Be part of our culture

Journalists at the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) love to eat. Day in and day out, food has always been a part of the rich and prestigious CMFR culture.


Be part of that culture.



For those interested working for the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), send your application now to staff@cmfr-phil.org

WANTED: FULL-TIME STAFFWRITER

Applicants should be:

- Graduates of journalism course
- Must be able to speak and write well in English
- Knowledgeable in Microsoft programs, Adobe Pagemaker and Photoshop
- Knowledge in online publishing and networking an advantage
- Previous work experience in newspapers and magazines a plus

Established in 1989, CMFR publishes the PJR Reports (formerly the Philippine Journalism Review) and the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ) secretariat.

CMFR’s programs uphold press freedom, promote responsible journalism, and encourage journalistic excellence.

Check http://www.cmfr-phil.org or call (02) 894-1326 / (02) 894-1314 for more information.

Taga-CMC ka?

If you are a student or graduate of the UP College of Mass Communication, you might want to be part of this online community.

Whose byline is it anyway?

Since this issue has been already discussed and bitterly fought over in and outside the cyberspace (like the infamous Isagani Cruz column), I won't go into the details anymore. But if you want the full details, you can go here to the story -- which the whole blogosphere might have known already -- where it all started. You can also visit the blog posts of Jim Paredes and daughter Ala Parades.

Now comes Isagani Yambot, publisher of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, apologizing to Jim.

Full text, Inquirer statement on Jim Paredes article

What follows is the full text of a statement released Tuesday (August 23) evening by Isagani Yambot, publisher of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, one of the parent companies of INQ7.net:

"IT STARTED with an e-mail sent by Jim Paredes to his large network of relatives and friends. It concerned the Inquirer’s front-page on him last Saturday headlined “Finally, APO’s Jim Paredes gives up on RP” and by-lined Gerry Lirio.

"Jim’s main beef was the headline. He said it was 'a naked lie' that he had given up on the Philippines. He accused Gerry Lirio, our reporter of having a headline in mind 'even before the interview.' To use Jim’s words, Gerry 'cherry picked' to fit words and impressions to the headline and so missed the true story.”

"In an update on his blog, Jim admitted that he had learned that it was not Gerry Lirio but an Inquirer editor who gave the offending article its headline. He was told that it is not a reporter but an editor who writes the head of an article. He then apologized to Gerry.

"Jim Paredes had valid reason to be angry and upset over the headline. It was inaccurate and unfair. It was based on the opening paragraph of Gerry’ article but it is one thing to say, as the article did, that Jim 'gave up all hope for a better Philippines' and another thing to say, as the headline did, that 'Finally, Apo’s Jim Paredes gives up on RP.' The first mean that Jim has given up hope that the Philippines will improve; the second, that Jim has given up on his country, period.

"The Inquirer apologizes to Jim Paredes."

My take on the issue: I think Mr. Yambot was right in making the apology. It was clear that the headline of the story was, in Mr. Yambot's own words, "inaccurate and unfair" and that Jim had enough reason to be "angry and upset" over it.

It was pointed out that Inquirer reporters do not write the headlines of their stories. The fact however remains that it was Gerry's name appearing under the headline, and nobody else.

The point here is that an inaccurate headline was made. I don't think that Jim does not have to know that this or that editor made that headline and that Gerry only wrote the text of the story.

That's how simple I think the issue is.

Seeing Red (again)

Name names for heaven's sake!

If Norberto Gonzalez, the government's national security adviser, is really damn sure that media have been infiltrated by members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army, then don't hide under the saya of Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. If you're making an accusation as grand as that, you better back up your claim. Isn't that pretty basic to journalists and non-journalists alike? That is, when you make an accusation, you should corroborate it?

From Malaya today:

"National security adviser Norberto Gonzales yesterday said the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army have infiltrated the ranks of the media.

"It is a normal practice of rebel movements to recruit media personalities because propaganda is an important component of their effort to propagate whatever they (communists) are engaged in," Gonzales told a news forum in Quezon City.

"So it’s normal that they are going to get elements from the media to be their members and we know that there are," Gonzales added without naming names.

