Hardly anything new: Print, online stick to the familiar campaign trail

MIDTERM ELECTIONS do not gain the same kind of fanfare as presidential elections but the exercise is far from insignificant. The election of senators, House representatives and local executives can make a difference in the administration’s effective pursuit of its policy agenda. It also serves as a scorecard for the incumbent leaders, as votes effectively express the public’s approval of or indifference to the performance of the administration in power. 

For the media, a campaign remains a magnet for coverage and there is no shortage of events to follow, given the number of candidates seeking to retain or regain their positions. 

The campaign period’s start on February 11 showed up media coverage following the template for event-based coverage that has long characterized elections reporting in the Philippines. TV news, in particular, assigned news teams to cover proclamation rallies live, selecting soundbites and footage of candidates presenting their plans and positions on different issues.

Despite its advantage of time and space, print coverage of the campaign kick-off week failed to muster more energy and stayed close to TV’s lead. Newspapers did not provide any greater variety of stories that could have taken the discussion beyond campaign activities. Even online news mostly stuck to sorties and pronouncements by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), with only a few efforts to educate the voting public on the importance of choosing the right candidates.

CMFR reviewed the coverage of six leading Manila broadsheets Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, Daily Tribune, The Manila Times, and Manila Standard and their online platforms; the online counterparts of free TV channels, namely GMA News Online, news.ABS-CBN.com, News5 Online, and Newswatch Plus PH; and online-only outfits Vera Files, Rappler and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) from February 11 to 16.

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The campaign kick-off event was made banner story in only two of the six dailies, Bulletin and Manila Standard. Inquirer and Star gave front page space to the campaign launch on February 11. Tribune relegated the story to its sixth page, while Times only reported the campaign kickoff the following day on its front page. 

These reports noted preparations for security, Comelec’s rules and regulations on campaign materials, the number of positions open, and the campaign itinerary of some senatorial candidates.

On February 12, the coverage carried candidates’ statements made during the campaign rallies. This treatment went on through the week, and even included the word war between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former president Rodrigo Duterte, who both spoke in campaign rallies where they introduced their respective senatorial bets. Duterte’s remark to “kill” incumbent senators to give space to those he is endorsing, as well as the subsequent reactions of different parties, also got reported.

The six broadsheets shared common reporting threads: Comelec’s regulatory action to remove campaign materials that violated official guidelines; the appointment of two new Comelec commissioners, Maria Norina Tangaro- Casingal and Noli Rafol Pipo; and the results of pre-election surveys from Pulse Asia and OCTA Research noting the lead of senatorial candidates allied with the administration. 

Notably, not a single election-related story received banner treatment from Tribune. Throughout the week, Tribune’s banner stories focused on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte. The election-related stories of the broadsheet, which also depended on the campaign, were either relegated to the inside pages or non-prominent space on the front page.

The Inquirer, Star and Standard called attention to the findings of the Kontra Daya, an organization focused on the study of elections; which pointed to the hijacking of the party-list system by traditional partisan groups. Kontra Daya found that more than half of the party-lists running for 2025 did not represent marginalized sectors. Instead, these were being used by established politicians to secure seats in Congress, which they would not otherwise win through regular elections. This issue is not new and other media should have followed up with more coverage but have so far not done so. 

Online media not too different

Online reports also followed campaign sorties and Comelec’s pronouncements closely, with only a few offering valuable information for voters within the reviewed period.

• PCIJ reported that even before the campaign period, candidates have already spent PHP10 billion in TV and radio ads, with senatorial candidate Camille Villar outspending all her rivals at a PHP2.1-billion expense.

• GMA News Online reported that the election season will field candidates for a total of 18,280 seats for 14 different government positions in the executive and legislative branches. The article described the duties and responsibilities of these public posts, from senator all the way down to city and municipal councilor.
  
• Rappler’s Kaycee Valmonte wrote that President Marcos “does not want voters to think of what his government has done — or has failed to do — for this year’s polls.” Valmonte reported that in the campaign rally he attended, Marcos directed people’s attention to longstanding problems that the previous administration caused, specifically corruption, extrajudicial killings and the tensions arising from Duterte’s pivot to China; and that Marcos evaded discussion of gut issues confronting his administration such as the high prices of basic commodities, as this reflects on undelivered campaign promises, including the much touted pledge to lower the price of rice to PHP 20 per kilo.
  

CMFR commends the effort of GMA News Online, news.ABS-CBN.com, Tribune, Inquirer.net and Vera Files to compile their respective election coverage in a dedicated microsite for easier access. CMFR hopes to see more comprehensive stories in these sections as the election period continues.

ALSO SEE: “Kicking off the campaign period: Admin-backed senatorial candidates receive more TV news mileage“