Headline: Davao bus blast kills 6
Is it not better to be precise and specific? Digos bus blast kills 6
Davao and Digos have the same five letters and would surely fit in the front of the Inquirer. But why did the Inquirer editors use Davao instead of the more accurate Digos as the site of the bus blast?
Your guess is as good as mine. Using Digos would not be as dramatic, would not be as sensational, and, of course, would not sell as much.
Oh well.
For those not familiar, Digos City is 54 kilometers or one-and-a-half-hour bus ride south of Davao City. It is the capital of the provice of Davao del Sur.
Yet, these vital facts were not mentioned in the story. It would have helped readers better understand. For instance, it was mentioned that “Many of those in critical condition were rushed to the government-run Davao Medical Center in Davao City.“
This would have been the opportunity to picture to the readers that Davao City was so much kilometers away from the blast site. Both the reporters and editors missed this chance.
Oh well.
5:45 a.m.
September 2, 2008 at 6:23 am
[...] Please continue here … [...]
September 2, 2008 at 7:00 am
then again, the word Davao could refer to the province of Davao del Sur.
okay, that was a reach.
September 2, 2008 at 6:13 pm
instead of delivering FACTS to keep the PUBLIC WELL INFORMED, ganito ang nangyayari. we must admit that the different media organizations have their own interests.
September 3, 2008 at 8:21 am
Hello Peter,
The Wall Street Journal (us edition) had a short blurb on this but sounded more accurate than the Inquirer article. They clearly named Digos City, Davao Del Sur and specifically mentioned that the bus co. had been a target by extortionists.
September 3, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Good Day Konsehal,
dapat accurate sila sa pag susulat , like ” War in Mindanao” which happened in the northern part of Mindanao , do you think they would write “Typhoon in Mindanao if it only happen in Surigao or Drought in Mindanao which the area affected is Central Mindanao.
We were planning to write a letter to all media ,can you help us Konsehal where to send it ?
SSC Davao
September 8, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Technically they can get away with it. But they are morally doing disservice to Davao City and the rest of the Davao provinces. Why not sue the Inquirer? Or come up with a city resolution condemning the Inquirer’s headline? I am sure that will land in the headlines of media outfits and bring to mind the damage that such headlines can cause. If it can be quantified, I am sure that the economic losses to our city because of the headline far outweighs the actual damages of the bomb blast.