Media and Elections

The CMFR Monitor of the News Media Coverage of the Campaign and Elections

Given the special nature of the elections, the media’s role as credible and critical sources of information and analysis during the election season bears watching. The 2010 elections provide an opportunity to help the media plan for rational and balanced coverage: to draw out candidate views and plans on critical issues, and to promote the democratic dialogue between candidates and the voters.

The Media Monitor has been a flagship program of CMFR. It has published its findings in the Philippine Journalism Review (PJR), and in the Philippine Journalism Review Reports (PJR Reports). PJRR regularly uploads articles and other information on media performance on the CMFR website.

CMFR has conducted content analyses of campaign/election coverage since 1992, but these were limited to national (Manila-based) print media. The findings were published in the PJR only at the end of the elections.

CMFR conducted a more ambitious monitor in 2004 and again in 2007, engaging civil society organizations and academic institutions as partners. In both the 2004 and 2007 projects, CMFR monitored, analyzed, and posted findings every two weeks during the campaign in order to flag problematic and laudable areas in the news coverage. In 2004, CMFR included newspapers and television news programs in its monitor. In 2007, the project expanded to include: broadsheets, television news programs, tabloids, radio programs, online sites, political advertisements, and media preparedness. In both projects, CMFR gathered journalists and other interested sectors in pre- and post-project discussions to discuss the findings and recommendations in the monitor.

Aside from the components it monitored in previous elections, the CMFR 2010 monitor included, for the first time ever, a monitor of community press coverage, particularly in Cebu, where the press has a strong institutional presence within a highly profitable and influential media market.

CMFR’s 2010 project also monitored initiatives by civil society organizations and other sectors in ensuring the integrity and quality of the elections.

For more information about the CMFR Monitor of the News Media Coverage of the 2010 Campaign and Elections and its findings, visit this microsite.

Comments are closed.