Journalism, disclosure and conflict of interest

Tuesday, 08 February 2011 04:38

Written by Danilo Araña Arao

Journalists need to disclose any information that could be interpreted as conflict of interest as they go about their work. Even if I don’t derive my income mainly from the practice of the profession, I am clearly NOT an exception, hence this article which also serves as my public disclosure.

Those who choose to keep silent, after all, end up compromising (or even totally losing) their credibility once media audiences find out by themselves any conflict of interest. This would partly explain why there are enlightened audiences who now question the credibility of some journalists who currently occupy government positions (e.g., as board members of government-owned and controlled corporations or government financial institutions). I don’t think I need to name names, as you may already know who they are.
For a high-level government official who now works for the Aquino administration’s media group, perhaps he needs to come clean as to the role he played during the campaign of President Noynoy Aquino’s Liberal Party since he was still working in a media organization at that time. The same is true for a columnist of a leading newspaper whose close relative had been appointed president of a government institution.

Our question is answerable by a simple yes or no: During the presidential campaign, were you part of the political party’s political machinery? As a follow-up question, a lengthy explanation is needed: If your answer is yes, why did you not disclose it to the public?

And since we’re on the subject of disclosure, it is incumbent upon you, my dear reader, to know some developments as regards my full-time work at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman where I mainly work as assistant professor of journalism.

As the UP community welcomes a new President this week, I am directly affected as I will leave my office at Plaridel Hall (i.e., College of Mass Communication) to occupy a new one at Quezon Hall (i.e., the administration building).

Effective February 10 (Thursday), I will start working as Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs (AVPAA). As I write this, I am also in the process of taking over the directorship of UP’s System Information Office (SIO).

In my meetings with the incoming UP officials, I had been allowed to continue writing my weekly columns for Pinoy Weekly and The Lobbyist. I made it clear, however, that I will not use my columns to write about UP as it will clearly pose a conflict of interest on my part.

I consulted some senior faculty members of the UP CMC Department of Journalism, and they found nothing wrong with my decision to continue with my work as a journalist. Unlike other institutions, all of us agreed that UP is a higher education institution where its faculty members are expected to practice their specializations, as well as conduct researches and disseminate the findings. Given that I specialize in journalism, it is imperative that I practice the profession to make my teaching, research and extension work both timely and relevant (even if there is a clear limitation as regards writing about UP and the need to repeatedly disclose, if deemed necessary, my administrative positions).

Of course, a fundamental issue is whether or not I can strike a balance between my journalistic work and the new UP administrative positions which can be very demanding.
In this context, I have formally tendered my resignation effective February 28 at the radio program Sali Na, Bayan! which airs over DZUP 1602 khz from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. where I serve as co-host and scriptwriter every Friday. While the practical reason is the need for me to “unload,” another pressing issue related to conflict of interest is that I do not want to put any unnecessary pressure on the management and staff of DZUP – currently under UP CMC’s Department of Broadcast Communication – given my position as Director of SIO (which I will fully occupy at around the same time that I have resigned from my weekly radio program).

Journalism indeed requires periodic disclosures to empower audiences in pointing out any conflicts of interest that may arise from the practice of the profession. This is especially true for columnists like me who are expected to continue providing analyses of issues and concerns. Audiences deserve to know where journalists are coming from, as well as realize why the latter are sometimes not in a good position to comment on certain issues due to conflict of interest.

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites