Ador Mayol (center), senior reporter of Cebu Daily News, discusses what is expected of responsible journalists in a forum with other Globe media awardees (from left) Nancy Cudis, 2012 Blogger of the Year; radio dyHP’s Astra Zina Logarta, two-time Reporter of the Year for Radio; Alan Domingo of GMA-7 , 2012 Reporter of the Year and Feature Story of the Year awardee for television; and Linette Ramos-Cantalejo, Sun Star assistant news editor and 2012 Globe awardee for Feature Story of the Year.
(CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Accuracy, fairness and ethical conduct is what “responsible journalism” is about.
These were some insights shared yesterday by five winners of the Globe Media Excellence (GME) Awards in a “give back” forum attended by mass communication students at the Little Theater in St. Theresa’s College.
Ador Mayol, Cebu Daily News senior reporter and two-time Reporter of the Year for print, said getting the facts right is necessary to guide people.
“When people know the truth, they will have well reasoned decisions,” he said.
Mayol said that “responsibility” can be related to the word “respond,” and being responsive means caring for society.
“Journalism is more than a task. It is more than getting the who, what, when, where, how or why. It is more than getting your salary. It is about caring for someone and for the community. And when you care for someone, you do your best, whatever it takes, to make that person feel loved,” said Mayol.
Linette Ramos-Cantalejo, Sun.Star Cebu assistant news editor and 2012 Awardee for Feature Story of the Year, said the role of a journalist is not limited to being a good writer or having perfect grammar.
“It’s about being responsible in getting the facts right, being fair, being objective and keeping your stories free of bias,” she said.
Ramos said that writing and other specialized skills can be developed later on.
“What’s very basic when you get into the job is to have the right values and abide by ethics,” she added.
Other awardees at the forum were Alan Domingo of GMA 7 who won as 2012 Reporter of the Year and Feature Story of the Year awardee for television, Astra Zina Logarta of DYHP, two-time Reporter of the Year awardee for radio, and Nancy Cudis, 2012 Blogger of the Year awardee.