THE Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility and the National Union of Journalists have called on the Senate committee on economic affairs to withdraw its invitation to Newsbreak senior writer Aries Rufo to testify in its hearings on the World Bank ban on construction firms that have engaged in corrupt practices.
The two media organizations questioned the practice of Congress and other government entities of summoning journalists to inquiries supposedly to shed light on their reports on matters of public interest. “In most cases the journalist ends up being asked to provide confidential information, and/or to reveal his or her sources,” they said.
The CMFR and NUJP reminded the government that journalists are protected by law from disclosing their sources. The ethics of journalism, they added, dictate that journalists honor confidentiality agreements and protect sources.
Instead of summong Rufo, the two organizations urged the Senate committee chaired by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago to refer instead to the reports he has written.
“Publication defines the limits of a journalist’s responsibility to the public, and for which he may be held accountable,” the CMFR and NUJP said. “Anything beyond those parameters constitutes undue interference in the news media’s task of providing the public the information it needs and expects, and involves the journalist in functions external to those of the press.”
Rufo has reported on the results of the World Bank investigation, in which some witnesses linked First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo to certain corrupt practices.