september 13, 2011. 12:09am
i am watching XXX, it featured a 29-year old "Christian" (not his real name), complaining that he found his photo on a blog that showcased photos of people who are supposedly AIDS victims. of course, that blog implies he has HIV/AIDS or some other AIDS-related sickness. the feature has just ended so i am now writing my thoughts.
i felt bad for the guy. i hope he clears everything soon. but really, he's not the reason why i'm writing this thing. i am writing because i am furious over the irresponsible and unethical act committed by this blogger. my first reaction over the feature? read my title.
i don't know what site that was, i don't wanna know. i hope i don't know who that blogger is. i've had enough trauma from having unknowingly encountered the Big Bad Blogger last December (i only realized it was him when the whole BBB issue circulated a earlier this year). i wasn't a BBB victim, mind you. i just happened to have met him and i wish i hadn't. so, going back, i really do hope i don't know that blogger.
as i've written above, the blogger posted photos of people who are supposedly HIV/AIDS victims. their faces, although blurred on the tv, were plastered on the blog for everyone to see. anyone could identify who those supposed victims are if they get to access that blog. that's how clear and big those photos are. "Christian" cried foul because he said he isn't one. if this is a joke, it's gone way too far.
even if it is just a common cold sickness, it's not ethical to put someone's face anywhere and tell the world that this person is with a certain illness unless the person allows it. what more so if they are sick with terminal illnesses (cancer, tuberculosis, etc.) or even this case, HIV/AIDS?
doctors and medical workers swore under the Hippocratic Oath, "Whatever, in connection with my professional service, or not in connection with it, I see or hear, in the life of men, which ought not to be spoken of abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret". unless otherwise the patient allows the doctor to divulge details of his sickness, the doctor is sworn to secrecy.
so what in the world is this blogger doing? is he/she even a doctor to do such thing? because if he/she is, i would find in my heart and mind to try to understand. mind the word TRY.
we bloggers are journalists by the second. we can tell the world something that happened just a few ticks of the clock ago. we can deliver the latest news even before the news reporters and cameramen of news networks could even arrive at the scene. we bloggers have more power than most of the journalists on tv, radio and print because we get to voice out what's on our minds through our posts, but we should be very careful about what we are writing. if that blogger is trying to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS, he/she is doing it in a very wrong, very inappropriate way.
i am a blogger, but i know a thing or two on ethics on writing. i am not in the field of medicine, but i know about confidentiality.
i know better not to name my friend ill of stage 4 cancer much more post her pictures nor dedicate a whole blog post to her when she wants everyone and everything happy. that is, dear readers, is a simple form of ethics and confidentiality. i can tell what's going on, but i won't divulge her name nor reveal her face.
as for the blogger, this is an impending libel case from "Christian" to you.
as i approached the end of this writing, which took me almost an hour to write, i was hesitating on publishing it. i am not one who likes to be controversial, but please other bloggers, be responsible with what you're writing. i really don't wanna see, hear, or read about another blogger getting into trouble in the news. get into trouble all you want, but please make sure you don't reach the news. that's gonna get more and more people despise you.
that's all. thank you.
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