What we can learn from Tim Yap’s `mistweet’

Tuesday, 14 December 2010 03:37

Written by Danilo Araña Arao

It’s a misdeed to “mistweet.”

The Philippine Star Supreme Editor Tim Yap realized this important point in “tweeting” when he announced the supposed winner of the P741-million Grand Lotto jackpot. Last December 1, Tim Yap in his Twitter account (@iamtimyap) said: “Eto na, PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office) confirms one winner – his name is Miko Morelos. He gets to take home the P741.2M peso (sic) Grand Lotto 6/55 Jackpot! #magtagokana!”

In his subsequent “tweets,” he was quick to acknowledge his factual error and even apologized to the person he wrongly identified as the winner (who turned out to be a reporter of the Philippine Daily Inquirer covering the story). That the PDI is a rival of Tim Yap’s paper is beside the point. But it may be interesting to note that Yap used to be PDI’s columnist and section editor who had to “leave” the paper two years ago for reasons I am not at liberty to disclose here.

This particular context could be important as bloggers and journalists try to make sense of what happened. Morelos, after all, makes an excellent point about rejecting Yap’s apology and this has nothing to do with the rivalry of their respective newspapers.

The damage has been done, so to speak. It would be hard for Morelos and his family to live “normally” as they could be targets of unscrupulous people. That a balikbayan claimed the P741-million grand prize last December 9 may be reason for Morelos and his loved ones to heave a sigh of relief, but this is still not a guarantee that they are not anymore fair game to swindlers, robbers, kidnappers and other criminals who do not regularly follow the news.

This particular angle is worth covering by the media as Yap apparently hasn’t learned the important lesson of responsible writing. He thinks that an apology is enough because his only fault is failure to check the facts. His two tweets last December 1 show his effort to apologize for what he considered to be a mere honest mistake:

· “Fact check, & don't get carried away. Double fact check before tweeting. Trying to contact Mr. Morelos now to personally apologize” (Dec. 1, 12:55 p.m.)

· It was an honest mistake. My apologies if any of you were offended by the mistweet, although I clarified it in my next tweets that Mr. Morelos wasn't the winner but the reporter who covered the lotto proceedings. I tweeted those messages without any malice or ill intentions. I have already spoken to Mr. Morelos and personally apologized to him. (Dec. 1, 1:23 p.m.)

In these tweets, Yap obviously does not have a firm grasp of journalism ethics which he is expected to fully understand given his work in media. Allow me to just focus on three points in journalistic writing which are also reflected in the Bloggers’ Code of Ethics (retrieved from Cyberjournalist.net): (1) Be honest and fair; (2) Minimize harm; and (3) Be accountable.

Yap wasn’t exactly honest and fair in tweeting about the supposed good fortune of the lotto winner as he even had the hashtag “#magtagokana.” The latter trivializes the real danger of being publicly known as an instant multi-millionaire. Yap isn’t necessarily ignorant of the consequences of his actions. He wanted the distinction of being the first to inform the public about a supposedly important piece of information.

Given Yap’s “scoop mentality,” he put Morelos and his family in real danger. He is obviously not aware that responsible journalism, blogging and tweeting are not about providing ALL information, but only the relevant ones that can help in the shaping of public opinion. Divulging the identity of a lotto winner only feeds on the people’s curiosity and promotes rumor mongering among them, not to mention probable harm on the person concerned.

As regards the last point in the Bloggers’ Code of Ethics, accountability is apparently not in Yap’s vocabulary. Accountability is not synonymous with apology as the former also refers to disclosure of whatever conflict of interest there may be. When Yap realized his mistake, he did not fully disclose his affiliation with the rival of Morelos’ publication, as well as his former employment with the latter. Then again, Yap has not yet come clean as regards the circumstances behind his departure from the PDI even if this happened more than two years ago.

To be a responsible journalist, blogger or social media user (including Twitter), one needs to have a firm grasp of the professional and ethical standards of responsible writing. There are many decisions in the fields of journalism, blogging and social networking that are mainly judgment calls by the user.

If one doesn’t know the standards, he or she could end up harming sources and audiences, as what Tim Yap did to a hapless reporter.

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites