The kidnapping of broadcast journalist Ces Drilon, along with her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion, assistant cameraman Angelo Valderama (since released), and their escort, professor and peace advocate Octavio Dinampo, is not just a big story. It has also forced us in the journalistic community to take a long, hard look at our profession and the ?rules? we live by.

This happened very early on, when Maria Ressa, head of ABS-CBN News, appealed to newspaper editors and her counterparts in other broadcast outfits to hold back on reporting the abduction of the ABS-CBN team, reasoning that they still considered Ces and company merely ?missing,? and that a premature disclosure might put them in greater peril.

Ressa succeeded in keeping the kidnapping under wraps for some hours, but eventually, when news broke elsewhere, the journalistic community released the news a day late. Subsequent reports quoted the editors involved as agreeing with the need for imposing a news embargo. But Vergel Santos, a respected observer of the media scene and a former editor and columnist himself, decried the willingness of senior colleagues to play along with ABS-CBN, accusing the network of employing ?news management.?

There are actually no hard and fast rules governing the coverage of incidents like a kidnapping. Tessy Ang See, who has worked indefatigably as an advocate of kidnap victims and their families, believes media outfits should voluntarily impose a 24-hour embargo on themselves before releasing news of an abduction, to ensure the safety and survival of the victim/s. And when the use of a news story could imperil national security or expose the nation to a ?clear and present danger,? civilian and military officials can be counted on to appeal to news managers? patriotism.

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But such appeals?and the decision to play along or not?can be applied only on a case-by-case basis, depending on such factors as the credibility of the person requesting for a news blackout, the importance of the story weighed against the public?s right to know, and whether holding back the story would result in greater public good?or harm.

Santos asked a valid question: Was the safety of the four kidnap victims of greater value than the safety of the residents of Sulu province?

As a general rule, we journalists believe that indeed ?the truth shall set us free.? Setting aside all those cited factors, a story?which has undergone verification and held to be fair and accurate?should be used as soon as a news organization gets hold of it. Any delay, or clearance with any authority outside of the organization, opens the door to self-censorship and news management. It casts doubt on the objectivity of the process, and the credibility of the messenger.

But if you were a relative of Ces, Encarnacion or Dinampo, would you think satisfying the curiosity of the public is worth putting their safety at risk?

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The kidnapping of the ABS-CBN team also hits home because it assails the bedrock of our practice of journalism: trust.

It is trust between the reporter and the source that makes possible a news story; and trust between the reporter and the editors to ensure the truth?or as close a version of it?is revealed; and trust between the reader and the newspaper that makes possible the continued practice of our profession.

I only very rarely turn down requests for interviews because I know I am able to write only because people are willing to give me their time, their thoughts and their trust. Who am I to begrudge the same, then, to others on the same quest?

But we journalists know, too, that others may be out to deceive, manipulate or influence us, which is why we count on instinct, experience and background information to judge the worth of facts and opinions fed to us.

But for a potential source to invite us to an interview and then turn around and hold us for ransom?that is an unbelievable breach of trust, and a lesson for us all.

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Searching for resources on these issues, I looked through my bookshelves and found a slim volume: ?Reporting Back: Notes on Journalism,? by Lillian Ross, who made her name writing personality profiles, first-person accounts and short vignettes for The New Yorker.

I didn?t find what I was looking for, but stumbled upon the following quote which, while it may not have a direct relation to the plight of Ces and her team, says something about what it means to be a reporter, especially in this age of ?celebrification?:

?Reporting is not about the reporter, even though he is always revealed in the writing. If one is the kind of person who needs attention from others?who prefers talking to listening, who wants to be the star of a situation or important to the situation, who essentially wants to show off?reporting is not a choice line of work. One should not use reporting as a way of getting noticed. If the work is original and solid and true, it will make its mark, and the creator of it will automatically be recognized.

?Courtesy is all important. I resent people who feel that the power of a publication behind them gives them license to bully people or lie to them. It does not give them free rein to be insolent or impatient with people who are being asked for information necessary for the story. People one is writing about may not fully understand what I do in the writing, but if the reporter is honest with them, they will respond honestly on their own terms. I have found usually that being honest and open with people always leads to having them cooperate with me. And usually, they appreciate what one writes about them.?