CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE 2007 NATIONAL ELECTIONS

CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE 2007 NATIONAL ELECTIONS
(Third monitoring period March 17 – 30, 2007)

Bad news are good for party-list groups
Team Unity still gets more coverage than Genuine Opposition

TEAM UNITY (TU) continued to be covered more than the Genuine Opposition by both the newspapers and TV news programs monitored.
But it was the party-list groups and personalities that received the widest coverage. The coverage, however, was often unfavorable because they were  associated with court charges and accusations of being either communist or administration fronts.
Indicating how easily the media could succumb to the lure of the sensational, the Ducat hostage crisis proved heaven-sent for the flagging campaign of TU senatorial candidate Luis “Chavit” Singson, who jumped into prominence during the crisis and remained in the media eye in the aftermath.  Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., who is not running in these elections, was also an incidental beneficiary of the Ducat episode.
More significant, however, was the decline in the number of reports in the television news programs monitored as the number of TV ads from wealthier candidates like TU’s Prospero Pichay Jr. began to flood the two leading TV networks.  Television, which has considerably increased its reach (96 percent accessibility nationwide) since 2004 at the expense of radio, has become the medium most critical to national and even local campaigns, replacing the grand rallies once  held in plazas and other public places.  The decline in the number of TV reports in the context of the steady increase in the number of TV ads  could once again put less wealthy candidates at a disadvantage in terms of lack of exposure to the TV audience, and, therefore, low name recall.

TELEVISION COVERAGE

The television news programs monitored were TV Patrol World (ABS-CBN 2), Bandila (ABS-CBN 2), 24 Oras (GMA-7), Saksi (GMA-7), Sentro (ABC-5), and Primetime Teledyaryo (NBN 4).

Time Allotment Analysis
The sixth and seventh weeks of the senatorial campaign proved to be most favorable to Team Unity’s (TU) Luis “Chavit” Singson who got the widest television news coverage among senatorial candidates from the six monitored television news pro-grams. This achievement, how-ever, was not due to his discus-sion of social and development issues but to his involvement in a hostage-taking incident in Manila that happened on March 28 and continued to be covered by the media until March 30.
During the same period under review, party-list group Bayan Muna also remained in the limelight due to stories that reported earlier  attempts by the police to take Rep. Saturnino “Satur”Ocampo to Leyte last March 19, his continued detention during the last two weeks of March, and the resulting mass actions from the party-list group’s supporters.
From March 19 to 27 (excluding Saturday and Sunday), television news programs TV Patrol World, Bandila, 24 Oras, Saksi, Sentro, and Primetime Teledyaryo gave Singson a combined time allotment of 10.18 minutes. From March 28 to 30, he was covered by the six television news programs for a total of 20.86 minutes.
24 Oras had the highest average airtime for senatorial election reports per episode (10.41 minutes). But it also had the least average airtime for party-list groups (1.35 minutes). On the other hand, Teledyaryo gave the least average airtime to the senatorial campaign (2.71 minutes) while TV Patrol allotted the highest average airtime to party-list groups (4.66 minutes).
Reports on the senatorial campaign and party-list groups accounted for 33.05 percent of Sentro’s average airtime per episode; 26.62 percent of Saksi’s; 26.61 percent of TV Patrol’s; 20.65 percent of Bandila’s; 18.23 percent of 24 Oras’s; and 12.20 percent of Teledyaryo’s. (See Table 1)
TV Patrol and 24 Oras allotted slightly more airtime to the 11 candidates of the Genuine Opposition (GO). The four other monitored television news programs gave more airtime to the 12 TU candidates. Teledyaryo senatorial campaign coverage was skewed in favor of TU candidates who had the total airtime of 57.04 minutes against  GO’s 10.87 minutes, and the rest of the candidates’ 2.46 minutes.
Saksi provided almost equal airtime to senatorial candidates as those from TU were allotted 16.16 minutes; GO, 12.34 minutes; and independent candidates and those running under other parties, 11.35 minutes. With regard to the latter, Sentro allotted a slightly higher airtime with 10.47 minutes compared to the GO candidates’ 8.83 minutes. However, TU candidates still got the highest at 20.03 minutes. The four other monitored television news programs gave the least attention to senatorial candidates who are not affiliated with TU and GO. (See Graphs 1 to 6)
Not only was Singson the most extensively covered senatorial candidate during the period under review. All of the 12 TU candidates were among the 20 candidates who received the widest coverage from the six monitored television news programs. But TU’s Cesar Montano who got the widest coverage during the first five weeks of the campaign fell to eighth place.
Senatorial candidate Francis Pangilinan (2nd place) was the only independent candidate in the top 20 most covered candidates. The seven GO senatorial candidates who completed the list were Alan Peter Cayetano (5th), Manuel Villar (10th), Benigno Aquino III (11th), Loren Legarda (12th), Francis Escudero (14th), Aquilino Pimentel III (16th) and Panfilo Lacson (20th). (See Table 2)
Meanwhile, the 10 most covered party-list groups during the period under review were Bayan Muna, Ang Ladlad, Akbayan, Filipinos for  Peace, Justice, and Progress Movement (FPJPM), Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Gabriela Women’s Party, Babae para sa Kaunlaran, AnakPawis, Ahon Pinoy, and Barangay Association for National Advancement of Transparency. (See Table 3)

