JAKARTA, Indonesia — Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar warned the media and the Filipino community here on how some well-written reports or information found through traditional and digital channels may not always be based in the truth.
“The liberating force that brought about the avalanche of journalistic freedoms was originally, and still is, the search for the truth. The labyrinth of news gathering, the rush to make the lead stories, and the conscience that tells the truth were relegated to remain silent in a corner. More often, a well-told story became the substitute for a truth-based report,” Andanar said in his keynote speech during the sixth leg of the Press Freedom Caravan at the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia on Wednesday (July 24).
He said that in the modern and digital age, public discussion is the open field of media where there are zero barriers to the dissemination of information into private or public institutions.
“What, therefore, are we talking about insofar as press freedom is concerned? I say, truth is the equation of press freedom. There is no in-between,” Andanar said.
“When the fancy ornaments are removed from the narrative, it is always the truth that must stand firm. Otherwise, this is where corruption occurs,” he added.
About 30 individuals participated in the event, composed of Jakarta-based journalists and the Filipino community. This is the sixth leg of the PCOO’s Press Freedom Caravan, which follows the caravans in Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Geneva, and Brussels earlier this year.
Moreover, the PCOO chief said the freedom of the press is determined by how the user utilizes that liberty, that censorship, editorial prerogatives, business or vested interests, and government or political controls.
“The freedom to express, verbally and in all other methods, is internal to the user and integral to the performance of the craft. And so is the abuse inherent in the user,” Andanar said.
He noted that broadsheets, radio and television broadcasts, cable, satellite and the internet, including its social media applications, are designed to simply transmit content. Even digital encyclopedias, although generally reliable and relevant, contain contributed information which are not of absolute certainty, according to Andanar.
“Let us never assume that the public is unaware or ignorant. What the readers, listeners, and spectators ingest is what the press feed the public,” he said.
“Therefore, we begin with the position of the individual as the architect of press freedom. The composer of the story primarily determines whether or not a report is free — free from manipulation, free from harmful interests, free from the abuse of power and greed. Logic and ethics are instruments to dissect corrupt practices and weed out any semblance fabrication and fake reporting,” Andanar said.
Moreover, the Press Freedom Caravan also featured the PCOO’s Freedom of Information program, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, and the Real Numbers campaign of the government’s fight against illegal drugs, in a bid to bring the accurate narratives directly to the media and the Filipino community abroad.
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