After the fact

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There is dignity in how news anchor Ricky Carandang resigned from the ABS-CBN News Channel when he was invited to be part of the newly elected president’s communications team.

The award-winning broadcast journalist could not, after all, deliver news to the public while serving government. President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III invited Carandang to be his communications head reportedly with BusinessWorld columnist Herminio Coloma.

As the people’s watchdog, journalists are expected to be the government’s worst critic, deterring wrongdoings with a dogged coverage ready to expose the slightest irregularities. A journalist working for government is therefore no journalist at all.

The propriety of his resignation aside, Carandang did not only cease to be a journalist the moment he professionally expressed willingness to work for the Aquino administration.

As a rule, Aquino appoints those personally close to him for high positions in his government under the justified premise that those are the people he can truly trust. In effect, an Aquino appointment is a public display of how an individual is in the president’s favor if not a subtle payment for a debt of gratitude.

Carandang’s selection as communications head therefore bolsters rumors that he worked closely with the Aquino campaign team while remaining on air as a broadcast journalist.

In hindsight, Carandang will retroactively lose his credibility the moment he accepts the post in the Aquino administration.

Every Filipino would be justified in thinking about whether or not Carandang remained fair throughout the campaign period when every word that came out of Aquino’s mouth gave the press a field day.

In fact looking into recordings of Carandang’s past broadcasts involving Aquino and analyzing his facial expression would not be a preposterous idea. Did he raise eyebrows when cueing in reports that placed his candidate in a bad light? Did he smile when the news he was delivering worked to Aquino’s favor?

In their book “Elements of Journalism,” Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel stressed that “journalists must maintain independence from those they cover.”

“(Y)ou might be a secret adviser to those you are writing about or a speechwriter or take money. But it is arrogance, and probably naïveté or delusion, to think it won’t get in the way,” they added.

There is dignity in how Carandang resigned from ANC to be part of Aquino’s administration. But there is not enough dignity to stop us from questioning his credibility.

In a profession where after-the-fact disclaimers should not be condoned, he made a big mistake.

He became truthful to his audience by declaring his affiliation with Aquino and resigning. But he declared too late. We already believed him.

Image from here.