Discourse analysis
The six news programs continued to cover the Senate and party-list campaigns from March 19 to 30, the sixth and seventh weeks of the campaign. Out of the total 1,355 reports by the programs in the monitoring period, 271 reports were on the Senate and party-list campaigns. This figure included reports in which both the Senate and party-list elections were the subjects.
The number of reports (271) for the period monitored was the lowest so far since the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) started analyzing the television coverage on Feb. 13,  the start of the official campaign period for the national elections. The first CMFR analysis report—which covered the first three weeks of the campaign, Feb. 13 to March 2 — had 447 reports about the Senate and party-list campaigns. There were 314 such reports from March 5 to 16, according to the CMFR second report. The decrease in the number of reports happened as the press shifted its attention to other issues. These issues included the alarming number of extrajudicial killings in the country, the rising incidence of hunger among Filipinos, the corruption cases involving high-profile persona-lities such as former Estrada crony Charlie “Atong” Ang, and Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio Arroyo’s marital problems.
While it was distinguished for having the lowest total number of reports related to the Senate and party-list campaigns so far, the third monitoring period also saw the highest number of  reports about party-list groups at 102 stories. This figure was almost double the number of similar reports during the second monitoring period (53 reports), and almost thrice the figure in the first three weeks of the campaign (36 reports).
Party-list groups also had the biggest share of the total number of reports about the Senate and party-list campaigns in this period. Out of the total 271 reports, 102 or 37.64 percent were about the party-list campaigns. This was far bigger than the share of  party-list reports in the total number of news related to the Senate and party-list campaigns in the second period (16.88) and in the first (8.05).
Because some reports were about both the senatorial and party-list elections, there were 186 reports on the Senate elections and 102 on the party-list, although the total count of all reports about the Senate and party-list elections was 271.
As in the previous weeks of the campaign, most of the reports about the Senate and party-list campaigns appeared among the top stories of the six programs monitored, with 26 (9.59 percent) appearing as lead stories and 180 stories (66.42 percent) being reported in the first half of the programs.
Sixty-five reports (23.99 percent) about the Senate and party-list campaigns appeared in the second half of the programs.

