Thursday, July 24, 2008 Seares: PB and reporter Renbor By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
NEWS reporter Rene Borromeo was asked by the Cebu Provincial Board to explain a July 7 news story in "The Freeman" that said, among others, that the Cebu governor hired an unqualified person to an agency called Early Childhood Care & Development or ECCD.
Renbor admitted "mistakenly interpreting" a report of the Commission on Audit (COA) and apologized for it.
Let's not go into whether Rene erred and where. There's something though that must bother news reporters and editors: when one is required to appear before a government office or legislative body and made to explain what one did or didn't do in producing a news story.
To set the record, Renbor wasn't required to appear before the Board. The PB didn't summon him under pain of contempt if he disobeyed, as courts and Congress are wont to do.
Not summoned
Renbor was invited and he declined, citing other activities. Good for him. Had he come, he would've been pressed to tell board members how he did his job and what motivated him, areas legislators everywhere can't resist probing.
Renbor instead wrote a letter to the Board with an apology, as part of the process that requires journalists to be accountable for what they publish.
And dealing with the complainant is not all. If he hasn't done so already, the reporter has to tell his news organization and his audience what and why it happened.
Accountability doesn't include being grilled, often bullied, before a legislative committee.
Unless required by the court or a quasi-judicial body, the journalist needs to explain his work only to his editors, his peers, and his public.
