GMA 7’s Reporter’s Notebook executive producer encouraged future media practitioners to remain ethical while fulfilling their duties as members of the press.
Sharing his decade-long experience in the media industry, Ian Carlos Simbulan reminded the students to apply ethics in their work without sacrificing the accuracy of report.
“Have a plan always. Keep your eyes open, ask questions, and seek the answers… Hindi pwede ang ‘pwede na’ attitude. Pay attention to details, be sensitive to your subject, be respectful but firm with authority figures, [and] be ethical,” Simbulan said in a seminar held at the Beato Angelico Audio Visual Room.
He added that a morally right reporter does not only have the ability to cover a fair and accurate story but is also capable of changing the lives of his subjects.
Knowledge on how to deal with criticisms from other people is also part of being a good reporter, Simbulan noted.
“’Yung mundo natin ngayon ay sobrang relevant dahil lahat ay pinag-uusapan na ang media ay biased. Tayo ngayon, mga future journalist, ang magpatunay na hindi tayo biased, that we are just doing our job to present kung ano ‘yung totoong nangyayari sa bayan,” he said.
“Huwag pumatol [sa bashers] kasi hindi ka mananalo, kukuyugin at kukuyugin ka nila kapag kinontra mo sila,” Simbulan added. Simbulan is also the executive producer of GMA’s Front Row, Reel Time, and Pilipinas Debate 2016.
With the theme #Connected: Rolling Over 2016, the seminar was organized by Metropolitan Alliance of Communication Students (MACS) which aims to promote media and communication as means of developing the self, region, and the nation. F MARIA EDEN T. DINO
