I am not a member of CyberPress. However, I have friends and colleagues within this organization. But more importantly, I think it is ethically wrong to fire an editor because he was doing his job. I want you to read between the lines and realize that as a corollary, this is also why blogging is tough. With publications, there is a “Church and State” demarkation between editorial and sales. For blogs, it is one and the same person, unless you have an ad network sell for you.
Anyway, read on.
The IT Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress) denounces in the strongest terms, what the group sees as an unfair and arbitrary treatment of two CyberPress members who were penalized for doing their work — reporting IT industry news.
Last March 1, 2010, CyberPress members had reported the resignation of a country manager of a multinational IT company – a development actually confirmed by the company. The report also stated that the executive had thrice been bypassed for promotion to the top post, an issue denied by the company.
The company objected vehemently that the report was “wrong,†though it announced the official’s resignation later on. We believe that the report, in its totality, is true and correct.
We believe that the proper course of action that the IT company and/or the PR agency could have taken, was to raise the concern/issue directly with the publications’ section editor responsible for the page and/or the reporter who wrote the story. They failed to do so on both accounts. The veteran IT journalists involved have always kept an open line of communication to both IT company and PR agency but were never approached.
However, what the IT company chose to do and allegedly upon the persistent counsel of its PR agency, is highly anomalous if not downright dubious. In other words, a breakdown in basic business ethics and public relations practice.
In the eyes of CyberPress, the manner of how this ‘issue’ was handled is categorically unacceptable.
We believe that our members, if they did violate any protocol in the pursuit of their story, due process should have been followed. They deserve to be treated like any professional with respect and fairness.
Information Technology Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress)
5 replies on “CyberPress Official Statement: Being Unfair to Journalism”
. The veteran IT journalists involved have always kept an open line of communication to both IT company and PR agency but were never approached.
isn’t it the job of the veteran it journalist to have contacted the company or pr if there was an open communication in the first place?
Its not the fault of the PR agency or the IT company
if the paper itself wanted the section abolished in the first place. So why go after the PR and IT company when the real issue here is that MB dont want them anymore. Inside scoop
Duh? What a stupid comment. How would the editor or the reporter know there was something wrong with the article if the Company or the PR did not inform them in the first place? Now, if the two didn’t get any info, then why should they ask the PR or IT company about anything at all? The reason the PR company and the IT company is in deep shit here, it’s all because of the basic protocol and simple courtesy to the journalists to be informed first about a questionable article, which the two apparently ignored. That is basic PR 101. Obviously you know the story because you mentioned MB. MB can do whatever they want with their employees. I don’t think you’re intelligent enough to understand what went wrong here. So, there’ no point explaining.
the real issue is what did HP and the PR company do to pressure MB to close down the page? that’s the problem. With the aid of the PR company, HP branded the story as false (when in fact it is true in its totality) leading MB to appease HP by penalizing the page. thats the issue.
From Ms. Rina Jimenez David . .
“Maybe it was just bad timing, because months earlier it had been announced that the various business sections would be merged and all correspondents would no longer be asked to contribute. But still, Cyberpress doesn’t look kindly on the way events have unfolded.”
Here’s the link to the article.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20100330-261549/Taking-part-in-Earth-Hour