Don’t shoot newsmen

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March L Fianza

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- It all boils down to whether certain members of the municipal council of La Trinidad, Benguet are pushing for the construction of the Jarco mall right smack in the parking area, or not.

It also boils down to whether certain councilors are protecting their own interests or the real interest of the municipality. The parking area where the Jarco Realty proposed to build on is so far the best place where a privately owned business establishment could operate.

Once the construction is allowed and the mall operates, I doubt if the owners would ever care to resolve the traffic jams that it will create. I doubt if the councilors and other public officials who pushed it would ever be reached. By that time they would be in the beaches of Boracay or even Miami enjoying their “hard-earned” millions.

Now please do not say that I am insinuating that certain La Trinidad officials honestly received millions from Jarco and chicken dung dealers. I know nothing about that.

These are some of the reasons why a colleague in the press was declared “persona non grata” by the La Trinidad councilors last December.

But I am in a fix as to whether all of them in the council know what they just signed or if they know the consequences of what they did or if they know the right meaning and purpose of “persona non grata.”

What I know was that persona non grata statements were declared against persons who may be putting the public in jeopardy, not a councilor or a group of councilors.

Personally assessing what I read and heard, newsman Jimmy Laking was declared as such for personal reasons. If the author of the council resolution thinks Jimmy has been misreporting issues related to the Jarco mall, he could have easily called his attention as what others do or he could have texted Jimmy or wrote him.

The resolution also claimed that Jimmy “did not undertake efforts to get the correct claims, stand and decisions of this council…,” etc., etc. That for me depends upon how the writer wants the article to come out. It is part of the style. Of course, it will not always fit in with the wishes of the persons involved in the issues at hand.

Nobody can control the appearance style of an article except the writer himself, especially an article in an opinion column like this one… and nobody can control the writer not even the editors.

The persons who feel hurt with the written articles have many options to choose from. One, they can ask for clarifications, write the author, write the editor of the paper, declare the author “persona non grata” which the La Trinidad council just did.

They can also declare Martial Law and close down all newspapers which the late President Marcos did, or shoot the newsman which is the choice of gangster politicians. I know we do not have that kind in the La Trinidad council.

What we have in Trinidad are honest councilors who do not receive payola from Jarco or chicken dung dealers. What we have are very honorable and intelligent councilors who know how to separate their personal interests from the interests of their constituents.

The council resolution said that Jimmy violated journalism rules that “espouse fair, true, correct and unbiased coverage of events and issues.” I do hope the council is not going beyond its mandate as it is not for them to judge if a news writer committed errors.

That is the job of his editor. Unless a “Most Honorable Councilor” in La Trinidad wants to be councilor and editor at the same time.

The council said they found Laking as having violated media ethics and standards since "on several occasions, he misquoted members of the council and erroneously reported matters that were not in accordance with the intent and final decisions of this council."

Now may I ask, does the council know what media ethics were violated and what media standards they were talking about?

Oftentimes, politicians who do not agree with the outcome of a news article always say that they were “misquoted.” Naturally, independent newspapers do not merely want to be mouthpieces of politicians and do not want to print exactly what the news sources want to say. Verbatim quotations are different. Opinion column writing is different. Such is the world of newspaper journalism.

Now may I ask the council: how about the good news that Jimmy wrote? Why didn’t the Most Honorable Councilors of La Trinidad come out to praise him? Where is justice there?

When newsmen write something good, our councilors just remain silent and run around in their own turf, just like rats running around in their safe corners. But when they do things that are seen by the public as something wrong and these are written in the papers, they complain and hit the newspaper writer. Now is that fair?

Well, newsmen expect such things to happen. Those are part of a hazardous job. But Jimmy Laking who has been a newsman all is life knows that.

The La Trinidad council resolution authored by Most Honorable Councilor Jim Botiwey banned Jimmy Laking from entering the session hall, a public place.

That part of the resolution indicates arrogance on the part of the councilors. They cannot ban anyone from the council session hall, unless the area is their private property. In fact colleagues in the press are asking the question: “Apay balay gayam ni Councilor Botiwey dijay municipal session hall ta iparit na nga umuneg ni tokayu na nga Jim Laking?”

Even with the “persona non grata” resolution, I doubt if Jimmy Laking will stop writing articles about the municipal council. I am sure that as a professional newsman, he has gone through more serious problems in his life, incomparable to Botiwey’s resolution.

What about the other newsmen in the beat? I doubt too that they will stop writing about the La Trinidad council. What is not doubtful is that power breeds arrogance, especially if a politician has been promised support to be mayor soon, or governor or congressman soon.

Instead of hitting the newsman who is really a Trinidad boy, why not declare the mall supporters as persona non grata instead. Anyway, isuda met ti haan nga taga Trinidad. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com