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With the elections fast approaching, journalist Ellen Tordesillas warned fellow journalists to expect tempting offers from politicians to come their way.
Tordesillas, a columnist of the Malaya and Abante, yesterday shared her insights and experiences covering past elections during the Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists general assembly at the conference hall of SM City.
The gathering of about 200 beat journalists was part of the Cebu Press Freedom Week celebrations.
Tordesillas, the guest speaker, talked about the journalist's limitations and ways to avoid ?envelope bribery.?
If envelopes of cash are placed on your table during a press conference or gatherings with politicians, return them immediately, she said.
She recalled doing this when a staff member of a government official placed an envelope on her table.
She said she told new politicians that it?s all right to serve mediamen coffee and food, but not cash.
She said the 2010 presidential race would definitely have Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III and Defense Secretary Gilbert ?Gibo? Teodoro in it.
The CFBJ also inducted its newly elected presidents of each beat for reporters covering defense, the Capitol, City Hall, regional offices, business, and sports.
At the University of the Philippines Visayas College Cebu, Philipine Daily Inquirer columnist Manuel ?Manolo? Quezon III discussed the challenges of new media like blogs and on line social networks.
Despite the speed of information with new media, the bottomline still calls for responsible journalism.
?The net effect of technological development is to make journalists better. It will demand much more from the journalist, but the bottomline is that the journalist must practice the basic processes of journalism,? Quezon said.
SunStar president Jesus ?Sonny? Garcia Jr., one of the panelists, agreed.
?New technology could not replace human evaluation,? Garcia said.
Quezon also discussed ethics and responsible posting of information on the Internet.
In the afternoon, Prof. Randolph ?Randy? David, another Inquirer columnist and the chairman of the UP Diliman Sociology Department, discussed ?Surviving Martial Law and 37 Years After.
