Palace supports live coverage of Maguindanao massacre trial

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang said yesterday it was in favor of live media coverage of the Maguindanao massacre trial but the courts would have to decide on it.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s suggestion was okay but the decision would not come from the Palace.

“Number one, the decision to cover it live or not is with the judiciary. Our view is that that is good, we will see what’s really happening,” Lacierda said over radio dzRB. 

“Unfortunately, it is out of our hands. We were all shocked at the ignominy that occurred in the Maguindanao massacre and we would like to know really what happened there. I suppose it is something that we all need to learn from and we all need to know why that particular massacre happened and who were involved,” Lacierda said.

“This is really a media event and very tragic and, in fact, the whole world took notice of the massacre. Now, if ever, it would be up to the Supreme Court to rule on whether (the trial) could be aired live. That is good, but, again, it’s out of our hands,” he said.

SC decision

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, on the other hand, clarified yesterday that the Supreme Court (SC) and not her office imposed the restrictions upon the media on its coverage of the Maguindanao massacre trial.

De Lima issued the clarification amid reports that Santiago asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to allow the media to cover the trial of the Maguindanao massacre wherein 57 people, including 30 journalists, were brutally killed.

“There is no gag order regarding the Maguindanao massacre trial,” she said, adding, “What is restricted is live coverage and the restriction did not come from the DOJ but from the Supreme Court. As DOJ Secretary, I have no problem with or objection to full media coverage.”

Uplifting of standards

Meanwhile, Malacañang commended the initiatives of private media organizations to raise their standards of performance on the coverage of hostage-taking and similar crisis situations.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma said he was referring to the new set of “ethical and safety standards for crisis coverage” issued by GMA-7 Network earlier this week.  

In a news release, GMA Network said: “Among the highlights is a renewed commitment to avoid interviewing or even talking to hostage-takers and to be more careful not to reveal the movements of law enforcers during live coverage.”

Coloma also cited the media roundtable forum convened by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) that called attention to “a matrix of guidelines applied and/or suggested by several international journalism groups and news organizations in handling such incidents.”

CMFR cited best practices from a compilation of guidelines prepared by Poynter Institute’s Al Tompkins (2000) and Bob Steele (1999), David Paletz and Alex Schmid’s 1992 book, Terrorism and the Media and the International Center for Journalists (2009), as well as those observed by CBS News and British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC).– With Evelyn Macairan