A University of the Philippines (UP) journalism professor and veteran newsman okayed the use of vloggers in the press room but pushed for higher qualifications than the ones previously released by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).
Prof. Danilo Arao, an associate professor at the UP Diliman’s Department of Journalism and convenor of Kontra Daya, said that citizen journalism should allow ordinary citizens to cover news events since even the White House press corps push for some bloggers to attend White House press events.
However, he warned as “very, very problematic and dangerous” if Malacañang, under the incoming Marcos administration, will vouch for the vloggers who will be allowed to cover events there.
“Hindi peryodista ang nagpu-push o nagpapanukala kundi ‘yung mismong gobyerno para sila ‘yung nagva-vouch para sa mga (Not the newspapermen who are pushing for the proposal but the government itself they are vouching for the) vloggers and influencers and content creators na ito, which is very, very problematic and dangerous lalo na’t tayo ay nasa panahon na (especially were are at a time when) institutionalized at (and) weaponized ‘yung ating (our) fake news industry,” Arao said during Vice President Leni Robredo’s radio show over dzXL on Sunday, June 5.
He lamented that Department Order No. 15 under outgoing PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar mentioned only three qualifications to be accredited as a blogger—that the vloggers should be Filipino citizens, are over 18 years old, and have 5,000 followers on their social media accounts.
Incoming PCOO Rose Beatrix 'Trixie' Cruz-Angeles already said that she will prioritize accrediting vloggers, though she did not mention if this will include anti-Marcos vloggers.
READ: Marcos administration to be vlogger-friendly?
“Parang masyadong mababa ‘yung pamantayan (The qualifications are too low),” Arao said, adding that vloggers can pay $20 to $30 and have 5,000 followers overnight.
The UP professor also noted that as far as he knows, the Malacañang press corps wasn’t consulted about the proposal.
He explained that the difference between journalists and vloggers are the presence of gatekeepers and fact-checkers in media organizations.
These people check the accuracy and factuality of the news items.
“Marami sa mga vloggers wala talagang (Many of our vloggers have no) sense of accountability kasi hindi sila nagpa-practice ng (because they don’t practice) gatekeeping,” Arao noted.
READ: Accrediting vloggers is OK, but traditional media should be on top of ‘food chain’–Barbers
What these vloggers are doing is called self-publication, he added.
“Matapos isulat, kahit mali-mali ang grammar, kahit mali-mali ang datos, diretso munang pino-post ‘yan kasi gusto mong mauna (After writing, even if with wrong grammar, even if the data are wrong, you directly post it because you want to be the first).”
Vloggers can monetize their posts if they have a high number of followers and engagement on social media.
Media organizations are also more “transparent” with their ownership and advertisers, Arao said, criticizing that many vloggers are not registered with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).