CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE 2007 NATIONAL ELECTIONS
CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE 2007 NATIONAL ELECTIONS
(Second monitoring period, March 3 – 16, 2007)
Coverage of party-list groups gets boost from Ocampo arrest
The period under review saw a sudden surge in the reportage on party-list groups—a distinct departure from the 2004 presidential elections when party list groups received scant coverage. However, the increased coverage in both print and television was occasioned by the filing of multiple murder charges against Bayan Muna’s Congressman Saturnino “Satur” Ocampo, his arrest, and the aborted effort to fly him to Leyte.
While all these made news, there was little evidence of any attempt to provide background and explanatory material on the significance of what was evi-dently a heightened government effort to demonize Ocampo and his party.
Neither was there any change in the scant discussion of development issues such as poverty and the economy, probably because most of the candidates did not present their views on these and were focused on political issues.
The same period saw a hardening of NBN-4’s bias for the administration’s Team Unity (TU), and against the Genuine Opposition (GO) as well as Ocampo and the militant party-list groups.
The surge in the coverage of the party-list elections and groups was accompanied by a boost in the reportage on TU by both ABS-CBN 2 and GMA-7 as well as by the newspapers monitored (the Manila Bulletin, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and The Philippine Star).
But while NBN-4’s bias was more than evident in terms of time allotted, the sources its stories used and these stories’ slant, the increase in the number of reports on both TU as well as the more frequent use of its allies as sources among the news programs of GMA-7 was driven by the GO’s apparent concentration on its campaign sorties, which for their repetitiousness tended to limit media coverage.
TELEVISION COVERAGE
The TV news programs monitored during the fourth and fifth weeks of the campaign period (March 5 to 9 and 12 to 16, 2007) were TV Patrol World and Bandila (ABS-CBN); 24 Oras and Saksi (GMA-7); Sentro (ABC-5); and Primetime Teledyaryo (NBN-4).
Time allotment analysis
The average airtime for senatorial and party-list election reports ranged from 19.33 percent to 39.16 percent of total reports of the six monitored television news programs during the fourth and fifth weeks of the campaign period.
Table 1 shows a quantitative change in the coverage of party-list election reports compared to the first three weeks of the campaign. However, the increase in airtime—particularly on March 8, 15, and 16—was mainly due to the news about the multiple murder charges against Ocampo which led to his arrest and detention on March 16.
During the period under review, 24 Oras provided the most numerous reports on the senatorial elections, at an average airtime of 16.04 minutes, followed by TV Patrol with 14.33 minutes; Sentro, 6.35 minutes; Bandila, 6.31 minutes; Saksi, 6.30 minutes; and Teledyaryo, 5.31 minutes. Compared with the previous findings in the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) report on the first three weeks of the campaign, 24 Oras and TV Patrol still maintained the top two places in terms of average airtime for senatorial election reports while Teledyaryo still provided the least coverage.
Predictably though not justifiably, since it is a government station, the senatorial election reports of Teledyaryo were skewed in favor of the senatorial candidates of the administration’s TU. The pro-gram gave these candidates a total of 246.72 minutes during the period under review. Only 22.08 minutes were given for can-didates running under the GO and 1.44 minutes for candidates running either as independents or under other political parties. With the exception of Saksi, which gave more airtime to the GO’s 11 senatorial candidates, the other monitored television news programs also provided more airtime to TU’s 12 senatorial candidates. But the disparity was not as glaring as in Teledyaryo’s coverage. (See Graphs 1 to 6)
As was the case in the first three weeks of the campaign, the fourth and fifth weeks also saw independent senatorial candi-dates and those running under other political parties not being given as much airtime as TU and GO senatorial candidates.
Based on a computation of the total airtime per senatorial candidate of all the six monitored television news programs, TU’s Cesar Montano remained the senatorial candidate with the most extensive coverage. However, the senatorial election coverage of Teledyaryo resulted in the 11 other TU senatorial candidates’ getting the second to 11th and 13th spots in terms of total airtime.
GO’s Alan Peter Cayetano–the third most covered senatorial candidate during the first three weeks of the campaign—fell to 12th place. Erstwhile fourth placer independent candidate Francis Pangilinan ended up 24th. Unlike in the first three weeks of the campaign, the senatorial candidates not affiliated with either TU or GO were not in the top 20. (See Table 2)
With regard to the party-list groups, Bayan Muna received the widest coverage during the period in review with 27.47 minutes. AnakPawis was a far second with 5.81 minutes, followed by Akbayan (4.25 minutes), Buhay (3.01 minutes), and Butil (2.14 minutes). (See Table 3)
Discourse Analysis
News about the Senate and party-list elections was given considerable airtime in the six news programs from March 5 to 16. Out of the total 1,397 reports by the programs in the fourth and fifth weeks of the national campaign, 314 (22.48 percent) were about the Senate and party-list elections. This figure included reports that tackled both the Senate and party-list elections.
The figure in the second monitoring period was slightly higher from the findings in the first three weeks of the coverage, which had shown 22.15 percent of the airtime devoted to Senate and party-list election reports.
As in the first three weeks of the campaign, majority of these reports were about the senatorial elections (270 or 85.99 percent). The number of reports about the party-list elections increased om this period. There were 53 reports (16.88 percent) that tackled party-list elections, compared with the 36 reports on the same subject in the first three weeks of the campaign.
