CMFR Monitor of News Media Coverage of the 2010 National and Local Elections (February 10-27): Aquino the most covered presidential candidate in print

AQUINO WAS THE MOST COVERED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
Print focused on the presidential campaign
to the neglect of the senatorial and party list elections

The Liberal Party’s Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Cojuangco Aquino III was the most covered candidate in the country’s three biggest newspapers during the first three weeks of the official campaign. Manuel “Manny” Villar of the Nacionalista Party followed closely. A far third was administration candidate and former Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr.

Compared with that of the presidential candidates, print coverage of the vice-presidential and senatorial candidates was far less. More disappointing was the coverage of party-list groups despite serious concerns over whether all of the groups that had been accredited by the Commission on Elections —187 as of press time—really represent “marginalized” sectors as the Party List Law mandates.

The country’s biggest papers provided what seemed to be extensive coverage of development or policy issues. But the coverage was mostly superficial, with these issues being barely discussed in the reports.

In fact, more than half of the front-page reports analyzed did not provide sufficient background information for readers to understand the issues being discussed.

For more information about this report and CMFR’s Monitor of the News Media Coverage of the 2010 Elections, visit CMFR’s Media and Elections microsite (www.cmfr-phil.org/mediaandelections/).

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