Asked how many communists have infiltrated the media, Gonzales said: "Let us not talk how many…That (propaganda) does not involve numbers (of infiltrators) but on how effective they are able to smuggle to media what they want."

Gonzales's claim made me remember an article written by this year's JVOAEJ winner Fe B. Zamora (of the Philippine Daily Inquirer) for the April 2005 issue of the PJR Reports. Her article entitled "Who's the Enemy," focused on a military intelligence briefing compact disc which allegedly named the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) "as two of several 'fronts' of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA)."

I think Chevelle's song "The Red" perfectly suits Gonzalez's wild claim.



"The Red"
By Chevelle

They say freak
When you're singled out
The red
Well it filters through.

So lay down
The threat is real
When his sight goes red again.

Seeing red again
Seeing red again.

This change he won't contain
Slip away to clear your mind
When asked what made it show?
The truth he gives in to most

So lay down
The threat is real
When his sight goes red again.

So lay down
The threat is real
When his sight goes red again
So lay down
The threat is real
When his sight goes red again.

Seeing red again
Seeing red again
Seeing red again
Seeing red again
Seeing red again
Seeing red again
Seeing red again
Seeing RED!!

They say freak
When you're singled out
The red
It filters through.

Can free papers save our dying newspaper readership?

I should have posted this last week, but since it's deadline time for the September issue of the PJR Reports (I told Nathan, Venus, and Don that I'll probably the last one -- again -- to send the monitors and story to Ma'am Chit), I wasn't able to.

The August issue of the PJR Reports is now online. Here are the issue's stories:

Commentary

Coverage of the Subic Rape Case: A Trial Becomes a Telenovela
by Rachel E. Khan (Correction: In the sentence, "But the naming of her half-sister in the reports would enable the townspeople of Zambales to identify her," it should have been: "But the naming of her stepsister in the reports would enable the townspeople of Zamboanga to identify her." Our apologies)

A recipe for hard times
The Free Papers are Here
by Hector Bryant L. Macale

Journalism and public relations
Friends or Enemies?
by Nathan J. Lee and Venus L. Elumbre

The National Press Club elections
Politics, Media style
by Don Gil K. Carreon

Please Don't Call me an Investigative Journalist
by Yvonne T. Chua

"They’re short, colorful, fun, and easy to read," my story began. "But can the country’s free commuter newspapers save what would appear to be a declining newspaper readership among Filipinos?"

"Well, it might be too early to say that," I continued. "However, the proliferation of free commuter newspapers and the apparent success of the country’s first free daily Inquirer Libre indicate a change—a slow but seemingly sure one—in the landscape of the media business in the country."

A friend who studies at The Manila Times School of Journalism just sent me a YM message, saying that his class on media management is doing a reaction paper to my story. What about you guys, what do you think?

Feel free to post your comments about the stories in this issue.

I'll try to watch you guys next time

If there's one thing I'd like to see more in the current music scene, it's the proliferation of more indie rock bands. I'm too sick and tired from hearing the crap from all these run-of-the-mill bands currently lording over the airwaves. There are so many great indie bands out there just waiting for the right exposure and person to help them out.

One of the good indie bands making the rounds in the music circuit are the Orgasm Addicts, whose members I have been friends with for some time now. Can't find their website though (What happened to your site guys?). Maybe, I'll need to do a follow-up post about that. Before my friends in other bands complain to me, I'll post their bands in the future (Okay, Calix? hahaha.).

Here are the Orgasm Addicts playing their first single "Beer" at their gig in the University of East Recto together with "In Bloom." Good performance. I wished I could say the same thing to the person taking your shot. Sigh.

Working as a freelancer abroad

Sick of being a journalist in the Philippines and you plan to work abroad as a freelance journalist ? Here is an excellent entry written by Anastasia Moloney for journalism.co.uk. The site is based in the United Kingdom, so just don't mind the part where the story is advising some tips to UK-based journalists before they work as freelancers abroad. Actually, the tips there could proably work for Filipino journalists too.

