SH1620
Codes and Self-regulation ii. I shall not violate confidential information on material
No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of
expression, or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably
assemble and petition government for redress of grievances
Philippine Constitution of 1987 (Article III, Section 4)
Codes of Ethics
The code of ethics is created and implemented to aid self-
regulation. This encompasses the principles, values, standards,
and rules of behavior that guide the decisions, procedures, and
conduct of media practitioners. It is also to ensure that the
welfare of the public and other industry stakeholders are given
due consideration and respect.
Philippine Press Institute (PPI)
PPI is a media association for print media. It is a nonstick,
nonprofit private organization, whose principal mandate is to
defend press freedom and promote ethical standards for the
professional development of the Filipino journalist.
Code of Ethics of PPI: (Khan, 2015)
i. I shall scrupulously report and interpret the news, taking
care not to suppress essential facts nor to distort the truth
by omission or improper emphasis. I recognize the duty
to air the other side and the duty to correct substantive
errors promptly.
06 Handout 1
given me in the exercise of my calling.
iii. I shall resort only to fair and honest methods in my effort
to obtain news, photographs, and/or documents, and
shall properly identify myself as a representative of the
press when obtaining any personal interview intended
for publication. I shall refrain from writing reports which
will adversely affect a private reputation unless the
public interest justifies it. At the same time, I shall fight
vigorously for public access of information, as provided
for in the Constitution.
iv. I shall not let personal motives or interests influence me
in the performance of my duties; nor shall I accept or
offer any present, gift or other consideration of a nature
which may cast doubt on my professional integrity.
v. I shall not commit any act of plagiarism.
vi. I shall not, in any manner, ridicule, cast aspersions on, or
degrade any person by reason of sex, creed, religious
belief, political conviction, and cultural and ethnic
origin.
vii. I shall presume persons accused of crime being innocent
until proven otherwise. I shall exercise caution in
publishing names of minors and women involved in
criminal cases so that they may not unjustly lose their
standing in society.
viii. I shall not take unfair advantage of a fellow journalist.
ix. I shall accept only such tasks as are compatible with the
integrity and dignity of my profession, invoking the
conscience clause when duties imposed on me conflict
with the voice of my conscience.
x. I shall conduct myself in public or while performing my
duties as journalist in such manner as to maintain the
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dignity of my profession. When in doubt, decency should
be my watchword.
Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP)
KBP is a media association for broadcasting media. It provides
broadcasting media regulations and guidelines for news, public
affairs and commentaries, political broadcasts, childrens shows,
religious programming, and advertising to its members. KBP has
also its own share of code of ethics to serve as a guide for its
members. Revised in 2007, the broadcast code can be divided
into three parts. (Khan, 2015)
o The first part deals with programs and on-air conduct of
broadcasters.
o The second part covers all areas of radio and television
programming, from news and public affairs to covering
crime and reporting news related to children, as well as
contests and game shows to on air language.
o The third part includes penalties for violating the broadcast
code.
Advertising Board of Philippines (AdBoard)
AdBoard is a self-regulation in the advertising industry. It is an
umbrella organization for advertising and media associations
including KBP. AdBoard is formerly known as Philippine Board
of Advertising (PBA). The code of ethics of AdBoard has been
updated in 1996 and contains 27 sections, including a detailing
of the complaint process that may be initiated by any media
consumer or group. (Khan, 2015)
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SH1620
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of taking another persons writing,
conversation, song, or even idea and passing it off as your own.
(University of Southern Mississippi Libraries, n.d.) Including a
source within the text you paraphrased, summarized, or copied
verbatim from a book or website is must to avoid plagiarism.
Citing the sources in the bibliography or references section is
not enough.
As what Khan (2015) indicated in one (1) of her books, you do
not have to start from scratch to avoid plagiarism. Using other
peoples knowledge is inevitable most especially when doing
research. We need to accept the fact that all knowledge is built
upon previous knowledge. It is through learning from the
knowledge and ideas of others that one can be equipped to build
ideas of his/her own.
There three (3) style guidelines or citation available that will
show you how to properly cite sources.
A. Modern Language Association (MLA)
It is a guide used to write papers and for citing sources in
humanities, literature, and liberal arts.
In-text or parenthetical citation:
Tobias-Domagsang mentioned that critical reading is
important in the sense that, through the volumes of reading
materials available in the market, a reader is not supposed to
believe everything and anything that he reads (82).
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The parenthetical citation (82) refers to the page number from
Exploring Literature and Grammar, a book by Ann Gelene
Tobias-Domagsang. In the bibliography, the book will be cited
this way:
Tobias-Domagsang, Ann Gelene. Exploring Literature and
Grammar: Reading and Writing Skills. Quezon City: Brilliant
Creations, 2016.
B. American Psychological Association (APA)
It is a style that is commonly used to cite various sources from
natural and social sciences.
In-text or parenthetical citation:
While it is not a crime in this country, plagiarism is an unethical
act that is regarded as an almost unforgivable sin in the world
of the academe. (Khan, 2015, pp. 85)
The parenthetical citation (Khan, 2015) refers to a book about
Media and Information Literacy written by Khan and published
in 2015. In the reference list, this source would be cited this
way:
Khan, R. (2015). Media and Information Literacy Handbook.
Mandaluyong City: Anvil Publishing Inc.
C. Turubian
This format is popularized by Kate Turubian. It is essentially
the same as those shown in The Chicago Manual of Style. Also,
this style presents bibliographic information in footnotes or
endnotes and, usually, a bibliography.
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SH1620
Citing sources in the body of the work by using footnotes:
(Khan, 2015)
1
Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can
Make a Big Difference (Boston: Little, Brown, 2000), 64-65.
In the references list, the book would be cited like this:
Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can
Make a Big Difference. Boston: Little, Brown, 2000.
Copyright Law
The copyright law is designed to protect intellectual property.
Applications for copyright can be filed with the National
Library. Intellectual works that may be copyrighted included:
1. books, including composite of cyclopedic works,
manuscripts, directories, gazetteers, and other
compilations;
2. periodicals, including pamphlets;
3. lectures, sermons, dissertations, and other materials
prepared for oral delivery;
4. dramatic or musical compositions;
5. maps, plans, sketches, charts, drawing, designs;
6. works of art, models or designs of work of art;
7. reproductions of a work of art; and photographs,
engravings, lithographs, cinematographic pictures.
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Digital Divide
Digital divide is an issue present in almost if not all countries
worldwide. What is digital divide? What caused this
technological divide among the people?
Digital divide is defined as the discrepancy between people who
have access to and the resources to use new information and
communication tools, such as the Internet, and people who do
not have the resources and access to the technology (Beal, n.d.).
While the definition above is still valid, a tech teacher in
Philadelphia named Mary Beth Hertz has another idea. She
noted that the access to the Internet is not the issue anymore as
more and more people are no longer limited to the usage of
desktops and laptops when accessing the Internet. People
nowadays are using their phones when accessing their email and
the Internet. Hertz also emphasized that though people have
different ways of accessing the Internet, there are still things you
cannot do with phone alone. You cannot fill out a job application
through a cellphone or update resume on a game console. With
this in mind, the definition of digital divide has shifted from an
access issue to a kind of access divide (Hertz, 2011).
Khan (2015) mentioned in one of her books existing different
digital divides.
Multiple Digital Divides
Between Nations Between Individuals
Development Stage Socioeconomic Status
Infrastructure Gender
Public Policy Age
Language
Rural-urban location
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SH1620
Digital Divide in the Philippines
The first time Philippines had an access to the Internet was way
back 1994 when Benjie Tan installed the necessary router that
would link the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.
(PLDT) to the Sprint network in California. It has been 22 years
since that first connection. The question is, where is the
Philippines now in terms of technology, particularly the
Internet? Patrick Villavicencio (Villavicencio, 2012)
mentioned in one of his articles that:
But despite being one of the earlier ones to hook up to the
Internet, it seems the Philippines has not made so much
headways in terms of giving most Filipinos access to it,
creating the so-called digital divide which has plagued
many emerging economies since the dawn of computers and
the Internet.
Philippines hosted the annual Rights Con Southeast Asia 2015
Conference. This was the first time that the said conference was
held in Southeast Asia. This only means that Philippines is
gradually making a name in the online world. However, this
conference also created realizations how much Philippines is
behind in terms of Internet progress. One of the articles in
Business Mirror emphasized that (Rights and freedom:
Bridging the digital divide, 2015):
Though the conference was a success, the current state of
and future outlook for Philippine Internet sadly remains
unchanged. In a twist of irony, foreign and local
conference delegates complained that the Internet
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 SH1620