Subjects
A news report may feature one or several senatorial and party-list candidates as subjects. Many of the reports monitored  had more than one subject. A report about  (TU), for example, often contained details not just about the candidates, but also their allies.
For the first time, however, the party-list candidates became the top subjects in the reports. They were featured 276 times, or far more than TU candidates, who were the most frequently featured subjects in the previous weeks.  As in the second monitoring period, the increased attention given to party-list candidates did not focus on background information about these groups and candidates, or on the need to understand the party-list system, which many people still do not completely comprehend, despite the fact that party-list elections were first held nine years ago.
Most of the reports focused on the multiple-murder charges against Ocampo. There were  39  reports about Ocampo and 17 on his party. A large number of reports about party-list groups focused on  accusations about allegedly serving as either communist or administration fronts. Groups involved in other controversies like FPJPM were also frequent subjects in the reports.
Among the TU candidates, it was Singson who was the most widely reported about with 36 reports.  Reports about Singson increased when he figured in the March 28 hostage-taking incident, where he negotiated for the release of the children and teachers who were being held hostage by Armando Ducat Jr.  He has since stayed in the media limelight.
Other candidates who received wide coverage were TU’s Michael Defensor (30 reports), Surigao del Sur Rep.Prospero Pichay Jr. (24), Sen. Ralph Recto (22), and former senator Teresa  Aquino Oreta (20). TU itself was the subject in 27 reports.
The most widely covered GO candidate was Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano, whose views on his Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) candidate Joselito Cayetano were frequently aired in the reports. The latter who also calls himself “Peter” was believed to be a nuisance candidate out to deflect votes meant for the congressman.
As in the previous periods monitored, only a handful of reports focused on the independent candidates.  Again, the top subject among independent bets was reelectionist Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, who is backed by several celebrities, including his wife Sharon Cuneta. Pangilinan was featured in 34 reports. A far second was Richard Gomez, another showbiz personality, who was a subject in seven reports.
KBL candidates figured less in the news, with Joselito Cayetano getting the widest coverage because of the controversy about his name. While he was writtenabout 11 times, he was never  cited as a source.
Among the TV news programs, only TV Patrol and 24 Oras reported on the candidates of Ang Kapatiran Party. Both programs reported thrice on the group’s candidates.
A small number of reports was not about any particular  candidates, but  on the senatorial candidates as a whole. Such reports discussed which candidates were qualified to run and those who were disqualified   by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
If party-list candidates became the top subjects in the sixth and seventh weeks of the campaign, their allies received the least coverage.
Allies of the administration were more frequently reported in the coverage than those of the opposition.  There were 57 reports about administration alliess and 48 about the opposition allies.
Widest coverage was given to TU’s allies like  President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., with six reports each. Revilla became a top subject for  his role in the Ducat hostage incident.
Former president Fidel Ramos and former Pateros mayor Jose Capco Jr., a political rival of GO’s Cayetano, were the subject of three reports each.
The GO allies who were the most frequently reported about were former president Joseph Estrada, San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, and Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., father of GO candidate Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III. The three were featured in five reports each.
Allies of other parties like the KBL and Ang Kapatiran Party did not receive coverage at all.
There were 83 stories about other individuals and institutions in relation to campaigns. These were about hostage-taker Ducat (10 reports), the Comelec (7), and activist groups (5).

Themes
As in the past three weeks of the campaign, some of the reports monitored had more than one theme.
In the current monitor, the total number of Senate and party-list campaigns reports (271) had 328 themes. Out of these 328 themes, 173 themes were campaign-related. These included the case against Bayan Muna’s Ocampo, other political controversies,  and allegedly bogus party-list organizations. “Other issues” comprised 52.74 percent of the total number of themes.
There were also 87 reports on the campaign activities of the candidates, stories which proved to be quite repetitious.
Only a small number of reports discussed development and policy issues. There was, in fact, a decline in the number of such reports. Only 24 out of 271 reports, or 7.32 percent, touched on crucial issues the candidates needed to address—fewer than in the previous monitored period.
In addition, most of these reports largely failed to explain to  viewers the candidates’ programs of actionor their stand on the most pressing public issues like graft and corruption, economic development, edu-cation, charter change, peace and order, and global warming.
Since party-list candidates were the most extensively covered subjects during this period, it was not surprising that they were also the most frequently quoted. The three most heavily quoted party-list sources during this period were Ocampo (15 times), Akbayan Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales (11), Danton Remoto, whose party Ang Ladlad was disqualified by Comelec (9),  Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza (8), and FPJPM’s Mary Grace Poe, daughter of former opposition leader and 2004 presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. (6).
The next most frequently quoted sources were from TU. Its  candidates were quoted 87 times. In comparison, opposition candidates were quoted 67 times. During the whole period monitored, only one report cited as source a candidate from Ang Kapatiran Party—Zosimo Paredes II. Other independent candidates were rarely used as sources, except Pangilinan.
The allies of candidates running independently and those from parties outside the administration and opposition banners were likewise rarely used as sources in the reports.
As in the previous period, Primetime Teledyaryo rarely cited opposition candidates and allies as sources. Only one GO candidate and one GO ally were used as sources in this period by Teledyaryo.

Slant
As in the previous periods, CMFR’s count of slanted articles included all stories for or against any of the candidates. It is thus possible that a report might have been slanted for someone or something and at the same time slanted against another candidate or institution.
Most of the reports in the coverage were neutral. Out of the 271 stories during this period, 228 were considered neutral (84.13 percent) while only 43 were deemed biased (15.87 percent). Sentro had the highest number of slanted reports (13 out of 40 stories or 32.5 percent), while 24 Oras and Bandila had the lowest with five biased reports each.
There were twice as many positively-slanted than negatively-slanted reports during the monitor period.

NEWSPAPER COVERAGE

From March 17-30, Center for Media Freedpm & Responsibility monitored the front pages of the Manila Bulletin, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and The Philippine Star.

