Reporter urges young journos to ‘rise above’ fake news
A television reporter urged the members of the campus press to rise above amidst the proliferation of fake news and information in the age of social media.
“Anyone can post and make it appear as news. We’ve had quite a battle ngayong 2017. [Fake news sites ang] naging challenge sa amin ngayon; we have to rise above this clutter,” said ABS-CBN News reporter Jeff Canoy in a lecture last Sept. 20.
Canoy encouraged aspiring journalists to live up the conventional values of journalism knowing the situation of media today.
“Two things that you have to keep in mind [and] that will never ever change [are] we are always guided by two main principles: fairness and accuracy. Yun lang ang requirements to have a good story, a solid story.”
On the other hand, he assured the audience not to lose their trust on the mainstream media.
“At the end of the day, good journalism is good journalism, at kahit anong gawin ng mga trolls at fake news websites, lulutang at lulutang pa rin ang good journalism. At the end of the day, we’re still storytellers,” Canoy relayed.
‘Huge disturbance’
The award-winning journalist admitted that the emergence of social media created a “huge disturbance” in the newsroom, forcing reporters to be skilled in different tasks need in good reporting.
“Now, a reporter is a one-man team. Why pay 20 people to do one thing when you could just pay one person to do [the same] thing, ‘di ba?” Canoy said.
He added that social media has heightened the competition between news publications online, which sometimes leads to publication of unverified information.
Canoy pointed out that quality should be prioritized over the speed of sharing information.
“But lagi naming goal is, still, better to be right than to be first.”
The lecture was organized by the UST Office of the Public Affairs and ABS-CBN Corporation.- A. Ortega
