Advisory for Church Beat Reporters

Being instruments of spreading the Gospel of the Lord is an innate duty of a media practitioner. Together with our Churchmen, we as mass communicators are expected to perform our functions well especially in the field of news gathering and delivery. We work together hand-in-hand because the media and the Church are separate entities, but they are complementary with one another in the service of humanity.

It had been a habit of every reporter, or any media men to gasp any information from the Church. With that, some have already forgotten the essence of the relationship between the two and just do things because it is on their comfort and they already came to believe that it is just commendable.

As Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz sought to emphasize on his article, we should be sensitive enough with our sources. Church News had been part of the industry and sometimes there are actions that are being addressed for recommendations in accordance with the Churchmen observations.

As being tasked to gather facts and stories to specific places assigned, I’ve encountered different kinds of scenarios. I really do have a hard time getting information from the interviewee if he/she is having tensed actions. In response to that, I set the mood first and have a comprehensive conversation until the situation becomes at ease.

Being into this kind of field, time allowed me to understand about the Frame of Reference. That every person have different perceptions, way of speech, and judgement based on his/her surroundings and how one grew up. With these, we must understand the approach and actions of our Churchmen towards us as they become our sources.

In a way, we should take it as a challenge to assess ourselves and continue doing things that are right and change what is not. As privileged, we should be aware of our actions and never take advantage of it. Thus, we perform our tasks well and live with our Christian Values. Yes, we have duties and privileges but we should set limits and be responsible of our every action. (Rochelle Rusiana | HCDC intern)