BACOLOD City – The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) in Negros Occidental reminded media members to make sure their news reports are accurate.
The NUJP issued a statement after a local radio station reported on a plane crash in the province last Thursday night.
There was no plane crash recorded in Negros Occidental that day, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said in a statement.
The fallacious report “caused panic among residents and netizens,” according to the NUJP.
“All aircrafts and commercial and general aviation traffic were all accounted for [Thursday] night,” the CAAP said.
NUJP-Bacolod head Marchel Espina said, “Journalists should not be peddlers of misinformation.”
“As members of the Fourth Estate, we can’t be irresponsible on our news reports as the public relies on us for the truth,” she added. “We have to ensure credibility, balance and accuracy in our reporting.”
While acknowledging that there is “tight competition” between and among media outlets, Espina said it is still their “duty to readers, listeners, viewers, and followers to be responsible.”
“We must look to ourselves as agents of change as we play an important role in shaping the nation. Our abilities to access and impart information always depend on our credibility as journalists. All of us will be affected if our press freedom will be suppressed due to state censorship or misinformation,” Espina stressed.
“Let us all be reminded that fact-based journalism, and not made-up content, is our fundamental work. We always have to be mindful about the welfare of the society,” she added./PN
