Journalism Review Archives | Page 69 of 162

Battle for Cebu: Local media question militarized COVID-19 response

THE ALARMING spike in cases, the high mortality rate, and the rise of severe and critical cases in the province of Cebu last June pushed the National Task Force on COVID-19 to focus their efforts on the new “epicenter” of the pandemic in the country. Reports citing data from...

Is the PH “winning” against COVID: Media debunks government’s spin on WHO report

DESPITE THE continued rise of cases across the country, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque claimed government is “winning” against COVID-19, and congratulated the Philippines for supposedly beating the University of the Philippines’ (UP) projection that the number of cases could shoot to 40,000 by the end of June. This came...

Disjointed coverage fails to report the huge crisis in education

THE RETURN of students each year has always involved all kinds of problems for the country’s educational system: perennial overcrowding in schools, and the lack of classrooms, teachers and textbooks. CMFR has noted how Philippine media hardly try to break out of the rote coverage of these problems year...

Reports fail to question “overwhelming” support for the Anti-Terror Bill

AMID GROWING criticism from different sectors against the so-called Anti-Terror Bill, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque touted support from an “overwhelming majority” of local government executives based on a document from Interior Secretary Eduardo Año allegedly showing the support of 784 local government executives – composed of 43 governors, 68...

Stranded in one’s own country: Media highlight plight of Filipino migrant workers

THE COUNTRY’S lack of livelihood opportunities has long compelled Filipinos to seek better paying jobs abroad. For the same reason, Filipinos have also moved from the provinces to the urban centers of the country. The long lockdown period has closed down many jobs, causing workers to be stranded in...

PH media coverage subdued on the verdict on Rappler

RAPPLER CEO Maria Ressa and former researcher Reynaldo Santos, Jr. were found guilty of cyber-libel by Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa of the Manila RTC Branch 46 on June 15, on charges filed by businessman William Keng in October 2017. Media coverage was relatively subdued in reporting the landmark case that...

Commuting horrors on GCQ day: Only some reports noted government incompetence

TRANSPORT WOES marred the National Capital Region’s (NCR) transition to general community quarantine (GCQ). As some industries reopened on June 1, the lack of public transport forced returning workers to walk long distances and hitch rides from private vehicles. The government’s bus augmentation program did little to help as...

Media failed to flag HB 78: Semantics flouts Constitution

SHOULD HOUSE Bill 78 become law, it will amend the 84-year old Public Service Act to strictly define and differentiate between “public service” and “public utility.” The 1987 Constitution stipulates that “public utilities” must be at least 60% Filipino-owned. HB 78 has gone through five months of deliberation. It...

Despite Duterte Freedom of Information EO: Access to information narrows during pandemic

CHEERS to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) for looking into how access to government-held information has become more difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic. Karol Ilagan’s “Quarantine Curbs Access to Information” found that both national and local government agencies have either delayed responding to or denied requests for...

Print, TV reports miss the point: The truth about the anti-terror bill is not a matter of opinion

THE PRESS was obviously caught off-guard by the speed with which House Bill (HB) 6875, or the Anti-Terrorism Bill, went through three readings. Approved on May 29 by the Committee on Public Order and Safety and the Committee on National Defense and Security, it went through third and final...