WRITING RIGHT

My first serious true ambition was to become a journalist.  In my early teen, I’d love taking down notes, imagining different scenarios, and analyzing the situation and thru these I could come up stories that I believed can impact to the readers’ senses.  Since writing became my passion, I always connected it with the news well written by the journalists, that I immediately assumed I can do it too.  Also, I wanted to become journalist because of the impunity while covering the war news, access to restricted pass, and knowing the news on the first hand.   And growing up while watching and reading the news in different media, I became interested even more in journalism because I wanted to become part of bringing important and correct information to the people.  I like the settings of going to the ground, using my skill in creative writing to translate it to journal, and delivering it to the consumers’ end for their information.  I like the bravery, honesty and impartiality of the profession that it must be.  But what I like the most even more about journalism is the freedom of speech that every human to its truest sense with empathetic heart has used to believe.  As a writer I don’t want to be censored.  Will I abuse, corrupt, and violate writing?  No, because I am aware that it is my responsibility to write it genuinely and ethically that is why I don’t want to be censored.

 

That is why I always have soft spot and high respect to those journalists who are fighting for what is right and fair, coming forward to expose the truth and lies, and delivering the good or bad news even it risk themselves.  Hats-off to the courage of Ted Failon, Korina Sanchez, and Kiko Panginilan of Hoy Gising, Randy David, Dong Puno, and Loren Legarda in the 90’s.  When the likes of journalists Raisa Robles, Maria Ressa, Karen Davila, Jessica Sojo, et all are standing up for free speech, calling out, and speaking up their mind honestly but professionally, I would rather like these girls who have balls to stand up rather than those submissive boys who have biological balls called the testicles.  The hell if they have personal agenda, on top of it is delivering the actual news to the people.  Some said there is bias in journalism, it is always accused of bias actually, but whoever is not favoring the story will easily accuse of unfair and it is natural defense mechanism.  Besides, I think everything has biases and at the end of the day it is journalism ethics that should prevail that we suppose.  It can be accused of hidden personal agenda but as long as the headline and context are true regardless of personal agenda, then I will still hold on journalism. 

 

There should be freedom, the very essence of what democracy all about.  From the beginning, there was freewill and command in Genesis.  Same with we must have freewill today and there is constitution to obey.  This is exactly why not all what you can say and do can be expressed.  You cannot just curse or kill, right?  Otherwise there are penalties awaiting you?  Some needs little decency to keep hold back because there are the standard set norms that we called etiquette.  If you dislike democracy primarily because it becomes the grass root of abuse, then you don’t mind etiquette because you have the dictatorial personality.  If you are a true journalist by profession or just by heart, you believe freedom is not absolute and every freedom comes with responsibilities.  You know not everything matters to broadcast for the sake of freedom, this is not the tenet of journalism and is not the mentality of freedom of speech believers.  Excusing or justifying the freedom to criticize or simply just to express anything that can be said is not journalism thing.  It is but bashing thing.

 

Politics is killing journalist putting press freedom in the country very risky.  Mass media are shutting down and critical reporters are slain.  They are prompt to man-made danger in colliding with the big, powerful and popular.  Many journalists were slain in line of duty in the exercise of their profession.  Social media is killing the mainstream media.  Any nobody can just easily make report even without responsibilities to verify and accountabilities to their action while the legit reporters thoroughly prepare and deliver the news in full responsibility to protect their credibility and profession.  Time will come the authentic and dedicated to their works will stay and last, and will tell writing right belongs to the right writers.