Biased media orgs gang up on INC
QUEZON CITY —How easy it was for the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) to twist the facts in favor of its members who are unscrupulous in their practice of journalism.
In a statement released on February 24, 2016, NUJP said that it is supporting any legal action their U.S. colleagues may choose to take against assault on their persons and profession committed by “alleged INC security.”
ABS-CBN reporter Steve Angeles and Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent Nimfa Rueda reported that INC men harassed them.
Harassed? The statement of NUJP even used the word assault to describe the alleged harassment. Doesn’t assault paint a violent picture? Now isn’t that malicious?
Even the reporters themselves fail to say or qualify the form of harassment that was allegedly done to them. It is very peculiar when reporters are suddenly lost for words.
NUJP claims that the Church had harassed their colleagues, when in fact, its members are the ones who are harassing the Church with their persistent pursuit.
In the Philippines, ABS-CBN and Inquirer have long been antagonistic in their reporting about the INC.
And now, in far away Bakersfield, their affiliated journalists suddenly popped up in a Church activity. It is highly irregular and very suspicious for those media organizations to suddenly take interest in an INC house of worship dedication service.
The church regularly dedicates houses of worship all over the world. Most of these dedication services were officiated by Brother Eduardo V. Manalo, the Executive Minister of the Church, like the one in Bakersfield, CA.
Yet, in recent memory, no reporters of Inquirer and ABS-CBN covered such Church events.
But those reporters suddenly turned up in Bakersfield.
Their presence there manifests their media outfits’ persistence in hounding the Church.
Steve Angeles lives in L.A. That’s a 109-mile (two-hour) drive to Bakersfield. While Nimfa Rueda lives in Long Beach, almost 26 miles south from where Angeles lives.
If that is not persistent pursuit, I don’t know what is.
They were so persistent that they even tried to enter the Church compound to conduct interviews.
The worship service is the most solemn occasion for members of the Church.
Rueda grumbled in her report that her request for interview was turned down.
They showed up uninvited in a solemn Church affair. (Most probably they got their invitation from outside the Church. Disgruntled expelled members perhaps?) Were Angeles and Rueda expecting to be welcomed with the red carpet treatment?
These journalists give journalism a bad name. Weren’t they taught to respect the privacy of others?
The initial report of Rueda and its updated version (a news article that was posted just to bury the malicious reporting of the previous one) is full of biased, misleading, and distorted information.
As of this writing, the initial version of Rueda’s story is still posted in NUJP’s website. The way it was written, it is worse than an editorialized news.
Regardless of whether they admit it or not, NUJP knows very well that those two reporters (even the media organization they represent) are unscrupulously reporting about the INC.
But it decided to turn a blind eye on their colleagues who are violating the fundamental requirements of the practice—accurate and fair reporting.
Instead of condoning such actions, the NUJP should police its own ranks. The same goes with the National Press Club of the Philippines. Even the ombudsmen of the said media organizations (if they do have an ombudsman) should have supervised the manner they perform their duties as journalists.
With its statement, NUJP made it very clear that it is aggressively prejudiced against the Iglesia Ni Cristo.
