Briones to student journalists: Avoid fake news

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — Education Secretary Leonor Briones has urged student journalists to avoid spreading “fake news” by ensuring due diligence in their reporting.

Speaking at the opening of the National Schools Press Conference on Monday, Briones stressed the importance of providing context in all of their reports.

“When you write your stories, you have to take into consideration the context of what you are reporting on. Because there is always the temptation that you will tell a true incident, match it with another true incident, then mix it up with slightly false incident and come up with your own interpretation,” she said.

“The result may not necessarily be true news. It might result in fake news, it might result in wrong conclusions. This is what we have to be careful about,” she added.

Briones reminded the students of their responsibilities as student journalists, stressing that actions always have consequences.

“You also have to consider the consequences of such actions on your part,” she said.

Briones was responding to a question on the efforts that DepEd is doing to combat the spread of false information.

The agency, according to Briones, is committed to equipping teachers and students with the right skills to prevent the spread of fake news.

“We not only tell the truth, but we tell the context of such truth,” she said.

Meanwhile, the DepEd had no choice but to cancel its partnerships with online news outfit Rappler following the decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to revoke its certificate of incorporation, according to Briones.

Briones said the decision to terminate DepEd’s partnerships with Rappler was carefully studied by their executive committee.

She addressed the issue a day before Rappler reporter Pia Ranada was temporarily blocked access to Malacañang, supposedly on the orders of President Duterte.

“We do not deny we have a very good relationship with Rappler. The issue is not the quality of our relationship. The issue here is a legal issue,” Briones said.

As a government agency, the education chief said the DepEd should adhere to rulings made by other government institutions such as the SEC.