3. It came as no surprise to PinoyWatchDog.com that the
management and owners of Balita Media fired its editor,
David Casuco, following a confession he made at a press
conference arranged by the Media and Business Club of
Los Angeles last Wednesday. In an organization that
values secrecy over openness, Mr. Casuco’s honesty had
no room to blossom.
Journalist Casuco knew what he was getting into when he
decided to attend that press conference. He knew that the
President and Executive Editor of PinoyWatchDog.com
would make an announcement that would impact his
patrons, the Balita/Beirne Group. He knew that Mr. Al
Aquino would announce he would file a complaint with
the State Bar of California in connection with Atty James
Beirne’s hundreds of contempt of court violations.
3/17/2012 Atty. James Beirne Contempt 3
4. But he attended anyway, not heeding his bosses’
admonition that he would feel unwelcome in the
hostile atmosphere of a PinoyWatchDog.com-run
press conference. But he came, nonetheless, and was
glad that the hostility was more imagined than real.
Mr. Casuco even sat with his best friend, Larry Pelayo,
our editorial ombudsman, and longtime friend and
veteran reporter Mylah de Leon of Asian Journal.
3/17/2012 Atty. James Beirne Contempt 4
5. Today, David Casuco, a friend and an admired peer, is
probably licking his wounds after having been
unceremoniously asked to quit by the publisher of
Balita Media because he committed the ultimate sin of
telling the truth. Balita considered the truth to be
‘ratting’ on them. Opening a can of worms, so to speak,
in a public forum for which everything would be
recorded and any image presented could be replicated.
And they were. Every word, every nuance of his face,
every mumbled teary expression, indeed, were
videotaped. Not only by PinoyWatchDog.com, but also
by two other legitimate photojournalists who covered
the event.
3/17/2012 Atty. James Beirne Contempt 5
6. It became a gut-wrenching decision for the editors of
PinoyWatchDog.com whether to ignore the revelations
completely or to publish them verbatim. At deadline
time, we decided to do the latter. Because failing to do
so would constitute self-censorship. We knew that our
decision to publish David Casuco’s revelation could
cause him his job. But we also have a responsibility to
our readers to report a legitimate event. So, on the
eleventh hour, we voted to use the story on the front
page. By doing so, PinoyWatchDog.com upheld its
primordial mission to print news that is true and
documented.
3/17/2012 Atty. James Beirne Contempt 6
7. David Casuco has made a great sacrifice by choosing truth
over lies, and in the pursuit of honesty, he lost his
livelihood, temporarily. But we salute him and others who
sacrifice everything for these principles of truth in
journalism. It is the mark of God-fearing men.
Sadly, there are others who do not uphold the principles of
truth in journalism. Hence, while they may cast us as
trouble-makers and instigators, we accept the title if that
would be the cost of serving our community by publishing
only the truth instead of slanted falsehoods that seek to
promote scandalous enterprises. All hail David Cusuco for
standing as a saint on the side of truth against the evil of
lies.
3/17/2012 Atty. James Beirne Contempt 7
8. IS BALITA-BEIRNE GROUP HEADING FOR MELTDOWN?
Submitted by PinoyWatchDog.com
http://www.pinoywatchdog.com/2012/03/05/is-balita-beirne-group-heading-for-meltdown/
3/17/2012 Atty. James Beirne Contempt 8
