By Raïssa Robles
This is the draft of the lecture I delivered during last week’s “Reaching Out to Future Journalists” forum held by Sunstar publication at San Carlos University in Cebu City. It was attended by students from the University of San Carlos, Bendicto College, Cebu Normal University, University of the Philippines, University of the Visayas, Southwestern University and Cebu Institute of Technology-University.
I have a confession to make. I have turned down many invitations to speak before many forums because I believe a journalist is best read than heard. However, this was one invite I felt I had to accept because of the audience and the topic. I was not disappointed. In that packed hall, I believe, will come some of our future journalists who will make a difference.
They came and they listened, even though I’m not a celebrity, but just a blogger and a journo in the trenches :)
Maayong buntag ninyong tanan.
I am very very glad to be here with you all today.
I wish to thank Sunstar, editor-in-chief Isolde Amante, executive editor Michelle So, managing editor for special pages and features Cherry Ann Lim, Smart Communications for sponsoring today’s event, the University of San Carlos and of course all of you for taking the time out to come here.
Our topic today is the News Commentary
Let’s begin by distinguishing it from “news” or what we call “spot news”, from “news analysis”, and from editorial.
For instance, the top story in Cebu yesterday was the shooting of a businessman and his young daughter along Happy Valley road.
The news on it reported the who, what, when, where of the incident.
A news analysis of the incident would try to answer the question – why did the shooting take place? Is there a trend of such crimes? How many such crimes took place last year? Have any suspects using motorcycles been caught? If not, why not?
While a news commentary would go one step further and give opinions about the murder. For instance, what does this shooting say about the peace and order in Cebu? Is this bad for Cebu? What good can possibly come out of it? Is it a wake up call or just more of the same? Who is to blame?
A news commentary is also different from an editorial. An editorial is the stand of a publication on a particular issue. A news commentary is more personal. It is the comment of one person oftentimes on a raging issue.
But what makes a news commentary different from what people post every day on Facebook about what’s happening?
A news commentary is an “informed opinion” – an opinion based on factual information by a particular person. And you listen to that person because you trust his judgment and the accuracy of the information he is basing this on.
In newspapers, news commentaries are often written by columnists. Now with the Internet, news commentaries can also be found in blogs like mine.
But like the news dailies, I try to signal to my readers when I’m writing “spot news”, “news analysis” or “news commentary” which I label – “Just my opinion” or “Commentary”.
I must say, some news reports on the front page of Philippine newspapers are more like columns or commentaries. One thing I have to stress. I am a purist when it comes to news. The personal opinion of the news writer should never appear in a news report. Personal opinions properly belong to news commentaries.
Making such a distinction is a way of respecting the reader.
But there are imaginative ways of injecting personal opinion in news reports. If you can find someone who will speak on the record and say the things you actually want to say. Then you can quote that person in the news report. Otherwise, you have to leave it out.
As I said, columnists usually write news commentaries because they are most at home in writing out their opinions. Sometimes, too at home, that they leave out the facts. Or distort them.
Commentaries that distort the facts to suit the arguments verge on propaganda. There’s a thin wall between personal advocacy and propaganda. That wall is the body of facts that the commentator presents to sway you to his arguments.
And this brings me to the Dos and donts of news commentary
As I said, it should always be “informed opinion.” Actually, that’s what my hubby told me the other night when I was discussing today’s lecture. He’s the journalism graduate. I’m a graduate of Imaginative Writing. What I learned about journalism, I learned on the job from foreign editors.
There are four steps to writing a news commentary. First, research the facts. Second, counter-check the facts gathered. Third, write out the piece. And fourth, rewrite and edit it.
To me, all these steps are important to make a good commentary.
If you are highly familiar with the subject, the research and counter-checking will be fast and easy.
You can always tell if someone writing a news commentary has taken the time out to rewrite and edit. The piece is a joy to read. It flows from one idea to another.
