The dateline fuss

CEBU -- I was checking into a hotel one time when the hotel staff noted that I was from Dumaguete. "Oh, so you're from Dumaguete! One of our supervisors in this hotel is from Dumaguete," they informed me.

"Is that right? I replied. Exactly where in Dumaguete does he come from?"

"Guihulngan." Well, that isn't exactly Dumaguete, I thought. It is a local government unit in its own right and it is 116 kilometers away from Dumaguete. Another time, I met an American who, upon learning I was from Dumaguete, excitedly told me, "my wife is from Dumaguete!"

"Yeah? Where in Dumaguete?" "Giligaon, Siaton." Again, that's about 70 kilometers away. And Siaton is a fully-functioning local government unit.

But that's the natural thing to do. I could imagine that the hotel supervisor in that hotel who claimed to be from Dumaguete, did so because he got fed up with having to explain how he had to take a three-hour bus ride to his hometown from Dumaguete.

Or when the woman from Giligaon, Siaton, was writing her American fiancee, he probably had a hard time finding Giligaon on the map. But Dumaguete is easily identifiable. Even on Google Earth.

I remembered these two anecdotes upon reading a news item yesterday about the displeasure of the officials of Mandaue City because the datelines appearing in news items about the ASEAN Summit said "Cebu City."

A dateline, like the word "CEBU" written at the beginning of this column, indicates the place from where a journalist files a news story. In many instances, the dateline may not necessarily be the place where the story took place. It is possible that the story was filed elsewhere.

Thus, when a journalist reports about an event that happened in Guihulngan, it is possible that the dateline would read "DUMAGUETE."

The stand of Mandaue City is that the Cebu International Convention Center, where most news stories about the Summit are written, and where many Summit activities are held, is in Mandaue City. Therefore, they should get their own place in the sun, at least in the datelines.

I believe whether the dateline reads Cebu City, Cebu, Mandaue City or Lapu-Lapu City, it will not increase or lessen the importance of the story. However, government officials think differently. To the City officials concerned, placing the name of their City in the dateline would mean a lot of difference, especially as it tries to assert itself as an alternative investment center to Cebu City.

Mandaue City, however, is still part of Cebu province. That is why Mayor Thadeo Ouano is amenable to the compromise to simply use thge dateline "Cebu" instead of "Cebu City."

This, they believe, could correct the "inaccuracies" of news stories about the ASEAN Summit.*

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