda struck, I was sleeping in the wrecked NavAids station of DZR Airport together with local and foreign journalists. At daytime, we were all busy working including Cooper. By that time his face just looked familiar. I am not a fan of news anchors or famous reporters as I am more of the photojournalism greats. Some of the great photographers from Reuters, AP, AFP, EPA and other world-renowned agencies where there. But to have selfies with them never came into me with the main reason of “we sleep on the same wreck”. From Yolanda to other tragic events I have covered in the Philippines, I’ve seen colleagues – senior and young, respectable and not – do selfies, smiling amidst death and destruction and shouting it out to the world through FB. Others get reprimanded by their bosses while other get even appreciated or encouraged by their FB friends. Doing such is like saying “hey look at me, I’m here” relaying an impression to the viewers like: “I’m brave,” “I was there,” “I survived,” “I am a cut above the rest,” “my job is far greater than yours,” etc. This attitude is prevalent now among new media practitioners but some veterans also jump into it. It would be different if a victim or a survivor would ask to have a selfie with you. Surely, smiles will splatter over the frame, giving them a positive and or a momentary uplifting feel as they asked for it. But if it is you who asks to do it even with a colleague, it leaves an impression of insensitivity. As per Wikipedia, “Journalism is gathering, processing, and dissemination of news and information related to the news to an audience.” And in my own opinion, doing such selfies in the midst of a tragedy is perversion. One national TV station showed in their news stories how their team aided civilians civilians caught in the crossfire to safety during the Zamboanga City siege. On Day One, it looked noble. But during following days that they did it again, it seems it was the only kind of stories they do. It was not noble anymore with the reporter relaying the details of how he and his crew had to go through so much danger to help the people. From that point, it was clearly a marketing strategy with the civilians as part of the product. My professor asked me on the last day of my “Visual Literacy In The Newsroom” certificate course about my stand on this. My answer was plain and straight: “it’s a selfie.” She replied: (Oh my god), it’s a selfie? I saw it coming as my classmates also weighed in on the issue. So she asked me to explain and I replied, “true selflessness comes without selfies.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 08:39:00 +0000
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