How to: Get started as a freelance journalist abroad

Taking the plunge – choosing your country

The country you choose to be your new home should depend on your experience and contacts. If you have few or no contacts with foreign editors and little or no appropriate published articles in your portfolio, then the best option is to pick a lesser-known country like Bolivia, or one with a notorious reputation such as Colombia. China and India are also so vast that prospects are good for motivated freelancers. The most difficult locations to make your mark are generally those places where journalists most want to live such as Paris, Rome, Rio Janeiro, and Buenos Aires.

It is also important to pick a country where you really want to learn the language and are interested in the local culture. If you are not a linguist and find the prospect of learning a foreign language daunting, avoid Serbo-Croat or Arabic and pick Spanish or French instead. Do some research and, ideally, make one or more visits to your destination of choice. Can you imagine getting on with the locals? Will you enjoy day-to-day life once the novelty has worn off?

Read here more.

Open season for journalists

Dangerous times indeed. Killing season continues.

Provincial reporter escapes abduction try
Source: National Union of Journalists of the Philippines

A provincial newspaper-radio reporter escaped abduction Tuesday night (August 15) from unidentified men he suspects to be hired goons in Calamba City in Laguna.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) received a report that Dick Garay, 52, a reporter for the tabloid Police Files Tonite and a correspondent of the Manila-based radio DZME, said the men tried to seize him near the highway and even followed him to a nearby town.

Garay was waiting for a ride home at around 10:30 p.m. in front of a convenience store after visiting a friend when he noticed two suspicious-looking men staring at him, as if waiting for him.

Garay, who is the vice president of the Camp Vicente Lim Press Corps (CVLPC), said he then went inside the store to buy chocolates for his granddaughter.

When he walked out of the store, he noticed that the men boarded a parked Mitsubishi Hi-ace van with license plate WGL-919 which was driven by another man.

The driver then maneuvered the vehicle, while its passengers continued to stare at him, according to Garay.

The vehicle then suddenly stopped in front of him, the door slid open and the suspects asked him where he was heading. Garay replied he was going home. The men ordered him to board the van and Garay refused. When he sensed that they were about to grab him, Garay immediately ran and rode a passenger bus.

While in the bus, Garay said he sent a text message to a colleague and told him what had happened to him.

Thinking that he was already safe, Garay alighted the bus near his residence in Pila, a nearby town. However, he noticed the van used by the suspects was parked at a roadside leading to his house.

Garay waited for the vehicle to leave before going to his house.

He reported the incident to the police the following day.

"I believe the men were hired goons of some people I had hit in my tabloid column and in my reporting," dzRH radio quoted Garay as saying moments before he went into hiding.

Radio station dzRH also said that as of Thursday morning, Garay remained incommunicado and his cell phone appeared to have been switched off.

Before the foiled abduction incident, Garay wrote about jueteng (an illegal numbers game) in the Calabarzon (referring to the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), linking police officials to its operations.

Lefties rule

At least as far as left-handed men and earnings are concerned, according to this report from Slate. Hmmm. In that case, I'll probably earn my first million this year.

Dream on, Bryant.

Sinister and Rich
The evidence that lefties earn more.
By Joel Waldfogel
Aug. 16, 2006

It's well-known that many societies hold lefties in low esteem. In Christian tradition, the devil is generally associated with the left hand; the word sinister comes from the Latin for left, sinistra. Arabs have historically used the right hand for eating and the left for, er, activities at the other end of the alimentary process. More scientifically, left-handedness is related to a number of physiological conditions. Lefties have higher rates of high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, and schizophrenia.

On the other hand, if you'll forgive the inevitable bad pun, left-handedness is also linked with creativity. Leonardo da Vinci was a lefty, as were Michelangelo, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein. Psychologists confirm that left-handedness involves different brain function: While right-handed people seem to have better cognitive skills on average, studies find that lefties are more common among the highly talented.

What's the economic effect of left- and right-handedness—who makes more money, lefties or normal people? Thanks to two new studies, one from the United States and another from the United Kingdom, we have some answers. At least as far as earnings are concerned, lefties have been unjustly slurred—if they're men.

Read more here. The photo on the left (no pun intended) came from here.

Blogging 101 for Journalists

Interesting report from Journalism.co.uk.

