Cebu's Bisaya-language Dailies' Coverage of the 2010 Elections (Fifth Monitoring Period)
(April 11-24, 2010)
CEBU’S BISAYA-LANGUAGE DAILIES
The proportion of election-related reports to the news hole of the two Bisaya language dailies monitored, Banat and SuperBalita, jumped from 29 percent during the fourth monitoring period to 48 percent in the fifth monitoring period of April 11-24, 2010. Banat allotted more space (50 percent of its total news hole) compared to SuperBalita’s 46 percent.
There was no change in the focus of the coverage on local elections, and the top theme was still the campaign, although there was a significant increase in the number of reports on election-related violence/peace and order from 14 in the previous monitoring period to 46.
Placement
The Bisaya-language dailies also started to publish more election-related reports on the front page, from two percent (of the total election-related reports) in the fourth monitoring period to 14 percent in the fifth monitoring period, with the remaining 86 percent election-related reports appearing in the inside pages.
Focus
The focus of Bisaya-language dailies was still on the local elections. There was a notable increase in the number and proportion of reports on “elections in general,” particularly the readiness of the Comelec to implement poll automation.
Themes/ topics
Less than a month before the May 10 elections, the focus of the election-related reports shifted to personalities (71 reports), although the campaign (78) still received top attention. There was also an increase in the number of reports on election-related violence and peace and order concerns from 14 reports in the fourth monitoring period to 46 reports in this period.
The top six issues in development/policy issue-oriented reports related to the elections were education (6 reports), health (6), economy/jobs (5), corruption (4), governance (4), and senior citizens welfare (4).
Photos and Artwork
The number of election-related photos also increased in this period to 54 photos from the previous 32. There were no caricatures and infographics. Banat published 34 photos while SuperBalita published 20. The photographed news subjects included Cebu governor Gwen Garcia (3 photos), Manny Villar (3), Cebu City South District congressional candidate Jonathan Guardo (2), Lapulapu City mayoralty candidate Efrain Pelaez, Jr. (2), Gilberto Teodoro (2), Mandaue City mayor Jonas Cortes (2), Cebu provincial Comelec supervisor Lionel Castillano (2), and Cebu Sixth District Representative Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (2). The issue of “turncoatism” kept rivals for the Mandaue mayoralty post Jonas Cortes and Nerissa Soon-Ruiz in the news after the latter shifted supported in the middle of the campaign from Lakas-Kampi-CMD to the Nacionalista party.
Subjects
With attention shifting to Comelec preparations in the electoral process and to peace and order concerns, the Philippine National Police (42 reports) and the Comelec (30) were the top news subjects in the fifth monitoring period. Among the political parties, it was the Liberal party (36), Lakas-Kampi CMD (27), and the Nacionalista party (22) that had more media attention. Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña (27) led among the local news subjects, while Noynoy Aquino (24), Manny Villar (23), and Gibo Teodoro were the presidential candidates who were most in the news.
Sources
The top news sources during this period were the Philippine National Police (quoted in 24 reports), the Comelec (19), Jonathan Guardo (14), and Tomas Osmeña (9). Both Guardo and Osmeña were contenders for the Cebu City South District congressional post, and this was the period when Guardo stepped up his campaign, accusing his rival of employing foul tactics.
Slant/Focus
The neutrality rate of the Bisaya-language dailies improved during the period reviewed, rising from from 88 percent of election related news to 92 percent. Banat considerably improved its neutrality rate to 86 percent from 75 percent in the previous period.
There were ten positively-slanted reports and seven negatively-slanted reports in both papers. Banat had two positively-slanted reports in favor of the party-list Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD), an anti-communist group. SuperBalita had one report that was positively-slanted toward Cebu City mayoralty candidate Alvin Garcia. It also had two negatively-slanted reports against Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña.
NEUTRAL REPORTS
NEUTRAL VS. SLANTED
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