‘Don’t blame media for bad news’

BAGUIO CITY — A group of journalists asked the government yesterday to stop blaming media for the negative ratings of President Arroyo.

"Hindi ang media ang dahilan kung bakit mababa ang popularity rating ng administrasyon ni Pangulong Arroyo (Media is not the reason why the Arroyo administration’s popularity rating has dropped)," Jose Torres Jr., National Union of Journalists’ (NUJP) Commission on Protection of Journalists chairman, said in a statement.

The NUJP is the biggest organization of journalists in the country. Torres chided Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez for banning Manila Times reporter Jomar Canlas from performing his job as a journalist covering the Department of Justice (DOJ) office of Gonzalez in Manila.

He also criticized the military for "arresting" a Times photojournalist who beat police and troops to a Globe cell site, which was blown up by suspected communist rebels in Tarlac last month.

Torres said Malacañang should not blame the media for the wrongdoings of some government officials.

Journalists are only doing their job by reporting government actions, whether good or bad, he added.

Torres said the government should in fact be blamed for doing nothing to protect the freedom of the press in the country. "NUJP is now collecting on the government’s promise to solve the killings of journalists," he said.

"We are now collecting on the government for its inaction on the threat against journalists."

Close to 70 journalists have been killed in the country since the restoration of democracy when the Marcos dictatorship was ousted in 1986.

At least seven journalists were killed this year alone.

Torres said the NUJP is urging the government to protect press freedom while working to solve the killings of journalists.

"We are calling on the authorities, especially policemen and soldiers, to stop the harassment of journalists who are just doing their job to report the news," he said.

"We are urging the government to stop blaming media and government critics.

"The Arroyo administration should just do its duty to the citizens, instead of pointing the blame on others for its shortcomings)." — Artemio Dumlao