Journalism Review Archives | Page 120 of 159

Gratuitous link

JEERS TO the Philippine Daily Inquirer for taking a cheap shot at the Aquino government with a headline that gratuitously links administration projects and brothels in the area. On February 16, the Inquirer published “Brothels thrive beside projects of ‘Daang Matuwid’” on its front page, reporting on the appearance...

Reviewing Party-list Performance

CHEERS TO ABS-CBNnews.com and ABS-CBN 2’s TV Patrol for its effort to evaluate the performance of the 2013 elected party-list representatives in the 16th Congress. On February 12, ABS-CBNNews.com published Gigi Grande’s story “Report Card: Would you vote for these party-list groups again?” Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for...

Presenting the Agenda of Presidential Candidates

CHEERS TO the Philippine Daily Inquirer for its series on presidential platforms to address issues of public concern. On February 9, the Inquirer started “Election 2016: Agenda of the Next President,” a series on persistent concerns “that should be on the high agenda” of contenders in the coming...

Disqualification Case Vs Duterte: Overlooked by the Press

THE CERTIFICATE of Candidacy (COC) that anyone aspiring for public office in the Philippines has to fill out accurately is sacrosanct in a democracy. That is why all candidates have to swear an oath attesting to the veracity of the COC before an officer of the law. The...

Elections and Political Dynasties: Lack of Context, Wrong Focus

JEERS TO ABS-CBN News for a report that relied mainly on one politician as its source, and which failed to locate the story in the context of dynastic politics in Cavite province and its impact on democratic elections. On February 9, ABS-CBN 2’s “Kampanyaserye (Campaign Series)” ran “Cavite and...

A Simple Crime Story Sensationalized

JEERS TO the Manila Bulletin for sensationalizing what could have been a simple crime report. On February 5, Bulletin reported a shooting incident involving Maricel Ramos, a resident of Bohol, and the family of her live-in partner, PO1 Rosalie Cuario, Ramos’s live-in partner. According to the report, Ramos went...

Mamasapano Revisited: The Press Got Played

SENATE HEARINGS in aid of legislation are an important part of democracy. The very nature of these hearings – senators have subpoena and contempt powers and are immune from legal action – make them a potentially great venue for ferreting out the truth on issues of national import....

Examining the Mamasapano Impact on Peace

CHEERS TO the Philippine Daily Inquirer for running a two-part series examining the impact of the Mamasapano incident on peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The daily broadsheet ran the series during the week when the incident marked its first anniversary. On...

DNA Test: A Hoax, a Non-Story

JEERS TO the Manila Bulletin for a headline that misled the reader into thinking that the article was about an authentic document but, as the report itself said, was actually fake. In the lead of its report “’DNA test’ on Bongbong shows he’s related to Poe” published last...

SSS: Failure of Public Policy Reporting

CRITICISM RAINED on President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III for his veto of House Bill 5842 that sought to increase by PHP 2,000 the monthly Social Security System (SSS) pension. Given the current context – it’s election season and there are two million pensioners who are potential voters –...