When I am writing a news commentary I always ask myself – is there something new that I can bring to the table? Is there a new insight I can contribute? If the answer is yes, I go ahead. If not, I scrap whatever I have written.What you see in my blog is what I chose to publish. You have not seen the many that I chose to kill.
There is a saying about writers – a good writer is one who is ready kill his darlings.
A news commentary also reveals the personality and leanings of the opinion writer. That is also what sets it apart from a news report. And this is why it’s difficult to write commentaries. I’ll tell you a secret. Many reporters are actually shy. Very private. They don’t want others to know a lot about themselves.
Writing a news commentary forces one to make a stand. Publicly.
And this is where problems can begin.
Many commentators of news give personal opinions on political events. Naturally, one would have to talk about the political personalities behind those events.
As a rule, political personalities do not like to be taken down a peg or two. They do not like to be criticized. Or sneered at. Or laughed at.
So this brings us to the discussion of libel.
How do you avoid being sued for libel when you do commentaries?
There is no fool-proof way. Libel is in the eye of the person filing the lawsuit against you. If he thinks he was libelled, there is nothing you can do about it.
Please recall the former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo’s 11 libel suits against 46 journalists in 2006. One of the grounds he cited was that Lito Banayo in his column called him “gordo” or fat.
Even if that was an accurate Spanish word for Arroyo’s rotundity, he felt it was grounds for libel. Perhaps in Arroyo’s world, the word “gordo” has a more malevolent meaning than the word “taba” in Tagalog or “tambok” in Cebuano.
You see, I was told that Spanish is the language he and his wife use when conversing with each other. One diplomat told me that during one overseas trip in the presence of other Filipino diplomats President Arroyo and her First Gentleman switched to speaking in Spanish. Unfortunately, one of the diplomats knew Spanish and he did not like the way the power couple alluded to them.As muchacho.
As I said, you cannot avoid libel 100% but you can try to make sure you can beat it or whoever is contemplating on suing you finds little reason to do so.
ONE is to make sure your facts are correct.
One prominent commentator in the post-Martial
Law period was slapped with a libel suit by President Corazon Aquino because the key fact in his story was incorrect. Louie Beltran wrote that during one coup attempt, Mrs Aquino hid under her bed.
A furious Mrs Aquino brought reporters into her bedroom and lifted the bed cover to show that there was no gap between the floor and the bed. So she could not have possibly cowered under there.
The implications of the country’s first female president hiding under a bed while rebel soldiers tried to topple her presidency were so serious that Mrs Aquino felt compelled to sue Beltran for libel. You see, during the 1986 polls, President Ferdinand Marcos had made fun of her and called her weak because she was a woman.
Beltran and the Philippine Star publisher were convicted. But after Beltran’s death, the conviction was reversed. Beltran could have avoided much grief if he had just asked a reporter to do some fact-checking for him.
The SECOND WAY to reduce the chances of being sued for libel is to get the side of whoever you are lambasting in the news commentary.
Let’s take the case of radio broadcaster Alexander Adonis. He read out loud an account in a tabloid about then House Speaker Prospero Nograles allegedly running naked in a hotel to escape an angry husband who had caught him with his wife in bed. Nograles sued Adonis and Manila-based Abante Tonite publisher Allen Macasaet, managing editor Nicolas Quijano Jr., and reporters Bernard Aguinod and Erwin Corpuz.
But only Adonis was convicted and went to jail. The reporters and editors of Abante did not because Nograles had withdrawn the libel charges after they had issued a public apology.
Adonis said he tried to get Nograles’ side the very day he had read out the story, but could not reach him. When the story is as incendiary as this, perhaps one day is not enough to try to get someone’s side.
Another word of caution – when you are trying to reach a source and the source is not answering his mobile phone, you have to say so in the story.