"You know about blogs, you read a few and you have heard that maybe one day all journalists will blog, but you do not have one yet," wrote Graham Holliday in his article "How to: Set up and run a successful blog." "Where do you start? It depends on how much you want to spend and how much you know about coding."

The report introduces journalists, especially those who are not tech-savvy, into the world of blogging. Which blog to use? What is Technorati? Or a blogroll, perhaps?

Read here for more.

Same old, same old

Media attacks in Metro Manila may have been in the news recently. Elsewhere in the country, press freedom continues to be attacked.

Here is an editorial of the Palawan-based paper Bandillo ng Palawan regarding the latest incident of harassment against a Bandillo writer by DYER. Bandillo wrote the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (which had helped the press communities in Cebu, Baguio, and Palawan in setting up their regional press councils)

Last Tuesday, August 1, Amihan Sabillo, reporter of DYPR and news writer of Bandillo ng Palawan, went to bed early to relieve herself of the fatigue of another busy day. The other members of the household were away for the night so she was alone in the house. She fell into a deep sleep easily, but was awakened past midnight by the strange sounds and movement inside the house. In the darkness, she was able to make out the figures of two men, who were busy rummaging around and looking for something, unaware of her presence. Smelling danger, she quickly crawled beneath her bed and stayed there, trembling with fear until the two men left.

Nothing was taken from the house. Obviously, the two men did not break into Ms. Sabillo’s house to steal anything, as the house is bare of valuable furnishing. They were there to find and retrieve a document that would eventually strip Louie Larrosa of DYER of his masquerade. But Ms. Sabillo is wiser than the two men and whoever gave them orders to break into her house. The documents that reached Ms Sabillo’s hands, through a city government insider who can no longer bear the squandering of the taxpayers’ money by the administration’s cronies, are the original copy of the personal data sheet and contract of service of Louie Larrosa’s wife as shift supervisor in the Kilos Agad Action Center (KAAC).

Mrs. Ma. Felicitas Larrosa is receiving a P10,000 monthly salary from KAAC, but its personnel swear they have never seen even just her shadow in the office—a perfect ghost employee. As station manager of DYER, the radio station we all know belongs to the city mayor’s family, Larrosa wields such influence in the city government that he could have easily worked his wife’s name into the payroll. (Larrosa announced recently that he already acquired the station; we are leaving the matter to BIR personnel who could gladly assess the tax of our brand new millionaire, and will happily reward his “exemplary honesty,” sorely lacking among the country’s billionaires, with a certificate of appreciation that he can surely brag as another prestigious award for his station.)

For Louie Larrosa, whose name is now synonymous to mercenary journalism and whose broadcasting practice is the worst in Palawan, such an act is not surprising anymore: he is actually keeping a closet of stinking carcasses that would damn him once opened. It would need a divine miracle for him to realize how good he is at ruining himself and his family at such cheap bargains. We don’t care much if he is indeed dying to get rich even at the expense of his soul and his family’s reputation. However, we cannot tolerate that again, he made a mockery of this serious threat to the life of a fellow journalist.

Like what he did to Dong Batul after the failed grenade attack, he mocked Ms. Sabillo and made fun of her hiding beneath the bed, calling her a “buang” (crazy) reporter. Now, who will forgive him for such a statement made in the face of real danger? Where is the ethics, the professionalism, the respect, the humanity in that statement? Only a lunatic can afford to laugh in the face of real danger.

Enraged as we are, we are also sorry to note that Larrosa and his handlers still believe that the truth is a disposable commodity they can crush into dust with their soles. We are sorry that they believe the listening public is as gullible as they think, incapable of discerning and separating fact from fiction. Admittedly, Larrosa’s brand of broadcasting has, in some way, succeeded in deceiving the public from the truth. But no matter how subtle and shrewd the tampering done to the truth, it will always remain absolute. Something real and infallible will always emerge out of the haze created by lying tongues.

And one real thing that cropped up recently, which Larrosa can no longer distort and revoke, and certainly, make fun out of, are the authentic documents proving his corruption along with his wife in the city government.

Editorial published in the Aug. 7 – 13, 2006 issue of Bandillo ng Palawan

Move over, Iraq: Here comes the Philippines!

