Journalistic Excellence?

[Galactus]

How can reporters from 2 reputable newspapers get their facts so mixed up?

Hindi ko tuloy alam kung sino na ang nagsasabi ng totoo. Para tuloy naging "Spot the Differences" wherein you point out the errors between the 2 stories.

Paging the editors of PDI and the Philippine Star!

Star version: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx...bCategoryId=65

Quezon City cops warn: Survey workers could be thieves
Updated January 27, 2009 12:00 AM


The Quezon City police warned the public yesterday against thieves posing as personnel from survey firms, in what is said to be a new modus operandi of criminal syndicates.

Superintendent Franklin Moises Mabanag, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), advised the public not to immediately entertain people asking them to participate in these survey interviews.

According to a report that reached QCPD director Chief Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula, the owner of a review center along Katipunan Avenue lost his belongings when he agreed to be interviewed for a survey.

The victim was brought to the Hi-Top supermarket, where he was told to temporarily leave his things. When he came back, his things were gone, along with the interviewer.

“These people have a way with words that could convince their prospective victims to easily trust them,” Mabanag said.

Mabanag reminded the public to ask for proper identification from survey interviewers and to remember their faces.

“When in doubt, the best way (to avoid getting victimized) is not to entertain these people,” Mabanag said. – Reinir Padua

PDI version: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquire...-survey-takers

Cops warn public vs fake survey takers


By Nancy C. Carvajal
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:35:00 01/27/2009

Filed Under: Robbery and theft, Crime, Police, Local authorities


MANILA, Philippines – The Quezon City police warned students on Katipunan Avenue to beware of thieves posing as survey takers.

Supt. Moises Mabanag, chief of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said they have received several complaints from students in the area who were victimized by people pretending to be conducting a survey.

“The victims were usually students who were approached by well-dressed suspects who told them they were conducting a survey on just about everything, from politics to the kind of shampoo they were using,” Mabanag said.

He advised the public to be wary of people who introduce themselves as survey takers.

“They should not entertain them if they have doubts [about the person they are talking to],” he said.

According to Mabanag, the survey takers should be able to present valid identification cards to prove that they are legitimate employees of the company they are supposed to be representing.

He said that the group’s latest victim was a student of a Quezon City college who was enrolled in one of the review centers on Katipunan Avenue.

The victim told the police that she had just alighted from a passenger jeepney when a young woman approached her.

The woman then told her she was conducting a survey and asked if she could answer some questions.

The victim said she agreed and after several minutes, the woman asked her if they could continue the interview inside a supermarket.

While they were inside the establishment, the woman asked the victim if she wanted a xerox copy of the questions she was being asked.

The victim said she agreed. She left her bag with the woman as she went off to have the survey form photocopied.

By the time she came back, the woman had left, taking her bag.

[creepy]

Well, the Inquirer is a tabloid masquerading as something more.

[ab_initio]

^^ maybe they differ in their considerations on captive audience...

[safeorigin]

inquirer = epitome of sensationalism

[niky]

Uhm... what's wrong with the articles? They are probably talking about two different incidents, since the police chief mentioned "several" incidents.

And, despite the rabidly anti-government slant in the PDI, I don't see one bit of sensationalism in the Inquirer piece. In fact, the report on the incident is a little more in-depth.

[Galactus]

Uhm... what's wrong with the articles? They are probably talking about two different incidents, since the police chief mentioned "several" incidents.

Well, for starters, the victim was identifed as a "HE" by Philstar, and a "SHE" by the Inquirer. Also, s/he was claimed to be a student of a student of a review school along Katipunan Ave., while the other paper said s/he was the owner. And I'm willing to bet my month's salary that the incidents are one and the same, there are simply too many coincidences.

Reporters are supposed to check their facts before publishing their story, lest they be swamped with libel cases. And to double check by interviewing another source who can confirm the original story. The differing articles above smack of sloppy reporting and mis-interpretation of both reporters. They should have checked the police blotter and the case investigator to verify the facts.

[niky]

Then that would make one of them wrong. And I'm willing to bet it's the one with less details... as the victim "being convinced to leave their things with the suspect" doesn't really ring true, to me.