For seven straight weeks of  the campaign, Team Unity (TU) candidates and their allies dominated the Senate campaigns coverage. Reports on the party-list groups—which were few and far between during the 2004 elections—rarely went beyond developments on the case of Bayan Muna Rep. Saturnino “Satur” Ocampo.
The broadsheets monitored  consistently gave scant coverage to the other parties—Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), Ang Kapatiran, and Philippine Green Republic Party— as well as independent candidates for the Senate.
The third monitoring period saw development and policy issues as the dominant theme in the coverage. However, the newspapers monitored still did not provide enough background and explanations on topics such as the economy and agriculture.
The sixth and seventh weeks of the campaign had the highest number of reports (30) on the party-list campaign. But this figure remains insignificant, as it comprised only 9.12 percent of the total 329 front-page reports monitored. As in the second monitoring period, most of the reports focused on the arrest and detention of Ocampo. The surge in the number of reports on Ocampo seemed to echo his statement that his arrest and detention had helped boost the campaign of Bayan Muna.
The allegation that some party-list groups are bogus organizations fronting for Malacañang was highlighted in the Inquirer as well.
A total of 70 reports were on the Senatorial campaign, mostly in the Bulletin (45). A distant second was the Inquirer with 16 reports, followed by the Star with nine.
The Star also had the lowest number of stories on the Senate and party-list campaigns as it focused on developments in the local elections. The stories that hogged the Star’s front pages were the filling of candidacies by  local aspirants and the impending clash between the members of Kampi and Lakas-Christian and Muslim Democrats, both administration allies, in the local elections. The Star also gave front-page space to the Supreme Court’s efforts to cleanse the judiciary’s ranks after prominent election lawyers complained that corruption had tainted some decisions on electoral protests. During the third period, there were five instances (March 20, 22, 26, 27 and 28) when the Star did not publish any stories at all on the Senate and party-list elections.

Placement
The newspapers gave prominence to the arrest and detention of Ocampo, who is facing multiple murder charges. Ocampo’s arrest on March 16 and the police’s attempt to transfer him to the Leyte Regional Trial Court from the Manila Police District headquarters three days later became banner or lead stories in the three broadsheets.
There were 48 articles on  Ocampo below the fold of the broadsheets, while 33 were above the fold.

Subjects
TU senatorial candidates continued to dominate the campaign coverage during the third period. TU and its candidates were featured 76 times in the reports, while Genuine Opposition and its candidates were the subjects of news reports 61 times, although these reports usually had multiple candidates and parties as subjects.
The most widely covered TU candidates were Sen. Ralph Recto (13 reports), Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson (10), and Michael Defensor (8). But extensive coverage given to Singson and Defensor was due to the prominence given by the Bulletin to the allegations of Blanquita Pelaez that the two helped her daughter Joelle in filing money-laundering charges against former president Joseph Estrada.
In terms of media mileage, Singson did not benefit much from his involvement in the negotiations for the release of 26 children held hostage last March 28, despite speculation that he might have “staged” the incident, or at least taken advantage of it. Instead of focusing on Singson’s role in the negotiations, the Bulletin only mentioned his presence in the incident.
The Inquirer took up the allegation that Singson’s involvement in the hostage incident was a publicity stunt and reported that press releases praising him for helping end the crisis were distributed to over 100 journalists by his campaign staff.
On the other hand, GO and Tarlac Rep. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III were the top subjects from the opposition camp (eight reports each). Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano and former Sen. Loren Legarda tied in at second place with seven reports each.
The candidates of the Catholic political party Ang Kapatiran and of the KBL did not get as much attention as those from the administration and opposition camps. As in previous periods, only the Inquirer reported on Ang Kapatiran candidates (three times).
Because the media had consistently tracked developments in Ocampo’s case, he became the top subject with 24 reports, surpassing even the most widely covered senatorial candidates.
Aside from Bayan Muna, some party-list groups also became the subjects of the reports. Among the newspapers monitored, the Inquirer featured party-list groups most frequently. However, most of these were merely identified in three reports: two on the allegation that they were Palace fronts and on the latest Social Weather Stations party-list survey.
The coverage was dominated by TU allies—who were reported in 33 stories—in contrast to GO allies who were featured only 14 times. Among the TU allies, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was the most frequently covered (8 reports), followed by her administration (5). Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez and Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. were the subjects of three reports each. Revilla received coverage due to his involvement in the Ducat hostage crisis in Manila.
On the other hand, the top subjects from among opposition allies were former President Joseph Estrada (5 reports), and senators Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal (3), Sergio Osmeña III, and Manuel “Mar” Roxas III (2 each).
Other news report subjects included the Commission on Elections, hostage-taker Armando Ducat Jr., and Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon. The Inquirer should be credited for airing the grievances of the Tagnaya Bataks, an indigenous community in Palawan, against the government and those running in the senatorial elections. Long forgotten by the national leaders, Bataks live in very poor communities and have high morbidity and mortality rates.

