Campus paper editors kill neutrality

By Rima Granali


Objectivity is one of the basic principles in journalism but advocacy student journalists from different universities suggest taking a stand.

“Objectivity is a practical impossibility,” Frank Lloyd Tiongson of the Philippine Collegian said. “It can only be achieved by a superhuman or a god who can account all opinions in the world and society.”

No matter how mainstream journalists claim to be objective, they have subconscious and acquired dispositions that affect their reportage, Tiongson said in Killing Neutrality, a forum sponsored by the Union of Journalists in the Philippines and the College of Mass Communication Student Council.

Benedict Mark Lim, editor-in-chief of Ateneo de Manila’s Matanglawin said, “Sa bawat pagpili ng paksa may bias. Ang hirap na sabihin na kailangan mong maging objective.”
Matanglawin, which gives analysis and persuades students to take part on national and university issues, upholds advocacy journalism.
“It’s hard to support issues when you put yourself in the center,” Lim said.

Advocacy Journalism

Sue Careless, a professional member of the Canadian Association of Journalists and The Periodical Writers Association of Canada and an associate member of the Canadian Church Press defined advocacy journalism as writing a “declared bias and a publicly acknowledged point of view.”

Pro-student Stance

Jose Cosido, president of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) said most student publications are one-sided and biased because they uphold the interests of the students. UP's Philippine Collegian and Polytechnic University of the Philippines' Catalyst are examples of this.
Tiongson said Philippine Collegian is unapologetic for being “biased for the students and the masses.”

Alaysa Tagumpay Escandor, features editor of the Philippine Collegian said student publications can afford to tackle issues that are repressive and subversive because the funds come from the students and not from advertisers.

Corporate media, on the other hand, will never try to shape the status quo because they are dependent on advertisers, Escandor said.

Fair and Accurate

Tiongson said being pro-student is not contradicting to having fair and accurate reportage. The basic ethics in journalism still apply to advocacy journalism, he said.
“You don’t fabricate or falsify,” Tiongson cited Careless’s address.

Tiongson said fabricating would only ruin the credibility of journalists and their advocacies.
“Be fair, be true on (sic) what you’re saying,” said Jesse Kristoffer Aspril, editor-in-chief of Catalyst. “Advocacy journalism is not lying.”

Escandor said the Philippine Collegian may be biased but they always adhere to fairness. “We always try to interview the side of the administration,” she said. “Even if it is hard to get information from them because they are busy.”

Irreconcilable Interests

“Irreconcilable yung interests ng students at admin,”Cosido of CEGP said. He also said students want to exercise their academic freedom but the administration usually opposes it and makes actions to silence student journalism..

Philippine Collegian, Matanglawin and Catalyst have led several protests against perceived anti-student rules and regulations imposed by their respective administrations, the abolition of the tuition and other fee increase being one of these.

Mobilization

The role of advocacy student journalists has expanded to mobilizing the students and the masses.

“If you’re writing for a change, you should also move for the change,” Aspril said. “
Journalists make a difference when they persuade the people to act for that change.”

The Philippine Collegian moved against former President Ferdinand Marcos’s dictatorship while Catalyst initiated “All Shorts Day,” a protest against the dress code that prohibits PUP students from wearing shorts.

In an Interim article, Careless clarified that an advocacy journalist is not an activist. “No matter how dear a cause is to a journalist's heart, there are lines which should never be crossed,” she said.