00:00I congratulate the newly elected officers of the NPC of the Philippines,
00:05the Kapisanan ng mga Broadcaster ng Pilipinas,
00:08the Malacanang Press Corps, the Malacanang Cameramen Association,
00:12and the Presidential Photojournalist Association,
00:15as you embrace the task of news reporting.
00:19Your courage and passion in championing freedom of speech and expression in our communities
00:24echo the aspirations of our people.
00:27In an age when information drives the progress of our society,
00:32your dedication to lending expertise to help speak the truth on matters of national importance
00:39and promote objectivity in the face of conflicting news is invaluable.
00:45I ask that you continue to adhere to the utmost ethical and professional standards of journalism,
00:52free from sensationalism, bias, and personal motives.
00:57Help us see and address the weaknesses of our system.
01:00Continue to uphold our nation's best interests so that our country can continue to flourish.
01:06I trust that you will also make the most of your platforms
01:09by amplifying the voices of the marginalized so that they too can take part in the building of our nation.
01:18Your persistent efforts have aided us in shaping a more enlightened and empowered citizenry,
01:23one that is more capable of joining our pursuit of a stronger Bagong Pilipinas.
01:30So as you fulfill your mandate, I urge you to remain at the forefront of our efforts
01:35in helping our people distinguish truth from misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation,
01:43a most important issue as we are facing all kinds of information.
01:52And it has become harder and harder, especially the proliferation of social media.
01:58It has become harder and harder for the ordinary citizen who does not follow necessarily closely
02:06the events that are being reported upon.
02:10And therefore, it's difficult for them to discern what is fake news, what is real news,
02:16what is propaganda, what is pure objective information.
02:21Whereas before, journalists, especially let's say, let's start with print journalists.
02:28Print journalists would not print anything until they have verified, validated with more than one source,
02:37never just one single source, always a second, a third, as many as possible,
02:42before printing any information, anything in print.
02:51On television, when Trimedia came into play, that's the same thing.
02:57Because if a radio commentator or a television commentator will assess something that is blatantly false,
03:06they will be taken to task for it, and people can check, and people can verify.
03:13And so that is how we develop trusted journalists.
03:17When this journalist speaks, it's true.
03:21Because we don't speak if we don't research it well, if we don't think about it,
03:27if we don't have a good understanding of the issue that we are discussing.
03:33Now, anyone can post anything under a resume.
03:40It is for an ordinary person who is too busy with their own lives,
03:46trying to make a living, trying to feed their families.
03:49They do not have time to go back and look at the documents and research and say,
03:54this guy is true, this guy is not true.
03:57And so that is where our problem now lies.
04:03We have just read the news about the CEO of Telegram being arrested in France.
04:11And this brings us again to how do we balance this new technology of social media
04:17with the responsibilities of the Portuguese state,
04:21and the responsibilities that we do not allow to proliferate harmful posts,
04:31harmful information, false and fake information.
04:36And we are battling with this at all times.
04:41However, I remember an interview with a New York Times reporter
04:52who was working in the Middle East.
04:55And he was asked, he said, what is the relevance of newspapers now?
05:00Nobody reads newspapers. They go to the Internet.
05:03Even if they read your newspapers, it's on the computer.
05:06But there are many, many, many other sources now.
05:10And I remember very well his answer.
05:13He said, I have lived here in the Middle East and have reported in the Middle East
05:17for the last 25 years.
05:19I know the personalities. They know me.
05:22I know the evolution of the situation here.
05:26And whenever I'm given a press release, I look into it.
05:30And I ask many other sources and say, is this true?
05:34Is this correct? Is this the right interpretation?
05:37Before I write it down in the paper.
05:41And he said, the reason that you still need to read the paper
05:45is that we are experts at what we do.
05:48And we have been honing that expertise over many, many years.
05:54With social media, I will use his precise words,
05:58any pimply-faced 16-year-old sitting in his basement can write a post.
06:03And you have no way to verify if it is indeed somebody who has
06:07some knowledge, some background on what they are doing.
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