Journalism Review Archives | Page 114 of 159

Tornado in the Metro: Quick and Helpful Explainers

CHEERS TO ABS-CBN 2’s TV Patrol and TV5’s Aksyon for explaining in simple terms how a tornado develops. Tornados are an uncommon weather phenomenon in the Philippines but one ripped through some communities in Manila and Quezon City on Aug. 14. A report by Aksyon a day after...

Calapan Murder: Unnecessary Description

JEERS TO the Manila Bulletin for trivializing an act of violence by describing a murder victim as “pretty.” By describing her as “pretty,” the report suggested that the victim’s physical attributes had something to do with the alleged crime. But no such connection was made in the text...

Against Patently Outlandish Claims

CHEERS TO the Philippine Daily Inquirer for citing views contrary to a statement by Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre that “criminals are not (part of) humanity” instead of merely reporting the statement. The Inquirer, in its Aug. 6 report, sought the opinion of Aguirre on the possibility that...

Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Media as Unwitting Accessory

WHEN PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte made public the list of local government officials, judges and law enforcers allegedly involved in the drug trade, he did so with the caveat, that their involvement in the drug trade “might be true or might not be true ” – saying also that he...

Duterte and the Oligarchs

CHEERS TO some media organizations for explaining what an oligarch is after President Rodrigo Duterte called businessman Roberto Ongpin one during a speech before the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting. On Aug. 5, the Philippine Daily Inquirer ran “IN THE KNOW: Oligarchs and cronies” in its inside pages to...

Confused and Confusing

IN HIS first State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Rodrigo Duterte announced a unilateral cease-fire with the Communist Party of the Philippines’ New Peoples’ Army, and the National Democratic Frontof the Philippines (CPP-NPA-NDFP). Several newspapers ran reports on Duterte’s announcement. However, most of them confused the unilateral cease-fire with...

Taking a Stand: Journalism for Humanity

IN JUST a short span of time, President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs has already claimed hundreds of lives, alarming not only human rights groups but even officials as well as members of civil society. The death toll, which began to rise as early as Duterte’s landslide victory...

Federalism: Pointing Out an Inaccuracy

CHEERS TO some media organizations for pointing out the inaccurate claim of President Rodrigo Duterte regarding federalism during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA). Speaking about a change in government type, Duterte said that he wanted to copy the “France system” (sic). GMA News Online’s “Duterte’s...

Assessing the Cost of Duterte’s War on Drugs

CHEERS TO the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) for a quick assessment of the record so far of the anti-illegal drugs campaign of the Duterte administration that the Philippine National Police (PNP) is currently implementing. The PCIJ piece, “Duterte’s war: Breaking Bad? Big kill of small fry, puny...

FOI EO: Erroneous and Confusing

JEERS TO the Manila Bulletin for its erroneous and confusing story that said the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill has been signed into law. The Bulletin’s front-page report “Historic FOI signed into law” last July 25 said, “The public can finally gain greater access to government documents, including...