Sometimes when the story is so delicious I am also tempted to do the same thing that Adonis did. Or when I know the person might hang up on me or start cursing me. But this is a step that even news commentators have to do. There are times that a news commentator is spared from such a task – if the subject has already spoken to another news outlet about the same topic. Then the news commentator can quote what he said, with the proper attribution of the source.
The THIRD THING to remember so as to reduce the chances of libel is to be very careful with descriptions, especially adjectives. Remember Lito Banayo calling Mr Arroyo “gordo.” And apparently, what incensed Nograles about Adonis’ radio commentary on him was that Adonis had called him “burlesque king.”
Later, Nograles forgave Adonis after Adonis had apologized for that very vivid description.
So be very, very careful with adjectives. Now, if a news commentator was somehow able to get – say a political rival of Nograles – to describe Nograles as a “burlesque king”, then the commentator would not be liable for that libel.
Libel is a defence of the rich and the powerful. They file it in order to shut you up.
The FOURTH THING to do in order to reduce the chances of being sued for libel is to turn the juicy news into a blind item. This is why gossip items on celebrities are published as blind items. The rule is – if others cannot guess the identity of the person being alluded to, then there is no libel. Any celebrity or politician who feels alluded to can only sue for libel if another person can come forward and credibly say he thought the item was only talking about that particular celebrity or politician, and no one else.
However, there is something else to remember about this. If you later write a piece that gives the identity of that person away, you can be sued. Because under Philippine law, one can be sued for libel based on your body of works and not just on one piece.
The FIFTH THING to remember in order to reduce the chances of being sued for libel is that you can be right about your facts but you can still be sued for libel if a person can allege malice behind it.
Malice means – did you have an evil motive or ill will for writing and publishing what you did?
For instance, malice can easily be attributed to a commentator who happens to have a relative who is a politician belonging to a rival camp.
The defence against the charge of malice is that the commentator was motivated to write what he did for the public good. That this was something the public needed to know about this man. That this was of pressing public concern.
This is what lawyers call “fair comment.”
Don’t wait for a libel suit to argue that what you did was “fair comment.”
You have to explain why it’s “fair comment” prominently in any news commentary that might invite a lawsuit.
When does a politician’s sexcapade become a subject of “fair comment”?
This is where the writer of a news commentary has to do some digging – to find out whether it has resulted in government contracts for the object of his desire; or whether the politician’s disclosed SALN is far below the value of the property he has given his mistress using a dummy company set up for that very purpose.
Another thing that lawyers say to avoid being slapped a defamation lawsuit is to only report libellous material that is “privileged”. I had a difficult time understanding that concept. It simply means that our laws recognize that there are certain “privileged occasions” when reporters and news commentators may freely report what is said even though this is libellous.Privileged occasions cover congressional proceedings. This is the reason everyone can report word-for-word all the libellous things that the whistle-blowers have been saying about Vice President Jejomar Binay.
Other “privileged occasions” are court trials and some public proceedings of other government agencies. The rule we generally follow for press briefings and conferences is that reporters are free to report what the officials said. It is the officials who can be sued for libel, not the press that reports what they say accurately.
As part of this lecture, I have been asked to comment on the current state of news commentary in the Philippines.
Let me answer that by citing examples of what I consider good news commentaries. Jarius Bondoc of Philippine Star is one. He digs out facts and he patiently explains why it’s important for you to read his exposes.
Another is University of the Philippines economist professor Solita Monsod. She injects the personal with her arguments. She explains economic concepts.
I also like Cielito Habito because he bothers to explain economic concepts and relates them to what’s going on.
As for those I do not like, I might just tell you during the open forum.
Before I close let me share with you a thought that came to my mind as I went down the airplane to the Cebu airport terminal. I saw how grotty your terminal was and how you needed a new one pretty fast.
Like Mindanao, Cebu and other parts of central and southern Philippines have long been getting the short end of government attention.
Perhaps it is because the news outlets do not emphasize enough your point of view. When news breaks in Manila for instance, what is Cebu’s view on the matter? How does it impact you?
