Last
Friday, September 18, PBA commissioner Chito Narvasa (through a letter) banned
sports journalist Snow Badua from covering or participating in the league’s
games and activities.
This
all-encompassing PBA ban seemed to have stemmed from Badua’s articles and
tweets that accuse a certain PBA team governor of several inappropriate
activities, including allegedly preventing several popular players from playing
on the national team, railroading trades and players, and even having an affair
with a popular model.
In
what seems to be a relevant incident, the PBA beat reporter of Spin.ph, the
media entity for which Mr. Badua writes, was denied permission to cover the
practice sessions of the involved PBA governor’s team.
(For
those who have not read the story, find it here: http://www.spin.ph/basketball/pba/news/pba-commissioner-chito-narvasa-bans-writer-snow-badua-from-pro-league-games-activities)
But
this article isn’t about those issues. This article is about the freedom of the
press, nay, the right of the press to shed light on issues that fall in the
realm of the public interest.