It looks like more threats to and attacks against the media are coming. At the rate we're going, we're going to topple Iraq as the world's most dangerous place for journalists.

One journalist badly injured, another threatened as two-week-old police offensive yields scant results
Source: Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders has condemned the ongoing violence against journalists in the Philippines as newspaper reporter Roger Panizal was seriously injured in a shooting attack in Valenzuela (near Manila) and Hazel Gup-ay, a local public radio station presenter in the northern city of Tabuk, continued to receive death threats.

"President Gloria Arroyo's announcement of an offensive by police and judicial authorities raised hopes of a decline in attacks on journalists and human rights activists, but this has not happened," the press freedom organisation said.

"Two weeks have gone by since the president's announcement, but only one case of violence against a journalist seems to have been solved and it was not linked to the victim's work," Reporters Without Borders continued. "It is high time the police and judicial authorities worked together to solve crimes and stop the violence."

The police announced on 4 August 2006 that they had arrested four suspects, including two corrupt police officers, for the murder of cameraman Ralph Runez of the public TV station RPN, who was shot while being robbed in Manila on 28 July.

"It is essential that the police establish the motives for the attempted murder of Panizal on 14 August," Reporters Without Borders added. "The mounting violence in Valenzuela area should prompt the police to step up its capacity to combat the criminal gangs there that are threatening journalists. In the case of Gup-ay, the authorities should give her protection and identify the source of the threats against her."

A reporter for the tabloid newspaper "Tiktik", Panizal was on his way to work in Valenzuela when a gunman stopped his taxi and made him get out. After being joined by two accomplices, the gunman shot Panizal three times. According to the http://www.GMANews.tv website, he was hit in the throat and hand. Interviewed by colleagues at his bedside in the hospital, he managed to identify "George Demonyo" (George the Devil) as the person responsible.

Two other journalists, Albert Orsolino and Prudencio Melendres, have been killed this year in the Valenzuela region. The motives for their murders are not thought to have been linked to their work.

Meanwhile Gup-ay, 36, the host of the daily programme "Kabarangay" (Town Mates) on public radio station Radyo ng Bayan dzRK in Tabuk (in the northern province of Kalinga), has been receiving SMS death threats on her mobile phone since 1 August.

According to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Gup-ay has been afraid for her life ever since she reported an ambush against left-wing activist Constancio Claver on the air. Sent from the phone number 09104394913, the messages accuse her of bias in her coverage of this incident and, in general, of being too critical of the local authorities. An SMS message sent on 6 August from 09207028180 said: "I hope you are going to die soon."

What should media bosses do?

Tragic news. I wonder: When a journalist dies while doing his/her work, how do media organizations handle it? If an accident like this occurs, what should media bosses do?

3 ABC-5 crew members killed in road mishap
Source: Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility

Three crew members of the ABC-5 television network died on the spot at about 4 p.m. Sunday (August 13) when their vehicle collided with a passenger bus in Barangay del Rosario, Pamplona town, Camarines Sur.

Reporter Analiza “Hazel” Richeta, cameraman Arnel Guiao, and driver Ismael "Maeng" Cabugayan were returning from their one-week coverage of the Mayon Volcano eruptions (in the province of Albay, south of Camarines Sur) when the accident occurred.

The Nissan Frontier car used by the crew was totally wrecked as it swept under the bus when the vehicles collided. One of the tires of the Nissan had burst, causing it to swerve, according to a report in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The bodies were retrieved after two hours. They will be transferred to Manila August 14, according to ABC-5 News and Public Affairs head Ed Lingao.

Filipino journalists have a term for that

And another reporter bites the dust for allegedly putting fake information in his stories. Filipino journalists have a graphic term for that.

Wired News reporter faked information for stories
Source: Journalism.co.uk

Wired News has removed three stories from its website after doubts were raised about the authenticity of the sources for each piece.

All three articles - from July and June this year - were written by freelance space reporter Philip Chien citing "space historian" and "aeronautical engineer" Robert Ash as a source of information. Often quoting directly from him.

Suspicions were raised as he had submitted a draft piece quoting a different source, Ted Collins, supplying his contact details to meet Wired's editorial policy.

