ABS-CBN News Chief Ma. Regina “Ging” Reyes assured people that despite ABS-CBN shutting down which puts the country’s press freedoms are at risk, there is still hope.
At the College of Mass Communication’s virtual graduation of University of the Philippines, she said in her commencement speech that, “even if our freedoms are in peril and our world seems headed toward destruction, there is always hope.”
Reyes also said that the network continues to find ways to provide news even though it has been shut down by the government.
An alumna of the UP-CMC, Reyes noted how freedom of the press came under attack as soon as nationalist leaders started to challenge the facts.
“The attacks against press freedom and the demonization of the news media culminated with the shutdown of the country’s leading network, ABS-CBN,” she said.
She told students that journalism is an “imperfect occupation” as she commented on her interaction with lawmakers who scrutinized ABS-CBN’s news stories during the franchise hearings.
“Many would say that my trip to Congress last month was a lesson on media accountability. And humility. I couldn’t agree more. I owned up to mistakes we committed in the past. I explained how errors were rectified and those responsible for them, disciplined. I disclosed our internal protocols for dealing with complaints and ethical violations,” she recounted.
Finally, the News Chief of ABS-CBN assured that, with the challenging time faced by the class of 2020, they should always remember to use their ‘journalistic zeal’ to serve the country, “You, the class of 2020 are going through an unprecedented time in our history. You have accomplished much by surviving and learning from these last several years,” she told the graduates.
“However you decide to use your creative talent, your journalistic zeal or your sense of mission, remember that these are your gifts and they are meant to be used in the service of humanity.”
