Lesson 4: What Is Balanced Reporting? Discussion

ALLIED 1: Campus Journalism
WEEK 2
Course Objective : At the end of the course, the students should be able to:
A. Cognitive (Knowledge)
1. Discuss the ethical standards of campus journalism and the extent of freedom of the press.
2. Describe the different sections of a school paper.
3. Compare the different news writing techniques and formats.
Learning Outcome:
1. Discuss the ethical standards of campus journalism and the extent of freedom of the press.
2. Describe the different sections of a school paper.
3. Compare the different news writing techniques and formats
Topic:
Killers of Balanced Reporting
Functions and Duties of the Press
Limitations of the Press
Lesson 4: WHAT IS BALANCED REPORTING?
Discussion:
“All news is good news”: the importance of the Balance Principle in credible reporting.
Balanced reporting is credible reporting. No organization has a solely good or bad story to tell as far as
sustainability reporting is concerned, and your organization should aim for balanced reporting as the optimal
approach. Balanced reporting requires an organization to stand back and take an overall view of its total
impacts, rather than just trumpeting good news about positive impacts in a given moment.
Balance arises from taking a broad view, from a certain openness. Your organization’s most significant impacts
could be indirect – something that’s done by one of your suppliers, for example. And they can range far and
wide. The community in which you operate may be delighted you operate there – but in the near future, your
use of manufacturing materials could impact people on the other side of the world. It’s this wider view that
effective sustainability reporting intends to capture.
Transparency – the key to balanced reporting

How organizations behave affects how they’re perceived. Transparency on sustainability impacts – both
positive and negative – lets all interested parties make a considered assessment of your behavior and your
prospects.
Reporting negative impacts may be something new for your organization, but transparency is what makes your
report valuable. A balanced report helps identify what is critical to manage and change, even if your
organization isn’t ready to address the issue immediately. It’s also a self-defined space where you can talk about
how you intend to prevent, correct, mitigate or compensate for any negative effects you have.
Transparency can also increase people’s understanding of the context in which your organization operates.
Many things you need to manage may need to be managed also by all those in your sector; or by all companies
and organizations, for that matter. The fuller picture, from a balanced report, builds trust and increases
credibility. It enables your organization, in tandem with others, to make a fuller contribution to the broader
sustainability reporting agenda.
Lesson 5: Functions and Duties of the Press
The invention of the art of printing in the fifteenth century was in many respects much more important than the
invention of gun-powder. The latter had served only to strengthen the sinews of war, but the former helped to
liberate the human mind by lighting up and widening its horizons as never before. The advent of the printing
press meant that from that hour, the brain and not the arm was to rule the world—revolutionary change in the
fortunes of mankind.
The free propagation of the printed word not only helped to lift the clouds of ignorance, but also acted as a
catalytic agent to promote freedom of inquiry and debate on an unprecedented scale. Perhaps the first revolution
brought about by this new power was the reformation which shook the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth
century. As the immense capacity of the printed word to sway popular opinion began to make itself felt, the
state naturally tried to bring the press under control by imposing censorship to make sure that no writing which
tended to undermine temporal or spiritual authority was allowed to get into print.
Gradually a free press came to be recognized as an essential attribute of parliamentary democracy—the fourth
estate of the realm after the Lords Spiritual, the Lords Temporal and the Commons. Votaries of democracy have
since hailed the freedom of the press as “The palladium of all civil, political and religious rights”, “the mother
of all our liberties, and of our progress under liberty”, “the chosen guardian of freedom, strong sword arm of
justice, bright sunbeam of truth”.
Members of the press have a duty to inform the public about current events and insist on transparency in
government activities. In the fulfillment of this duty, every journalist has responsibility to preserve the integrity
of the news, respect sources and maintain independence.
Duties of the press
1. Report the truth

2. Preserve integrity
3. Respect professional sources
4. Maintain independence
Report the Truth
Journalists have a duty to report factual information, and there should be a consistent system for separating
facts from opinion. For example, there should be at least two witnesses of an event if it is reported as fact,
because a single witness is often unreliable. Journalists should be careful to avoid unintended errors by
checking facts and only using reliable sources that they trust. If inaccuracies are realized after publication, the
author should correct them as soon as possible.
Preserve Integrity
Members of the press have a responsibility to protect their publication's integrity, which means reporting
impartial and honest news stories. It is critical that every journalist's position as an honorable, trustworthy
reporter remain intact so the public can count on a reliable news source. Stories labeled as news should be free
of the author's personal views and no reporter should alter or dismiss parts of the story to protect any group,
including their own publication.
Responsibilities of the press
1. Upholding the truth through verification

