Torture: Just a story

While reading this post, I can't help but be reminded of advocacy journalism back in college.The more serious issue here is the 'faith' and judgment emanating from the journalists and their editors in what story is worth reporting, or in the process, distinguishing and eliminating stories for printing. This a question of orientation and persuasion, especially among mainstream press. For individual journalists, I think this challenge calls for appropriate response.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

by Carlos Conde*

Five years ago, I wrote a story about a Muslim teenager who was imprisoned in General Santos City for allegedly being a terrorist. The boy showed signs – bruises, mainly – that he was tortured by whoever captured him.

Today, I can’t even recall the name of the teenager. I do remember this, however: I never bothered to check back to see what had happened to him.

He was, after all, just a story.

Across newsrooms in the Philippines, most journalists probably have the same mindset about their subjects. Just a story. Early on, we were taught by our superiors in the business that we should just report, that we do not advocate anything. Don’t get too close with the subject or it will compromise your objectivity.

Unfortunately, it would seem that, in the Philippines, reporting on human rights and torture can be easily equated with advocacy. Which is to say that, often, journalists who dare to write about human rights in ways different from what the mainstream press often does – that is, failure to provide context, among others – are easily pigeonholed as leftists or leftist sympathizers. We’ve heard of tales by our colleagues being ostracized in their beats and being ignored by their sources for their reportage on human rights. Sad, but true. More.

* Mr Conde is a journalist based in Manila. He is correspondent for The New York Times and International Herald Tribune. This is posted in Eye on Ethics page of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) http://www.eyeonethics.org/2008/06/27/torture-just-a-story/.