Ignorance: a problem in Mindanao

Journalists who are reporting out of ignorance in Mindanao will only bring further bloodshed between the government and the militants.

This was agreed upon by a group of panelists after an in depth discussion regarding the impacts of the media in Mindanao at the UP Balay Kalinaw on Feb. 10.

“When they [reporters] are sent to Mindanao, they get very few briefings. And these reporters don’t even bother to read [about the situation] at all,” said Carolyn Aguillas, editor-in-chief of Minda News.

She claimed that there are many ignorant journalists who haphazardly report the conflict without even learning about the situation, especially during the issue on the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD).

There are also many news agencies who only send their correspondents to cover stories of bloodshed and chaos, without even bothering to cover other stories which are also worthy of news coverage, she said.

“The only time Mindanao gets in the front page is when there is war and stories about Paqcuiao,” she said.

This stereotyping of Mindanao is something that Atty. Michael Mastura claimed to be the “demonizing” effect on the public’s image on Mindanao.

Atty. Mastura, a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Peace Negotiations Panel, said that the media tends to distort the truth on certain issues due to the lack of knowledge and understanding on the long history between the government and the militants.

Mastura claims that one of the reasons for this ignorance is “pack journalism,” wherein all of the reporters would cover the same issue without even trying to verify the facts.

Mastura said that it is not an excuse for the media to be ignorant since they have the greatest responsibility in reporting the truth to the people.

“Whether the judgment is correct or not is something [that the] media should act and not accept,” he said.

Mastura urged the media to be aware of what they are reporting and look at both sides of the story before reporting their news to the public.

“Media has a role to play in preventing that magkakaubusan ng lahi (mass killings),” he said.