connection was slow and unreliable. It may seem as mere Addiction

whining from people inconvenienced from the slow Addiction is the condition that results when a person engages in
speeds caused by too many people connected to the an activity that can be pleasurable but the continued use/act of
wireless network. Unfortunately, this is a reality Filipino which becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life
Internet users even on high-speed plans have to contend responsibilities.
with on a daily basis.
References:
Despite having a large market for social-media sites and
e-commerce, the Philippines still lags behind in the area (n.d.). Retrieved from University of Southern Mississippi
of connectivity and Internet penetration. Our Internet Libraries:
speed ranks 155th globally, while only 38 percent of the http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/plag/whatisplag.php.
total population have Internet access. This means that (n.d.). Retrieved from Psychology Today:
over 60 percent of the population does not have access to https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/addiction.
the Internet, making the online users a minority in the Beal, V. (n.d.). Retrieved from Webopedia:
Philippines. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/digital_divide.ht
ml
The lack of greater access to the Internet creates a digital Hertz, M. B. (2011, October 24). Retrieved from Edutopia:
divide among those who can afford Internet access and http://www.edutopia.org/blog/digital-divide-
the gadgets used to access the web and those that cannot, technology-internet-access-mary-beth-hertz
which defeats the purpose of making the Internet Khan, R. (2015). Media and Information Literacy Handbook.
democratic. Mandaluyong City: Anvil Publishing Inc.
Rights and freedom: Bridging the digital divide. (2015, March
These efforts at pushing for greater rights and 30). Retrieved from Business Mirror:
government transparency online are laudable and http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/rights-and-freedom-
praiseworthy. But what is the whole point of the exercise bridging-the-digital-divide/
if only the privileged few can enjoy these rights. Tobias-Domagsang, A. G. (2016). Exploring Literature and
Perhaps the best focus in closing the digital divide would Grammar: reading and Writing Skills. Quezon City:
be ensuring that the average Filipino has access to Brilliant Creations.
affordable and reliable Internet access. Villavicencio, P. (2012, March 29). Retrieved from Interaksyon:
http://www.interaksyon.com/infotech/digital-divide-
persists-after-18-years-of-philippine-internet

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