Journalism Principles and Practices

FREE PRESS AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Reporters
Buenavista, Mariane Faye Cabanela, Nicolo Castro, Chatty Laurence Corpuz, Michael John Joey Davalan, Mikhail Kyle Angelo Doncillo, Nadine. Pagunsan, Melissa Peralta, Arvin Jay

The press is unquestionably the most powerful instrument for forming public opinion The press contributes to the formation of public opinion in three ways: As a reporters of events As an exponent of ideas And as a weathercock I. As a Reporters of events, the press furnishes the facts for the basis of the public opinion. The press is not so much of a power; but it is a tremendous force that cannot be ignored much less antagonized when departing from its purely impartial expository function, prints news backed by a desire not only to explain but also to convince and persuade.

What is a Free Press?

In the context of a free press, there are two things to consider: the conflict between the publics right to know, or it may be the curiosity to know, and on the other hand, the right and the need to the government to be able to deliberate confidentially before announcing a conclusion and in certain circumstances, especially in its foreign relations, the governments right to measure of secrecy and dispatch. The right of the press to know and the right of the responsible authority to withhold must co-exist. We have a continual tension between public officials and reporters about the disclosure of coming events, what is going to be announced, what policy is going to be adopted, who is going to be appointed, what will be sad to foreign government. These is also a conflict about what has happened and why it happened and who was responsible of this happening. The tension is between vigilant, ingenious and suspicious reporters who haunt and pursue officials, causing these officials never to be allowed to forget that they are withholding information at their peril, at the risk of being scalped in the newspapers

The Readers interest

To be sure, not every reader newspaper cares to know about or could understand all the activities of man kind. For this, the profession of journalism is becoming specialized, and the editor who presides over large staffs of local and international specialists, of political, commercial, financial, legal, medical, theatrical, musical and cooking specialists , art critics and fashion writers, has to meet the specifications.

Crime and Punishment

An important aspect of this problem is an the field of crime and punishment. Here the press is often in conflict with those whose business it is to catch the guilty man who has been arrested and given a fair trial, it comes out of real life. Journalism, we might sat, is still an underdevelopment profession, as you know, the concept of a free press today has evolved far beyond the rather simple abstractions of the 18th century. We recognize today that the press as a whole must be capable of reporting and explaining, interpreting and criticizing all the activities of mankind

Commitment of the Journalist

This growing professionalism is the most radical innovation since the press became free to government control and censorship before the imposition of Martial Law. For it introduces into the conscience of the working journalist a commitment to seek the truth which is independent of and superior to all his other commitments his commitment to publish newspapers that will be sell; his commitment to his political party, his commitment even to promote the policies of his government.

The Responsible Press

The first and most evident of the conflicts is that between choosing, on the one hand, to publish whatever most easily interest the largest number of readers most quickly that is to say, yellow journalism and, on the other hand, to provide, even at a commercial loss, an adequate supply of what the public will in the long run need to know. This is responsible journalist. It is journalist responsible in the last analysis to the editors own conviction of what, whether interesting or only important, is in the public interest to seek the truth and his loyalty to his countrys government . These conflicts are trying and for the journalist striving to do his work there are two rules which can help him. One is to remember this advice: if you do not like the heat, stay out of the kitchen. It is always possible to retreat into less hotly contested subject matter. The other rule is that if you believe you must go into the kitchen, keep an eye on yourself, keep asking yourself: are you sure you are still seeking the truth and not merely trying to win an argument?

Truth and Success

This bring us to the final point which is that, as the free press develops, as the great society evolves, the paramount point is whether, like a scientist or a scholar, the journalist puts truth in the first place or in the second place. He is a work shipper of the pitch goddess of success. Or, he is a conceited man trying to win an argument.

 What is the Power of the Press? The press has all these and were capacity to:
Instill fear Respect Love Wonder

The fact that the practitioners of the great newspapers are deadly afraid of the printed world. No wonder, governments have lived in fear of the power of the press in developed, non-aligned and Third World countries. Governments and the press have lived on the love-hate relations. Sometimes governments fall because of a bad press. The press molds national characters. No wonder, absolute rulers have used the press to make people obey the government. Incidentally, the clandestine press can breed revolutions and destroys dictators. A most dangerous combination is a ruthless dictator and a sympathetic press. People write to newsmen for jobs, to get people to be fired, to denounce government officials, including president. They expect newsmen to di almost anything. The most serious mistake is to believe that the press can influence courts, presidents, congresses you wont believe it but some people even think that newsmen even reverse decisions of the Supreme Court. Freedom of the press must be redefined. It is not absolute to write is one pleases. Rather, freedom of the press is a power to do what is right, not what is wrong. In that context, we have a free press, unfettered by publishers and self-seeking men who control the press for their own ends. The press must be oriented towards public good, national development and freedom. What makes the press so powerful? It is because of the fiction that whatever is printed must be true? People believe what they read, doubt that they hear and ignore to be so, no matter how dubious the story. When you hear it on radio, people generally wait for the newspaper to confirm what they hear. We can say honestly that newsmen are formidable enemies. This is a measure of the immense power of the printed word. What is the power of the press? We know it is there. We know it is raw, naked power. It is the people who make the power you the readers own that power, you are the power that the press claims it owns.

The Duties of the Newspaper

Its purpose is not only to present and project the news objectively but to help its readers to express themselves more effectively, canalizing their aspirations, making more articulate their demands. In its columns, its readers should be encouraged to express their opinions, their fears, their hopes and, just as important, air their complaints. It can persuade, shame, cajole, and criticize as well as inform and entertain. We believe that a good newspaper doing its duty will never win in a popular contest. It may not be popular but it is respected. We also believe that the most priceless asset of a newspaper is its integrity and the readers confidence in it. To us, this is far more important that big, modern plants, high speed presses or a wide circulation. We also think, that the newspaper would be more effective in their appeal to public opinion by emphasizing the responsible of the press as inseparable from freedom of speech and press, which means there should be truth in the news. Truth in news but truth in tempered with mercy, decency and humility; truth which is not controlled or influenced by any element, not even by the government; truth which covers telling fairly and intelligently what the news means, the background and not just meaningless recording and truth dedicated to high ideals, community service and national service Since newspaper principally editors and reporters are vital components of the newspapers we also believe that newspapermen have a responsibility in our democracy. And this responsibility is to serve the public not the profession of journalism, not a particular newspaper, not a political party, not even the government but the public.