People who say journalists should merely report stories and not criticize politicians do not know what journalism is all about according to ABS-CBN news anchor and University of Santo Tomas (UST) journalism professor Christian Esguerra.
Esguerra, who was a resource speaker during the online forum “Boboto AKO sa 2022”, said a lot of the criticisms on journalists are rooted from ignorance and misappreciation of what journalism is about.
“That is what journalism is about as well. Criticizing what’s wrong with society, criticizing what’s wrong with people kasi kung perfect yung society natin edi mas maganda. Sino ba naman may ayaw mag balita na ang ganda ng pagpapatakbo ng kahit anong pamahalaan, lahat nabibigyan ng ayuda, kahit may pandemya maayos yung takbo ng pamamahala,” he said.
Esguerra along with Jonathan De Santos, chair of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and Felipe Salvosa II, PressOne.ph editor and UST Coordinator for journalism sat together for the 5th episode of the forum titled “Ang Papel ng Media sa Halalan.”
The latest episode of “Boboto AKO sa 2022” aired on Wednesday on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
The forum was conducted by the UST’s Department of Philosophy and the UST Journalism Society with the goal to educate the public about the role of the press during elections. Lance Ezekiel Pastores