Wired reported that management then contacted Ash - professor of aeronautical engineering at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia - who denied being a space historian and ever being interviewed by Chien.

Wired broke news of Chien's alleged deception, and its own investigation, by running a story on its website in which it claimed Chien admitted setting up a Hotmail account for Collins - a man he later said died in 1997.

Last year Wired was forced to amend a number of stories on its website written by Michelle Delio after it was unable to confirm some of her sources.

It also took the unusual step of adding notes to certain stories and asking its readership if it were able to identify unatributed sources in stories written by Delio.

Wired claimed its investigation found that emails from the Collins' Hotmail account were sent from Chien's computer, as were postings praising Chien's book about the Columbia shuttle disaster.

It was also alleged that computer was also found to be the IP address of Hotmail messages purportedly from Robert Stevens.

Chien had used a "NASA engineer" called Robert Stevens as a source in at least three articles he had published in newspapers.

Wired reported that Chien - who in total had written seven articles for the publication - admitted creating the Ted Collins Hotmail account to mislead editors.

However, he denied using false names to promote his work and told wired in an email that Collins died in 1997, but he liked his quotes so much he wanted to use them posthumously.

Chien later told Associated Press that he was not given sufficient opportunity to defend his sourcing before his articles were pulled.

"Things have been distorted and taken out of context, but I don't want to say anything more than that," he said.

Online power

This story, which just came out, reminded me a bit of what happened to the blogsite of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) at the height of the "Hello, Garci" scandal. "The PCIJ blog experienced download requests unprecedented in its three-month existence," wrote PCIJ online manager Alecks Pabico in the July 2005 issue of the PJR Reports, referring to the Hello, Garci tapes that can be downloaded in the blog.

"As the data transfer grew phenomenally each day, one of the servers where the files were stored was forced to shut down, unable to keep to its bandwidth limit," he wrote in his article "Blog Power in 2005."

BBC Online terror alert story gets over 3m page views by lunchtime
By: Oliver Luft
Source: Journalism.co.uk

After news broke of arrests made in the UK to foil a major terror plan BBC Online's lead story received over three million page views as people looked online for the latest developments.

Scotland Yard claimed that a plot to blow up planes in flight from the UK to the US and commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" had been disrupted.

By lunchtime, as people eager to get the latest news on the day's events logged on, BBC Online's top story ‘Airlines Terror Plot’ disrupted had generated over 3.2million page views.

The figure far outweighed normal demand placed on the site. On average, a top story on the BBC News website generates a rough total of half-a-million page views.

By mid-afternoon the Have Your Say pages of the BBC News website had received nearly 2000 comments - with 500 posted and a further 1,300 waiting to be published.

BBC News also received more than 1000 emails from people submitting stories about their experiences at airports up and down the country as the corporation deployed its own correspondents at key sites to offer rolling TV and web coverage via News 24.

For the first time ITV used its 24-hour breaking news team - similarly with reporters stationed up and down the country - to report live from airports as news broke across the country.

The controversial PJR Reports issue

Finally, the July 2006 issue of the PJR Reports is online. Check out the site of the Center for Media Freedom Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) for the issue's contents, which contains the "Life on the Beat" special written by our former interns last summer. That special, I should say, got a lot of reaction from the reporters themselves.

Our apologies for not uploading the July issue earlier. You see, we are currently trying to improve the site to make it more reader-friendly and interesting for the readers. Freedom Watch, CMFR's blog, is also undergoing some changes as well -- not much on the lay-out side, but more on its content -- so that it becomes more dynamic and relevant to the concerns of the press. As I've said in my previous post, the blog "will now focus more on analytical pieces about the issues affecting Philippine media in general, including attacks against and threats to press freedom in the country." CMFR's reports on press freedom violations, which were previously posted in the blog, can now be found in the the "Alerts" section at the CMFR website.

Another thing I need to explain is that some of the stories in the issue are not posted online. The regular sections, including the "Monitor" section, are available although they are shorter versions of the print copy. What does it mean? It means you have to contact us to buy the print version. Haha. (Although I'm quite serious about it. Mura lang naman. P80 lang po. Hehe.)

