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Journalists told: Unite to protect profession

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Trishia Billones, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EQ5JKQM0-74?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" width="510"></iframe></figure>Despite competition, journalists should come together on certain issues, especially when their profession is put at risk, a Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) official said Wednesday.&quot;Journalists should understand that while they are naturally in competition with one another as an enterprise, they should come together on certain issues,&quot; Vergel Santos, chairman of CMFR&#x27;s Board of Trustees, said in an interview with ANC&#x27;s Dateline Philippines.&quot;They should set aside that idea of competition on certain issues, and particularly on issues where the press itself, the media themselves are at risk as a profession,&quot; he added.One &quot;battle&quot; they have to fight, he noted, is against the vicious attacks on social media. He said, he is sure that in certain cases, the &quot;powers that be&quot; have found their partners in cyberspace, many of whom are emboldened by anonymity and company in social media. &quot;We are in for some battle here. The true blue journalists are in for some battle here. Why? Because you realize that whereas before journalism, as an organized profession, it seems no longer that. In fact, those people themselves call themselves journalists,&quot; he said.Technology, he said, which is available to anyone, is amoral—it can be used as a tool, as a toy, and as a weapon. But journalists, he emphasized, are not supposed to use it as weapon. &quot;That is the last thing we will use that to work for,&quot; he said.&quot;I don’t know whether the boldness could be carried outside cyberspace. We don’t know that, but it comes with the territory—it is the new territory of media. Because of technology, we have been put in this position, and therefore we just have to operate within this,&quot; he said.<div>CULTURE OF IMPUNITY</div>Santos said, the media is still the &quot;watchdog of the public on the powers that be,&quot; and that shall remain to be their role even though the environment they work in has changed.He noted, Filipino journalists may think they are in a safer position now than ever before because they are less killings, but the powers that be may have just shifted to intimidation.&quot;We come from an extreme, we come from a mass murder of 32 journalists in 2009, and therefore, now that we see nothing of the sort, and sparing mothers if you look at it comparatively, we think of ourselves as better situated, but we’re not,&quot; he said.&quot;If we feel intimidated at all, if we feel friendly at all or willing to play along with the powers that be, things are just as bad.&quot;This, he said, feeds the culture of impunity, along with the journalists’ own appreciation of their role in society, of themselves, and of the craft.November 2 was proclaimed as the &quot;International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists&quot; by the United Nations through a resolution three years ago in an effort to stop the killings of journalists, which it notes has reached over 800 in the past decade.The resolution urges member-states to bring perpetrators of crimes against media workers to justice and to promote a safe environment for journalists to perform their work independently.Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, in his message this year, paid tribute to &quot;the courage of all media personnel who put their lives on the line for the sake of truth.&quot; He also urged for &quot;immediate action to secure justice in cases where journalists were attacked, harassed or killed.&quot;The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the statement read, is mobilizing all partners to implement the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. &quot;Success hinges on cooperation to create a culture of freedom of expression, where those who restrict the work of journalists are sanctioned and all who attack them are punished,&quot; it followed.Ban also called on all countries to celebrate this day with &quot;concrete actions&quot; to ensure a safe space for media practitioners to perform their jobs.&quot;In this way, we will strengthen public access to information, which is key to Sustainable Development Goal 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions,&quot; he said.

Despite competition, journalists should come together on certain issues, especially when their profession is put at risk, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility said Wednesday.

Despite competition, journalists should come together on certain issues, especially when their profession is put at risk, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility said Wednesday.

Journalists told: Unite to protect profession

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Journalists told: Unite to protect profession

Trishia Billones,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 02, 2016 07:50 PM PHT

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