2. Serving the public as a watchdog
3. Forum for public comment
4. Report comprehensively
5. Make important news interesting
6. Working as a journalist is not a job to be taken lightly. Journalists have a duty to report the news
thoroughly and without bias. If you aspire to be the mouthpiece for your audience, understand your role,
your audience and the power of your words. Strive every day to uphold the journalistic integrity that
comes with the power of the pen and work to achieve the goal of delivering the most complete and
balanced story possible to your audience.
7. Upholding the Truth through Verification
8. A journalist is responsible for reporting the truth, not because he is inherently unbiased but because he
upholds the importance of objective verification. This means that he should consistently test every fact
used in his story, including researching all information shared with him by his sources, according to the
Pew Research Journalism Project. A strict adherence to verification ensures that personal and cultural
biases don't sneak in and take over reporting.
9. Unbiased Reporting
10. A journalist's report should be unbiased, according to Pew's Principles of Journalism. This means that if he
has a financial interest in his subject, he should give the report to someone else. If the company that owns
a news agency has a financial interest in a story, the agency should take extra care to ensure its reporting is
not affected. A journalist's report should present all sides and all viewpoints on a matter. He should seek
more than one source for a story to ensure that multiple sides are represented. If someone comments on a
person, he should seek to get the other person's response.
11. Serving the public as a watchdog
12. The journalist's duty is to the public, not the government. Journalists are sometimes referred to as the
fourth branch of the U.S. government for this very reason. They should hold the government and others in
power accountable to the citizens. By being independent from the government, they can monitor power
and serve as an information source and not a propaganda mouth. Journalists serve as a watchdog to
balance government power and hold it accountable to its citizens.
13. Forum for public comment
14. The journalist provides a forum for public comment, according to Pew. It allows an avenue for criticizing
the government and corporations. Journalists help stir up discussions that might later lead to change and
problem solving. But by serving as a point of public discussion, journalists must strive to represent all
sides of the discussion, not only the richest or loudest voices.
15. Comprehensive reporting
16. As Pew Research states, journalists create a type of map of events, making it easier for citizens to navigate
through the important research. They must strive for proportion in reporting, not overly sensationalizing
entertaining stories or neglecting important issues for the purpose of getting more viewers. A news agency
that hires a diverse staff can more easily achieve such diverse reporting.
17. Making important news interesting
18. A news agency must engage its audience to get them to tune in. But it also must find ways to make
significant stories interesting, so that readers and viewers don't miss out on what they need to know. It
should frame important world events in ways that will be relevant to its audience, while still getting the
most important messages across.
Lesson 6: The Press: Freedom, Responsibilities and Limitations
Discussion:
Press Freedom – Legal Framework

Section 4, Article III, Bill of Rights, 1987 Philippine Constitution – “No law shall be passed abridging the
freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and
petition the government for redress of grievances.”
Press Freedom is NOT Absolute

Watchdog of a democratic society
Fourth Estate = fiscalizing function for the three branches of government: executive, legislative and
judiciary. Adversarial in nature but not necessarily polarized (“Third Voice”).
Examples of Bad Press

Shooting from the hip – writing without basis or data verification
“The Source” Story – no source e.g., an unidentified source admits that …
Poetic License – use of poetic tools in journalistic writing
Manufactured stories – fabricated stories
Conflict of interest – credibility of the reporter  Misquotation – inaccurate reporting
Labeling – prejudicial reporting e.g., Muslims as rebels
Yellow journalism – sensationalism
Envelopmental/Checkbook Journalism – paid stories
Code of Ethics of the Press (National Press Club)
1. I shall scrupulously report and interpret the news, taking care not to suppress essential facts or to
distort the truth by omission or improper emphasis. I recognize the duty to air the other side and the
duty to correct substantive errors promptly.
2. I shall not violate confidential information or material given me in the exercise of my calling.
3. I shall resort only to fair and honest methods in my effort to obtain news, photographs and/or
documents, and shall properly identify myself as a representative of the press when obtaining any
personal interview intended for publication.
4. I shall refrain from writing reports which will adversely affect a private reputation unless the public
interest justifies it. At the same time, I shall fight vigorously for public access to information.
5. I shall not let personal motives or interests influence me in the performance of my duties; nor shall I
accept or offer any present, gift or other consideration of a nature which may cast doubt on my
professional integrity.
6. I shall not commit any act of plagiarism.
7. I shall not in any manner ridicule, cast aspersions on, or degrade any person by reason of sex, creed,
religious belief, political conviction, cultural and ethnic origin. Code of Ethics of the Press (National
Press Club)
8. I shall presume persons accused of crime of being innocent until proven otherwise. I shall exercise
caution in publishing names of minors and women involved in criminal cases so that they may not
unjustly lose their standing in society.
9. I shall not take unfair advantage of fellow journalists.

10. I shall accept only such tasks as are compatible with the integrity and dignity of my profession,
invoking the ‘conscience clause’ when duties imposed on me conflict with the voice of my
conscience.
11. I shall comport myself in public or while performing my duties as journalist in such manner as to
maintain the dignity of my profession. When in doubt, decency should be my watch word.

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ALLIED 1: Campus Journalism

Lesson 4: WHAT IS BALANCED REPORTING?

Transparency – the key to balanced reporting

Duties of the press

1. Report the truth

Report the Truth

Responsibilities of the press

1. Upholding the truth through verification

Press Freedom – Legal Framework

Press Freedom is NOT Absolute

Examples of Bad Press

Code of Ethics of the Press (National Press Club)

6. I shall not commit any act of plagiarism.

9. I shall not take unfair advantage of fellow journalists.

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