3 DANGERS FROM MEDIA PROHIBITION IN MASSACRE TRIAL!

I see THREE DANGERS which may arise in the Supreme Court’s (SC) ruling prohibiting live media coverage of the Maguindanao massacre trial.

First: NOTHING can stop other high-profile or influential people facing court cases now from petitioning the SC for the same purpose, on the same grounds cited by primary massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr.

I just don’t have their exact number but I will dare say they’re in the hundreds, if not thousands.

Once they do, what happens next? Will the SC be ready to act as fast as they did on the petition of Ampatuan Jr? Surely, that is what the other prominent accused will demand.

If the SC isn’t ready and the prominent accused or their kin begin protest actions, what follows?

Second: The ruling can easily trigger CONFUSION AND DISINFORMATION among the public.

With no live media coverage, the people will have to depend only on the interpretation by lawyers from both the prosecution and the defense of what happened in the trial.

Interpretations which, naturally, will all be SELF-SERVING and without a first-hand account or validation by media people themselves, simply because THEY WERE NOT THERE.

Some will say that transcripts of the trial day’s proceedings are with the court. But media people can’t, and would rather not wait if possible, for the court’s staffers to retype the transcript and distribute it.

Sa mga hindi masyadong pamilyar, ang labanan sa media ay kung SINO ANG MAUNANG MAKAPAG-BROADCAST o MAKAPAGLABAS ng balita sa radyo o telebisyon o sa mga dyaryo.

So when erroneous or irresponsible reporting strikes, who’s to blame? Who will be responsible for clearing the air? Remember, boys and girls, media people are prohibited in the trial.

Third:  Having succeeded in prohibiting live media coverage of the trial, God knows what special consideration would Ampatuan Jr. think of next? And how sure are we that he won’t have his way?

Remember, the SC reversed its own ruling in the light of Ampatuan Jr’s petition,

To the families of the massacre victims and to my former colleagues in media: More than ever, HUWAG TAYONG KUKURAP sa usaping ito. 30