The stories in the July issue that are available online are:

When a news source makes a charge, what's a reporter to do?
Dealing with an Accusation
by Hector Bryant L. Macale

A Bulletin reporter wonders about the reason for his transfer
Losing a Beat
by Venus L. Elumbre

What journalism students saw
Life on the Beat
by Rosario Joy E. Flores, Jam Marie Y. Razal, Junette B. Galagala, Mark D. Merueñas, Annemylin B. Perez, and Hanna Mahalet C. Antolin

Of course, online readers can also read the regular sections:

Editor's Note
PJR Reports editor Chit Estella talks about the contents of the issue.

Speaking of Media
Who said what about the media (For more of the "Speaking of Media " section, check out the print edition of the issue)

Monitor
Biased report? Media booboos? Laudable press coverage? Known as the "heart" of the PJR Reports, the section looks at how media cover issues. (For more of the "Monitor" section, check out the print edition of the issue)

Crisis
Alerts researched and written by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) on threats to and attacks against press freedom in the country

(Reports under the "International Crisis" section are available in the print edition of the issue)

Chronicle
Media events and trends, scholarships, programs, conferences, and what-have-yous

Obit
PJR Reports pays last respects to colleagues who had recently passed away.

So there.

Israel limits journalist access to conflict zones

Still on the press and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East:

IFJ condemns Israeli restrictions on journalist access to conflict zones
SOURCE: International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Brussels

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today demanded that the Israeli Defense Forces lift their newly announced limits on journalist travel in southern Lebanon and allow all media staff to travel freely in the conflict zone.

"We cannot allow any side to create a secret war in which their military operations are not open to proper scrutiny," said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) put out a press statement today that says it is limiting "travel in any kind of vehicle in all areas south of the Litani River in Lebanon," adding that it "would like to stress that these limitations apply to journalists as well."

The IDF says southern Lebanon "is a combat zone from which terrorists operate, and as such, we cannot guarantee the safety of journalists in the area."

"This is a clear attempt to limit news coverage of the Middle East conflict but Israel is cloaking it in the guise of safety precautions," White said. "The IDF has to recognize that journalists have the right to cover events in southern Lebanon and that it must treat them as non-combatants and forbid the targeting of clearly marked media vehicles."

The IDF says the travel limitation, which took effect at 10 pm on August 7 and will remain in place until further notice, applies to all civilians, who have been asked to leave the area.

The IDF says journalists working in the area will be doing so "at their own risk."

In the past month, there have been at least six attacks on media staff or structures in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories that have killed two media staffers and wounded at least a dozen other people. The IFJ has urged the IDF to investigate all of these cases of media targeting and to ensure the safety of journalists in the region.

The IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 100 countries.

Below is the statement from the Israeli Defense Forces:

IDF SPOKESPERSON ANNOUNCEMENT
Limitations on travel in southern Lebanon

To the members of the foreign press,

The IDF has announced a limitation on travel in any kind of vehicle in all areas south of the Litani River in Lebanon. The limitation took effect at 22:00 on August 7th 2006 and will remain in place until further notice.

Information regarding the limitations was communicated to the population in southern Lebanon via media outlets and leaflets as well as through local channels.

Passage of humanitarian convoys continues throughout all of Lebanon in coordination with the IDF.

We would like to stress that these limitations apply to journalists as well.

Please understand that this is a combat zone from which terrorists operate, and as such, we cannot guarantee the safety of journalists in the area.

In fact, we have asked civilians in the area to leave for their own safety.

The IDF will do its utmost to keep civilians, and journalists among them, out of harm's way.

However, we are obligated to remind you that journalists are acting at their own risk and are requested to comply with the recommendations provided to the civilian population.

We urge you also to heed the advice of your own country's consular advisors as to safety during the conflict.

Media more accountable now because of bloggers?

Here's an analysis of how media have been more accountable now as blogs closely scrutinize their actions. This analysis takes after what happened to infamous photographer Adnan Hajj, found to be guilty of digitally manipulating one of his photos. Later investigation seems to show that Hajj did not just manipulated one of his photos.

