TV Attention Wanders from SONA # 3
Photo from PCOO website.
THE THIRD State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, July 23, may have been a first for the president because it was relatively short and expletive-free. But whatever positive impact it had was lost in the melee, as partisans battled for the speakership in the House of Representatives.
Described as a political coup, the ouster of Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez (1st district, Davao del Norte) from his post and the installation of Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, now representative of  2nd district of Pampanga took more than an hour, delaying the main event. The tussle between two presidential allies forced Duterte to wait before he could take over the stage.
Meanwhile, outside the Batasan, red, purple, blue and yellow banners joined forces in the streets, displaying a rarely-seen unity among militant Left and other civil society groups mustering the largest anti-government gathering to date.
What was left to say about the presidential presentation? CMFR watched the new congressional leaders jostle for position as it reviewed the primetime newscasts (ABS-CBN 2’s TV Patrol and Bandila, GMA-7’s 24 Oras, GMA News TV’s State of Nation with Jessica Soho, CNN Philippines’ News Night and Newsroom, TV5’s Aksyon and Aksyon Tonite). As TV remains the most major source of political information for Filipinos, it is important to check what aspects of the abundant political theater on display that day the TV screens would present to the public.
What the President said
Duterte’s speech this year lasted nearly 50 minutes – longer than the 35-minute approximation by President Spokesperson Harry Roque. Long as it was, it held public attention for what it did not have — the usual dose of expletives and curses which most Filipinos have come to expect everytime Duterte opens his mouth.
Primetime coverage of Aksyon gave the bulk of the news time to speech-related reports with 10:14 minutes. CNN Philippines did more with 33:11 minutes in a post –SONA special program which included guests discussing the speech. The speech, themes and issues made second most important story for TV Patrol with 5:18 minutes and 24 Oras with 4:08.
CNN Philippines’s Newsroom led all other news programs with the length of time it gave to the president’s speech –over half-an-hour at 36:58 minutes.
More to say about the House Hullabaloo
The political upheaval in the House rivaled the actual SONA in term of importance, judging by how much airtime TV news programs gave to the change in house leadership. State of the Nation with Jessica Soho, specifically, took 28:59 minutes of airtime for the contest for the speakership, complete with reactions from senators and the inside stories shared in the banter between Soho and her reporters.
24 Oras dedicated 7:25 minutes on the house hullabaloo while dedicating only 4:08 on the highlights on SONA. TV Patrol gave the former 5:46 minutes and a bit less to the latter with 5:18 minutes. Bandila yielded 5:54 minutes to the tiff and 3:56 minutes for the speech.
“United People’s SONA”
Groups march along Commonwealth Ave. for the “United People’s SONA.” Photo by Lito Ocampo.
As the supermajority alliance crumbled in the Batasang Pambansa, protesters held the “United People’s SONA” along Commonwealth Avenue where a stage took over multiple lanes so 15,000 people could hold their position on drug-related killings, “Endo,” and inflation, among others.
The drama on the streets, the biggest show of force against Duterte since he rose to power, competed well for TV coverage, at times besting either the political contest in Congress or the new presidential style of speaking.
Protest-related reports gained 8 minutes in TV Patrol and in 24 Oras. But late-night newscasts gave it less time, – both below 5 minutes in State of the Nation with Jessica Soho and Newsroom and an even lower for Bandila with 2:15 minutes.
Lesser Trivia
Media did not disappoint those interested only in the sideshow or miscellaneous trivia that the event provides generously.
The “no gown” dress code that the administration has prescribed for the SONA since 2016 did not prevent media from reporting on fashion statements on the red carpet; as it also included color items, the complete presence of Duterte’s first family, including the former Mrs. Duterte and the directorial touch of Joyce Bernal.
TV Patrol, Bandila and Aksyon Tonite gave these matters only the obligatory nod and showed the least attention in terms of airtime with each covering only for under 2:30 minutes, except for State of the Nation with Jessica Soho which was at 4:01 minutes.
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