A Journalist Must Be Independent and Credible

By Alex P. Vidal 

“The press is a watchdog. Not an attack dog. Not a lapdog. A watchdog. Now, a watchdog can’t be right all the time. He doesn’t bark only when he sees or smells something that’s dangerous. A good watchdog barks at things that are suspicious.” — Dan Rather

WE will always take the critical side when discussing issues about the government—especially the corrupt and bad government.

Our main objective is plain and simple check and balance, or acting as “Big Brothers” to the powerful and influential.

Our society needs a critical press to maintain balance, transparency and accountability because it is the government that calls the shot when it comes to disposition and handling of taxpayers’ money.

We need a critical press to review and check what’s going on; to mirror, inform or report to the public how public funds are managed and spent by those in power—elected or appointed public officials and their subalterns.

Public funds will always be the lifeblood and paramount assets of government.

It must be spent wisely and properly; public funds shouldn’t be wasted and stolen by those who are supposed to manage and safeguard them.

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Our role as critical journalists is to remind the crooks in government that “hey, somebody is watching. Your actions and activities are under close scrutiny and will be reported to the public.”

Critical means we must constantly remind our public officials—and chide them, if necessary, if they commit infractions or activities that are inimical to public interest and display actuations that expose them to scandal and compromise their image and functions basically as public servants.

We come in, so to speak, when public officials are on the brink of plunging into the abyss of moral turpitude.

That’s why the journalists—as watchdogs and “fiscalizers”—should be first and foremost also credible and knowledgeable.

If the watchdogs and “fiscalizers” are scoundrels and “fixcalizers”, they aren’t credible to handle and perform the responsibility of being investigative, confrontational and adversarial, which is what every democratic society needs.

Journalists who can be bribed are no better than the crooks in government the press is supposed to rebuke and expose.

Two wrongdoers—crooks in government and rascal journalists—means a total chagrin and gradual setback for Juan de la Cruz.

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Basically, a committed and principled journalist should avoid many friends in the political circle.

The more political friends a journalist acquires, the less he becomes effective as “catalyst of change.”

A genuine journalist is an ironclad gadfly of democracy, not an attack dog, lap dog or double-edged political mercenary.

At least this was how my mind as remnant of the original post-Martial Law years College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) member has been shaped and trained.

This was how I cultivated my principle when I became seriously involved in community journalism immediately after the EDSA Revolution, when press freedom and free speech were slightly and sardonically restored.

For my part, I would rather criticize than praise; I prefer to be hated as a critical journalist than to be praised (mostly by politicians) as a merchant of “praise release.” Everything boils down to walang personalan, trabaho lang.

Socrates said wisdom begins in wonder. I say journalism begins by being suspicious without being malicious, and in constructive—not destructive—criticism.

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Off to Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn, New York City we will go on February 21 where eggs will be given away.

According to the information we received February 20, FarmerJawn, Prince Abou’s Butchery and Triple J Farm will be offering a total of 100 dozen free eggs.

In an Instagram post, the two farms and butchery said in part, “Working people are the backbone of our communities, yet too often, relief isn’t made for us. So we’re doing what we can to pitch in.”

The egg giveaway will reportedly start at 10 a.m. at Brown Butter Craft Bar & Kitchen on 413 Tompkins Ave.

There will also be 100 dozen free eggs given away in Queens and Philadelphia, it was announced earlier.

Is the much-ballyhooed 2025 egg shortage in the U.S. real? Yes it is. And soaring prices aren’t going away anytime soon, as families and restaurants alike are struggling to purchase them. Why are egg prices going up, anyway?

There are several factors as to why eggs are so expensive right now. Here’s what we know based on information from the United States Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and more:

The commercial table egg layer flocks suffered a depopulation of birds due to outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in December 2024 and continues into the first six weeks of 2025, according the USDA.

“The impact of these losses in the marketplace continues to be influenced by the timing of the losses relative to demand patterns, the type of production systems affected, legislated restraints in certain states, and the intended use of the production either for in-shell or egg products use with most impact currently being felt in the retail cartoned sector,” the report stated.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)