Media fuel Castro-Duterte word war but fail to discuss issues

JEERS TO the media for allowing the “word war” between the Malacañang and Vice President Sara Duterte to take up as much space and time as given in their coverage, instead of focusing on the issues reflected in the verbal dispute between the two officials. 

On TV: GMA Integrated News’ 24 Oras, News5’s Frontline Pilipinas, and ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol picked up the feud.  

The Daily Tribune, Manila Bulletin, Manila Times, Manila Standard, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, and The Philippine Star reported these word wars in print. 

Online websites such as ABS-CBN News Online, GMA News Online, Inquirer.net, and Philstar.com also reported the clash between the two officials. 

From June 20 to June 28, reports followed the exchange of tirades between the Vice President and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro; which took up in its course other issues, including the country’s national debt, the pending impeachment trial of Duterte, and her overseas trips, among others.

Unfortunately, the media played a role in extending the heated exchange, asking the two officials to respond to their latest statements. Reporters could have presented a more constructive policy debate on any of the issues that came up. Instead, they made much news out of the “word war” of their own creation.