Use of photos and caricatures
Besides being the most  widely covered, Ocampo was also the most photographed, mainly because his arrest and his failed transfer to Leyte were controversial. Out of the nine photos on party-list candidates, eight were Ocampo’s. GO’s Loren Legarda was the most photographed senatorial bet with six photos.

Themes
For the first time, development and policy issues were the theme of most of the reports, a significant departure from the campaign of 2004, when these were hardly covered. The Bulletin accounted for the majority of these reports, with 25 out of the total 30 reports that tackled the platforms and advocacies of candidates. But the paper limited its reporting only to what the candidates had to say about, for example, the economy and agriculture, but without fully explaining their plans of action and the issues themselves.
The Inquirer and the Star had only three reports each on development and policy issues, which they merely identified.
In a front-page opinion piece, the Inquirer’s Amando Doronila provided a comprehensive discussion on the GO’s lack of an alternative policy on two issues crucial to the administration: the economy and the increasingly dangerous tendency of the military to seize control of the national security agenda from a weak civilian government.
Campaign-related reports, like in the previous monitoring periods, were given considerable space in the papers (25 reports).
Due to the attention given by the media to Ocampo’s case, this was the theme of most reports classified in this monitor under “others” (23 reports). The newspapers monitored also had Singson’s involvement in the Ducat hostage-taking incident as a theme in their reports.

Sources
TU candidates were also more frequently citedas sources in the reports (41 times) compared to their GO counterparts (32 times). Recto was the most heavily quoted administration candidate, having been a source in 11 reports. Sen. Edgardo Angara, was the second leading source from TU (6 reports), followed by Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. (5). All three TU candidates were frequently quoted in the Bulletin since most of the stories on them were based on press releases. Among the TU candidates, only Bukidnon Rep. Miguel Zubiri and Sultan Jamalul Kiram were not cited as sources.
On the GO side, the top sources were Legarda and Aquino (5 reports each), followed by senators Manuel Villar and Panfilo Lacson (4 each). All GO candidates were sources in at least one report.
Independent candidates were hardly used as news sources.  Pangilinan and Honasan were quoted in only one report each.
Only the KBL’s Oliver Lozano was a source (two reports) from among the other parties.
The administration and opposition allies were used as sources almost equally, with the former having only a slight edge. Administration allies were used as sources 28 times. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita led TU allies as the most frequently cited source.  A total of seven reports cited him.  On the other hand, opposition allies were used as sources 27 times, with GO deputy campaign manager Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito being the most cited (seven reports).
Anonymous sources were sometimes used, mostly by the Inquirer (8 out of 11 reports that used anonymous sources). Reporters were also counted as sources when they provided descriptions of the events they covered. Eleven reports contained the observations of the reporters. Philippine National Police officials were also cited as news sources especially in Ocampo’s case, as well as various government officials and agencies—which were all used   in 10 stories.

Slant
Sixty-eight out of the 95 reports, or 71.58 percent were neutral. The Inquirer had the highest number of neutral articles in relation to its total Senate and party-list articles (27 out of 29 or 93.10 percent). The Star was next with 11 out of its 14 reports, or 78.57 percent. The Bulletin was the least neutral. Only 30 of its 52 reports, or 57.69 percent, were not slanted.
All three papers had more neutral than slanted articles. The Inquirer and the Star had very few slanted reports (two and three, respectively). The two Inquirer reports were considered  slanted mainly because of the caricatures used.
Unlike in the first two monitoring periods, reports with negative slants outnumbered those with a positive angle. Among the newspapers monitored, the Bulletin had the highest  number of both positive (9) and negative slants (20). Many of its reports were unfavorable to President Arroyo and were regarded as negatively slanted because allegations from the opposition against her were reported without getting her or Malacañang’s reactions.

(First monitoring period, February 13 – March 2, 2007)
(Second monitoring period, March 3 – 16, 2007)

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