What developments in Cebu can Manila learn from?
As a reader in Manila, I would like to know more, for instance, how the Bangsamoro Basic Law would affect Cebu and central Philippines. How an anti-dynasty law would be viewed here.
These and many more can be topics for news commentaries that only those from Cebu can write.
flintstriker says
Ma’am, in reading this I’ve found that my (amateur) writing is more news commentary verging toward personal advocacy. I’m not “in the know”, I comment on issues more as an outsider, and histories and other news reports are my only source for my opinions.
LIke, for example, these pieces on the PDAF scandal and how the anger of people are more at the ostentatious display of wealth more than the provenance of the wealth involved:
http://jovatiram.wordpress.com/2013/08/21/oro-plata-mata-on-the-pdaf-mega-scandal-part-1/ (Part 1)
http://jovatiram.wordpress.com/2013/08/21/oro-plata-mata-on-the-pdaf-mega-scandal-part-2/ (Part 2)
I did my own screencap work, but of course, I’d prefer also doing interviews. Thanks for this article!!!
raissa says
You’e welcome.
Keep safe.
rallie f. cruz says
Ms. R. Robles,
Your article on the case of the transgender allegedly killed by a US service man is not available. I hope it is not blocked and if it is, may be it is under investigation where and when the case must not be preempted. Just for your info here.
Oscar Franklin Tan says
I greatly enjoyed this piece!
On this paragraph: “However, there is something else to remember about this. If you later write a piece that gives the identity of that person away, you can be sued. Because under Philippine law, one can be sued for libel based on your body of works and not just on one piece.”
Would you happen to know which particular legal source noted this nuance, or at least the person who noted it?
raissa says
Thank you for reading, Sir.
I’ve answered you here –
Why bloggers, reporters need to be cautious when publishing blind items
http://raissarobles.com/2014/10/06/why-bloggers-need-to-be-cautious-when-publishing-blind-items/
Danielle Balanga says
Hello Miss Robles, I was your forum in Cebu and I was able to ask you how you broke into global news afterwards, I don’t know if you remember; but I would certainly like to know more about the stringer job you mentioned. What exactly does a stringer do and is there a certain qualification to be one?
raissa says
you must be interested in Philippine politics and what’s happening around you.
basically, you file breaking news.
I guess the qualification is that you have to have a nose for news, a skill for getting the facts and a fast way of putting these together.
leona says
There are, as estimated, about 240+ CEBU attendees in this lecture by counting the seats occupied by 7 seaters multiplied by about 32 pews based on the photo here.
Raissa . . . you already have a lot of CEBU FANS ready to have FUN! Maayo gud ang pag abut mo diha.
Kaluuyan ka ng Bathala. Ka anin dut ang gihimo mo didto ha Cebu lecture. Salamat sa imong trabaho.
raissa says
Wow, Leona. YOu took the time to count the seats :)
leona says
…just observing some facts…hehehe…that need to be revealed. Initial clue for your FANS! Facts.
kalahari says
Thanks Raissa for your learned pointers on responsible journo.
Now for the breaking news: BINAY LEAD IN PRESIDENTIAL SURVEY DROPS
According to Pulse Asia survey conducted from September 8 to 15, Binay’s lead drop from 41 to 31 percent compared to June survey. While the dip was consistent among locations and classes, those in the upper classes A, B, & C showed the greatest drop at 13%, from 36% in June to only 23% in September. Other presidentiables like Mar Roxas increased to 13% from 7%, Trailing were Queen Mirriam (11%) Grace Poe (10%), Erap (10%), Escudero (5%), and Marcos (4%).
For VP, Grace Poe leads them all with a five-point increase to 31%, Escudero (19%), Cayetano (9%), Trillanes (7%), Marcos (6%), Jinggoy (3%) and MVP (2%). (PDI 11:34 am today)
It looks like a Mar-Grace tandem is promising attributable to their unquestioned integrity in comparison to corruption-ridden vp binay.
