Some years back, a television network owned by a prominent religious organization started a game changer program aimed at changing the broadcast journalist’s attitudes towards covering the news.
Dubbed “Tulong Muna Bago Balita,” the program trains news crews – everybody, from reporters to cameramen – on first aid and rescue basics, with the goal of enabling them to assist in emergency situations.
The rationale of the program is not only to ensure that the network’s news crews can appropriately respond to emergency situations, particularly road accidents, but to impress on them the notion that helping others is more important than getting the first scoop of the news.
The “Tulong Muna Bago Balita” program has since been duplicated by other TV networks in the Philippines and has won praise due to its compassionate attitude towards victims of road accidents and other emergency situations, in a media landscape that has often been criticized due to placing more emphasis on getting the news first instead of assisting the victims.
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Today, however, it has come to my attention that maybe, just maybe, even us ordinary citizens should be taught the philosophy first forwarded by “Tulong Muna Bago Balita.”
In this age where the Internet and social media have increasingly enhanced so-called “citizen journalism,” some of our netizens have become more obsessed with getting the first scoop or becoming the first to gain more viewers and become more “viral” than actually assisting victims of emergency situations.
For instance, you know why expressways become jam-packed when an accident occurs, even along the lane opposite of where the accident happened?
That’s because of “rubber-necking” motorists who would slow down, gawk, then take videos or pictures of the accident and then upload them to their social media accounts in a rush!
Then there was this recent fire incident in Biñan City, where one of our editors noted with dismay that some residents seem to focus more on getting pictures or videos of the fire rather than assisting volunteers and firefighters.
“Yung iba nga, Diyos miyo, nakaharang pa sa dadaanan ng mga bumbero yung ibang mga kumukuha ng video,” she commented. “Hindi ba nila alam na sila yung pumipigil sa mabilis na pag-apula ng apoy?”
I have another view of that: combined with the “tsimoso” attitude of many of us Filipinos, I believe some of us had actually wanted these accidents to happen, or for fires, for instance, to be prolonged, as it would bring them more and more views and likes.
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In journalism, we had this saying: Bad news is also good news. Especially for writers who find themselves strapped for deadline quotas or looking for some “exciting” scoop, accidents or disasters are a godsend.
Unfortunately, that kind of attitude can sometimes blind us from the human factor – the fact that people died or were injured, or properties were destroyed.
And when we become more obsessed with “getting the scoop” rather than actually helping those in need, a “culture of apathy” sets in to the point where accidents and disasters become not “tragic” events but merely a chance to become viral.
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