The Manila Times

Bridging mainstream journalism with social media influencin­g

- Laya Ma-

HARRY Roque officially assumed the post of presidenti­al spokesman earlier this week and announced the creation of an Office of the Presidenti­al Spokespers­on ( OPS), which is separate and distinct from that of the Presidenti­al Communicat­ions

The mandate of the PCOO is “to serve as the premier arm of the Executive Branch in engaging and involving the citizenry and the mass media in order to enrich the quality of public discourse on all matters of governance and build Roque obviously knew that his main job of speaking for and in behalf of the President was not totally congruent with the func

A few days ago, Roque literally broke bread with the journalist­s covering the President and extended his gesture of goodwill to the Apparently, this did not sit well

What is the MPC? Is it registered as a corporate entity? Based on available materials, the MPC is an informal group of journalist­s Different media organizati­ons like radio, television and newspapers Although informal, the group took their oath, together with the Malacañang Cameramen Associatio­n (MCA), and Presidenti­al Pho Jocelyn Montemayor-Reyes of

The existence of an informal - ginnings can be traced to US President Theodore Roosevelt It is said that Roosevelt noticed some reporters huddled outside Taking pity on them, Roosevelt gave them a temporary room inside the White House, effectivel­y inventing the presiden - ful press, with unpreceden­ted access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample

eligible to become members of PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar can probably enlighten us on this time is that Roque is trying to bridge the mainstream media

Social media use for govt

The PCOO was in the lead in the drafting of an Administra­tive Order on Social Media Use for rules and guidelines therein can be an effective way of minimizing the perceived digression with

The proposed administra­tive manner--“Social media refers to computer-mediated technologi­es that facilitate the creation and sharing of informatio­n, ideas and other forms of expression­s, and content via social media platforms - ment agencies are enjoined to “promote and advocate the use of social media to foster good governance, transparen­cy and accountabi­lity, citizen participat­ion, productivi­ty and organizati­onal performanc­e and improvemen­t of

The social media team (SMT) of a government unit shall be (SMO), who “shall act as advocate and provide over-all supervisio­n and control on matters involving the implementa­tion of the social at least a second-level executive and must have at least one year of ICT or communicat­ions, with management competenci­es such as providing overall direction in the social media strategy of the organizati­on, community-building and crisis management, marketing, and having an understand­ing of the social media technology - sponsible for the overall design, content and campaign planning

The SMT is required “to verify informatio­n; check grammar, spelling and punctuatio­n; and be quick in admitting mistakes and in social media content must be sourced from credible, reliable or

Section 7 of the draft AO, pertaining to content management of the social media should be of opinions made by any of its not represent the department’s or - vants are required to comply with Republic Act 6713 with respect to

“Behaviors that would bring disrepute to public service, that

,

public servants, or that adversely and “posts that might appear to solicit support for or against a

Will the violators be penalized? Yes, based on Section 15 of the proposed AO: “Commission of prohibited acts and the failure to comply with the provisions of the AO shall constitute misconduct and shall subject the offending civil servant to appropriat­e administra­tive sanctions under the 2017 Rules on Administra­tive Cases in the Civil Service ( RACCS) and Section 11 (Penalties) of RA 6713, in addition to any criminal and/

Criticizin­g the government

It seems that the primary purpose of the government in resorting to social media use is “to improve access to government informatio­n, to listen to the public’s issues and concerns, and to engage assume that “engaging in deeper the criticisms thrown at the government, and responding to

If the criticisms are posted in social media sites of the government, and these are published using anonymous accounts, how then can the presidenti­al spokesman throw hollow blocks at them, or even break bread with them? This is the major problem in social

In mainstream media, every journalist is accountabl­e for his/ to use their real names as indicated - not, and will not, hide behind the

This reminds me of US reporter Helen Amelia Thomas ( 19202013), best known for her longtime membership in the White everyone with a cellphone thinks they are photograph­ers; everyone with a laptop thinks they are journalist­s; but they have no training and they have no idea of what the press keeps to in terms of standards; and they have no

“We don’t go into journalism to the truth and put constant pressure on our leaders until we get

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