Rene-Ipil says
The survey was done before Binay virtually admitted on September 24 a small portion of his unexplainable wealth by proving that MVP is no match to him in running a business. That was raking absurd profit from a mammoth piggery by avoiding any mortality, maintaining herds of pig immune from any disease and an unbelievable growth or conversion rate of feed to meat ratio. This was parallel to maintaining the least operating and administrative cost over 16 years of business operation.
Maybe Binay employed pro-bono a group of top agricultural engineering and animal husbandry graduates from UP Los Baños to develop state-of-the-art piggery infrastructures and operate modern piggery techniques, thereby resulting to tremendous profit. Maybe Binay should present said experts to justify his wealth.
raissa says
Read my latest pc on this – Thanks.
Binay suffers 24.39% drop in two months; Roxas rating doubles
http://raissarobles.com/2014/09/29/binay-suffers-24-39-drop-in-two-months-roxas-rating-doubles/
Rene-Ipil says
The first segment of my comment is under moderation. Here is the second part.
BTW it was reported that Binay had 10,000 heads in his piggery. Assuming all of them were piglets which cost about PHP1,000 each, Binay would need in 1994 a seed capital of 10M for the young stock, not to mention the necessary infrastructures and administrative and operational requirements. For a median of five months old stock of 10,000 heads at PHP5,000 per head, that would amount to PHP50M already. Did Binay secure any bank loan to start and operate his piggery business in 1994 to 2010? Apparently, Binay’s SALNs do not show such kind of money. In fact in 1994 he had a net worth of only PHP8M.
raissa says
er, how did you arrive at such prices? pls show. Thanks.
Rene-Ipil says
I asked an old timer in the hog raising industry. He told me that sometime in 1994 a piglet about 5 weeks old would cost PHP1,200. At six months old the pig would be about 80 kilos. In 1994 the price would be about PHP70 per kilo live weight. Presently, a piglet costs about PHP2,500 at 10-15 kilos weight. Live weight per kilo of pig costs now about PHP110.
To get an idea of current swine prices, here is a link.
http://www.investmentjuan01.com/2014/05/how-start-up-piggery-business-model-works-piglets-livestock-investment-batangas-philippines.html
raissa says
Thanks :)
duquemarino says
From backyard hog raising to big time, commercial piggery. Maganda pala itong negosyo, lalo at hindi kasama sa SALN ang pinagmumulan ng puhunan.
filipino_mom says
at malamang tax-free pa!
jorge bernas says
@ Kalahari,
Palagay ko lalo pang bababa/lalaglag ang rating ni B.P Binay kapag patuloy natin makikita na takot sumali sa pagdinig sa senate hearing si Binay noong sep. 25 at kapag patuloy natin nakikita at marinig sa senate hearing sa oct. 2 & 8 na wala pa rin si B.P.Binay at lahat nang Baho nito ay naibunyag lalo itong Pandirihan at iwanan maging nang kanyang mga kakampi?
No to Binay
No to UNA
Yes to Mar Roxas and Alan Cayetano Tandem sa 2016 or
Santiago-Duterte para mas Maganda at Matibay…
vander anievas says
bravo!
really i learned a lot.
i just got a crash course of a bit of this complex writing profession.
will guess, your blind item is ‘rt’?
he could be the one i respect very much for his overflowing hatred…:)
just hope more of your enlightening piece.
thanks for posting!
chit navarro says
READING IT FROM THE EXPERT…
Yes, I do pray that you will never need the services of a lawyer in your writings…. Libel is worse than a bith. Although I am very sure that all CPM’ers, lawyer or non-lawyers alike, will come to you aid any time!
I share in your choice of opinion writers and may I add ex SC CJ Pangilinan to my personal list. Although he is better than you in this aspect as he had his share too of this bitch:
http://www.manilatimes.net/ex-cj-panganiban-faces-arrest-over-libel/64947/
And if I may hazard a guess, one of those you dislike is a former colleague turned ambassador?
