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[av_heading heading=’ABOVE THE LAW’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY AYIN DREAM D. APLASCA
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Monday, October 9, 2017
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“I’M A blogger. I’m not a journalist.” This is Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson’s statement when asked during the hearing of the Senate committee on public information and mass media. I also wondered which she prefers to be called.
But one thing is for sure: she works for and in the government. As per Malacañang letter addressed to her, she was appointed and had an oath of office submitted to Malacañang and to the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
In reaching the conclusion on this issue, I believe it’s better if we discuss the function of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) of the government as well as the function of an assistant secretary. Also, the difference between a blogger and a journalist.
The directive for the PCOO is “to serve as a premier arm of the Executive branch in engaging and involving the citizenry and the mass media in order to enrich the quality of public discourse on all matters of governance and build a national consensus thereon.”
One of the functions of the said office is to “develop and implement necessary guidelines and mechanisms pertaining to the delivery and dissemination of information relating to the policies, programs, official activities and achievements of the President and the Executive Branch.”
It also manages, controls or supervises, as may be necessary, the various government agencies and offices. It coordinates and cultivates relations with private media. Additionally, it administers the President’s official Facebook page as well as other social media sites.
Thru the PCOO, the Social Media Office (SMO) was created. This office is being headed by no other than Asec. Mocha Uson. As an assistant secretary, her role is to grant accreditation to a “blogger” who is at least 18 years of age and has at least 5,000 followers in any social media platform. The office has an “interim policy”, which is the Interim Social Media Practitioner Accreditation with bloggers who generate news and information regarding the activities of the President. This policy is to be given “test run” for six months and to be monitored by Asec. Uson.
Now, is she a blogger or a journalist? The difference between the two is one of process. Bloggers usually offer opinion and analysis that are related to news reports by mainstream media, while journalists usually gather and report facts and opinion from expert sources.
Asec. Uson insisted that she is a blogger. Let’s settle on that. It only means that she is entitled to offer an opinion. However, as a blogger under the said policy, he or she should follow the journalists’ code of ethics. And what is basic on this code is the right information such as when, where, what, who, how, and the like.
More importantly, she is part of the dissemination of the PCOO as she is a senior official. She is one of the representatives of the government; thus, there is no line separating her official position as an assistant secretary from the personal opinions on her blog.
Now, you can draw a conclusion. At the end of the day, whatever power or influence we have, we should always use this in a positive way. Of course, we should always know our function and our place in the society.
(Atty. Ayin Dream D. Aplasca practices her profession in Iloilo City. She may be reached thru ayindream.aplasca@gmail.com/PN)
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