Assistance to media needs some tweaking

There is a proposed ordinance filed at the Cebu City Council that seeks to provide financial assistance to media personnel who get injured or killed while covering police operations. That is a very heartwarming gesture on the part of the City Council and for that the media community in Cebu City will be forever thankful for the thought.

But while nothing holds back the City Council from doing what it thinks is best for any sector in the city, especially in the giving of financial assistance to anyone using public money, perhaps it might be well not to institutionalize it but to make disbursements based on circumstances. That way, every individual case that is up for possible assistance will be given the proper scrutiny that is required when it comes to paying out public funds.

To institutionalize financial assistance on the mere fact of injury, for instance, is to be very lax in the administration of public funds. Under the proposal, assistance seems to require only the occurrence of injury, apparently without any need to ascertain how the injury came about. It is entirely possible that an injury can happen out of sheer negligence, and the fact that the injured was covering an operation should not be made an excuse for such negligence.

It is not the wish of media to refuse a pie that is already offered. But the job of media is quite sensitive and includes, among other things, being a watchdog over such things as public money. Media will be placed in a very awkward position if, as a watchdog for the proper disbursement of public funds, it becomes a party to the improper or unwarranted use of such funds.

Again, the media is very thankful for the kind thought. And this is not to say that it will be rejecting any assistance along the line that it is being pushed forth. All that is being said here is that such assistance should not be institutionalized as some sort of an entitlement, especially since the media is private and the funds are public.

If the city government feels that a particular case involving the media deserves some assistance, then well and good. The media is not an arrogant bastard that would refuse any assistance sincerely offered. Indeed, many in the media would be happy to get any assistance from wherever it may come. It is just that in this one particular proposal, there is some discomfort in the manner in which it is proposed to be given.