Thank you for this great article.
chit navarro says
sorry, it should be “ex SC CJ Panganiban”… apoogies to the typo error.
Mark A. B. Andrade says
What if an ordinary citizen commented on facebook or twitter regarding a government policy of a government official that he/she thinks is USELESS or WORTHLESS or WALANG KWENTA, then in the comment he/she said BOBO ang MAYOR na may gawa nitong policy na ito – Libelous ba yun…?
leona says
…maybe, libelous yun – Mark A.B. Andrade@
Our SC gave an example: ‘ Of course, if the “Comment” does not merely react to the original posting but creates an altogether new defamatory story against Armand like “He beats his wife and children,” then that should be considered an original posting published on the internet.”
Page 30, Desini, Jr. et al. vs Sec. of Justice, et al. G.R. No. 203335 Feb, 11, 2014. Decision on the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Link http://www.rappler.com/nation/special-coverage/cybercrime-law/51197-full-text-supreme-court-decision-cybercrime-law
raissa says
it really depends on the mayor, if he wants to sue.
however, he wont have much to stand on. He will have to prove he’s not bobo and that would be hilarious.Especially during elections.
leona says
. . . hahaha
tama! And add a suffix – to show his crowd will prove it: bobo-hakot!
hilarious!
Joe America says
You know, Mark, you sparked a good idea, sort of related. The next time someone calls me a moron in a discussion thread at the Inquirer, or if they call me a yellow-tard, I’m gonna file a libel case. Track ’em down and zap them. That should get some headlines and maybe cool the rampant incivility that flows in those inane discussion threads. I’ll leave Facebook to you. :).
Of course, I think half of the vile comments are from Shanghai, but I can search until I find one from Manila or Cebu. I like traveling there.
Joe America says
Comment went to moderation.
jcc says
why are my comments being duplicated? hoooum..
raissa says
The comment numbering system is acting WEIRD. Just don’t mind it.
jcc says
thief “of” the sanctity of marriage..:)
jcc says
hehehe.. another privileged communication scenario is going right into the person’s room and call him/her a thief and a disgusting fatso without any third party present, or writing him/her a letter that he/she stinks and a thief.
libel is about publication of the derogatory remark. no publication, no libel.
or in American jurisprudence, if you say that in your opinion this politician sleeps with another politician’s wife, there is no libel or defamation because your were not stating any facts but pure opinion. and in American jurisprudence, malice is not evil motive — but reckless disregard for the truth. thus, even if there was hatred in calling the public official a crook because he sleeps with your wife, you can still present proof that you don’t believe him to be entirely honest because of having slept with someone knowing that she was married.
raissa says
It’s a torturous road.
But if someone else happened to have heard you say all those things, that would be slander. And if you had written a letter and someone happened to read it, then that would be libel.
jcc says
and it is entirely privileged to call the politician an adulterer in the above scenario and avoid libel if you call him a brigand of public treasury too and a tenable argument can be made that as a thief the sanctity of matrimony, he can be a thief of public trust too. :)
your lawyer must be imaginative to get out of harassment from politicians.
raissa says
ah, but a libel suit is a bitch to have.
jcc says
yes, most definitely.. dealing with the court/judge which/who are not ideal, hiring a lawyer, wasting time on postponements, and anxious that an unsympathetic corrupt judge could throw u in jail. it’s hellish– but that is the price/risk you have to take as a journo practitioner. otherwise, get out of it and have another career. :)
jcc says
but if you get into trouble, raissa, I will volunteer as your lawyer. I believe I am better than Harry Roque. :)
raissa says
But of what use to me is a lawyer based in the US?
jcc says
i can always go home –if that means fighting a good fight.. :)
raissa says
thank you, jcc.
I hope I don’t get to need your services :)