Media is more accountable thanks to bloggers, says Reuters editor
Source: Journalism.co.uk

Bloggers have exposed 'many of the more egregious breaches of journalistic ethics', Reuters' global news editor has claimed.

Paul Holmes, political and general news editor at Reuters, made the acknowledgement in the wake of the faked photographs scandal that has rocked the agency.

The blogging community exposed Beirut-based freelance photographer Adnan Hajj after he supplied Reuters with what it believed were two digitally manipulated photographs of war-torn Southern Lebanon.

As a result Reuters severed all ties with Hajj, who said he was only trying to alter dust specks on one picture and denied manipulating the other - and removed his 920 images from its photographic library.

"I welcome, and Reuters welcomes, the scrutiny we come under from bloggers," Mr Holmes told BBC Newsnight.

"We will consider criticism from any source and we will take it seriously.

"I think it has to be said, as well, because of the blogging community, many of the more egregious breaches of journalistic ethics have been exposed.

"It makes the media much more accountable and much more transparent."

Doubts about the authenticity of Mr Hajj's work first came to light over a photograph that showed bomb damage in a Beirut suburb on Saturday.

For more about the report, read here.

Editorial cartoon from Cox and Forkum.

Reporter admits faking interviews

So, after a photojournalist gets suspended for faking ("Photoshopping") a photo, here comes a Norwegian journalist admitting he faked interviews with Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey because of financial "desperation." Whoa.

Norway reporter admits faking interviews
Source: Yahoo News

A Norwegian journalist has admitted he fabricated interviews with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and talk show host Oprah Winfrey, media reports said Monday.

Freelance writer Bjoern Benkow (photo at left taken from this site) said in a statement that the interviews, published in Norwegian and Swedish media, were partially concocted because of financial "desperation," newspaper Verdens Gang reported.

"I have met and talked to these global celebrities," Benkow was quoted as saying. "But the circumstances and times have not always been as I described."

The acknowledgment came after Microsoft Norway said last week that an interview with Gates, printed in the Norwegian magazine Mann and top-selling Swedish tabloid daily Aftonbladet, was "totally fake."

Benkow claimed he spoke to Gates (photo at right) during a two-hour commercial flight in Europe, but Microsoft Corp. officials said Gates had not been on that plane. In the four-page interview entitled "Big Bill," Gates was quoted as saying in the article that he never carries more than a "dime" in his pocket and that he makes $1 bets with his wife.

Benkow maintained that the quotes used in the article were real, but apologized for lying about when he spoke to Gates.

"What I did was done out of desperation," VG quoted Benkow as saying. "To pay the rent, electricity, food and to survive."

The editors of Mann apologized for the article last week.

Aftonbladet spokesman Olof Brundin initially said the paper was convinced the interview had occurred. On Monday, however, the newspaper published an article calling Benkow a "fraudster" who had deceived the editors.

"We have been fooled, and thereby we fooled our readers," Brundin said, adding that the newspaper was considering suing Benkow.

Aftonbladet also published Benkow's alleged interview with Winfrey (photo at left) earlier this year, but on Monday the article had been removed from the newspaper's Web site.

Bill Gates's photo taken from here and Oprah Winfrey's here.

Journalists asked to attend the prelim conference of the Roger Mariano murder case tomorrow, Aug. 8

Tomorrow, August 8, the preliminary conference for the trial of Roger Mariano murder case will be held at the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 54, Manila City. The Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, of which the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) is a founding member and serves as its secretariat, requests journalists to cover the conference.

According to background information provided by CMFR, Roger Mariano was hard-hitting radio journalist based in Laoag, Ilocos Norte who was killed on his way home along a desolate national highway after coming from his radio program “Roger Mariano in Action” aired over dzJC Laoag. He was peppered with 16 bullets (9 in the back and 7 in the head) which killed him instantly on July 31, 2004.

For more information about Mariano, as well as subsequent CMFR reports on press freedom violations (or "alerts"), can now be found at the "Alerts" section of the CMFR website (http://www.cmfr-phil.org). The CMFR blog Freedom Watch will now focus more on the analytical pieces about the issues affecting Philippine media in general, including attacks against and threats to press freedom in the country.