A real threat to the truth

EXTREMES characterize the environment within which the Philippine media works. On one end, we can proudly claim that the country has one of the freest press in the world, thanks to laws that were created post-EDSA 1986 and the vigilance of the media practitioners and groups themselves for ensuring that free speech and the people’s right to the truth is protected. On the other hand, the Philippines also ranks among the most dangerous places for journalists with the high incidence of killings, especially among practitioners of community journalism.

Now, a new threat looms with the proposed Right of Reply bill, contained in Senate Bill 2150 authored by Senator Aquilino Pimentel and its counterpart House Bill 3306 by Rep. Monico Puentevella, now pending in Congress.

The law, when enacted, would require a news organization to give exactly the same space or air time and prominence to a person or entity that is the subject of a critical story or report.

There is absolutely no reason to legislate that because it is a basic responsibility of the media to report objectively, which means covering all sides and angles of a story. It is inherent in the practice for fairness and independence. To ignore this is tantamount to being libelous, since malice on the part of media establishment and practitioner can be invoked. And we already have a law on libel, where it is clearly considered a crime.

Media’s policy of right of reply is actually the primary defense of a media establishment or practitioner against libel, the legitimate sanction against those in the media industry who insist on being grossly unfair and malicious. Also, an intrinsic part of press freedom is the media organization’s right to make its own editorial decisions as to what stories warrant how much and which space or air time. With the Right of Reply bill, practically every newspaper and news program on radio and television (as well as their respective online version on the World Wide Web) will be a free-for-all with everyone who has been the subject of a media report having a right to demand a corresponding exposure.

Hence, the proposed legislation will not serve the purpose of invoking fairness on the part of media since libel already exists. It will simply only provide onion-skinned and usually corrupt politicians another tool with which to further harass media practitioners critical of them.

The bill, if passed, will also embolden public officials, celebrities et al, to file not just a series of libel cases (as the First Gentleman has done) for each paragraph but add a string of cases for violating the law on right of reply for each commentary or published item. If passed, it will practically restrain the media from performing its role in society: as watchdogs of the government and messengers of the truth to the people.

Giving politicians added right over the press would lead to the certain death of press freedom.

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