Because some reports were on both the senatorial and party-list elections, there were 270 reports on the Senate elections and 53 on party-list, although the total count of all reports about the senate and party-list elections was 314.
Again as in the first three weeks of the campaign, most of the reports about the Senate and party-list elections were among the top stories of the six programs monitored. More than 70 percent of the stories appeared as such, with 14 stories (4.46 percent) as lead stories and 210 (66.88 percent) reported during the first half of the programs. There were 90 reports (28.66 percent) about the Senate and party-list elections that appeared in the second half of the programs.
Subjects
Many of the reports monitored had more than one subject.
Not surprisingly, the can-didates from TU and GO were the top subjects in the reports. Some of the reports featured several senatorial and party-list can-didates.
TU candidates were featured in the reports 465 times in the 270 reports, while GO candidates became subjects 307 times in the reports.
All the programs had more reports about TU candidates than those from GO. The strengths and weaknesses of both teams were discussed in the reports, as well as the controversies involving the candidates. The top subjects in the administration slate were: Team Unity (62 reports), Montano (46), Ralph Recto (42), Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Singson (41), Bukidnon Third District Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri (39), and former senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III (39).
From the opposition lineup, the top subjects were: the GO (43 reports), Cayetano (40), Tarlac Second District Rep. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III (31), former senator and vice-presidential candidate Loren Legarda (30), and Sorsogon First District Rep. Francis Escudero (28).
The TV programs almost took no notice of the candidates from other parties. Compared with the consistent coverage of TU and GO candidates, there was only a sprinkling of reports on candidates from other parties like the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) and Ang Kapatiran. In fact, among the six programs monitored from March 5 to 16, only 24 Oras reported on the campaign and candidates of Ang Kapatiran party, which claims to be a non-traditional political party and the candidates of which are respected in their fields.
KBL candidates were featured 24 times in the reports, but these mostly focused on candidate Joselito Pepito Cayetano, who has adopted the nickname “Peter.” The reports focused on the controversy between him and GO candidate Alan Peter Cayetano.
Independent candidates were featured 106 times in the reports, mostly focusing on the campaign of reelectionist Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan and Richard Gomez. Pangilinan’s wife, Sharon Cuneta, and Gomez are both top show business personalities in the country.
Slightly with a higher count than the independent candidates during the period under review, party-list groups and candidates were reported on 112 times. The focus, however, was not on background information about these groups and candidates, or why people need to understand the party-list system. The leading party-list groups and candidates were given prominence because of government accusations that these groups are communist fronts. Among the most featured party-list groups were: Bayan Muna (13 times), AnakPawis (seven), and Gabriela (seven).
The case against, and later, the arrest of Bayan Muna’s Ocampo were prominently featured in the reports. Ocampo’s case was reported 20 times.
Compared with the first three weeks of the campaign, allies of the administration were also more frequently reported on than opposition allies. Adminis-tration personalities and allies like President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Vilma Santos Recto, Antonio Albano, and Montano’s wife, actress Sunshine Cruz, were the subjects of 47 reports. In only less than half of that number—21 times—were personalities and allies of GO featured, such as former president Joseph Estrada and top showbiz personality Kris Aquino, sister of GO senatorial candidate Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
Allies of independent candidates and party-list groups received far less coverage. Allies and personalities from other parties were not at all featured in the reports. Other personalities and institutions were featured 76 times in the coverage. These included the Commission on Elections, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, printing business establishments, El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde, and polling institutions Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia.
Former National Printing Office (NPO) director Felipe Evardone and Danton Remoto of Ang Ladlad were each counted twice. There was one report on Evardone’s former NPO post (placing him under the “Other subjects” category) and another on his new post in TU (“Administration ally”). Remoto’s senatorial bid (“Independent bet”) was counted separately from his being a candidate of the disqualified party-list group Ang Ladlad (“Party-list”).
Themes
As in the first three weeks of the campaign, some of the reports monitored had more than one theme. A report about the campaign of one senatorial candidate, for instance, may also be considered personality-oriented, depending on the report’s content.
The total number of Senate and party-list election reports (314) had 388 themes. Out of 388 themes, 157, or 40.46 percent, were campaign-themed stories, making the campaign the dominant theme in the coverage.
In the fourth and fifth weeks of their coverage of the elections, the six programs still did not allot much space to development and policy issues. Only 36 reports (9.28 percent) touched on crucial issues the candidates needed to address. But most of these reports failed to explain to the viewers how the position and programs of action of the candidates would address the most pressing public issues: graft and corruption, education, economic develop-ment, peace and order, Charter change, global warming, among other things. TV reports were content to mention that these were the platforms of a certain candidate or his/her stand on a certain issue, with no discussion of the issues, platforms, or advocacies of the candidates.
Reports discussed other themes aside from the main ones like the arrest of Ocampo, extrajudicial killings, and communist purges, among other subjects.
Sources
Administration candidates were also among the top sources in the coverage. TU senatorial candidates were used as story sources 194 times. The top TU sources were Singson (28 reports), Michael Defensor (23), Montano (21), Zubiri (21), and top political ad spender Prospero Pichay Jr. (19).
In contrast, opposition candidates were used less half the time as sources. The top GO sources were: Cayetano (19), Legarda (nine), Escudero (seven), and Sen. Panfilo Lacson (seven). It was surprising to see that Sonia Roco, who had received less coverage and who was not a frequent news source in the previous weeks, became among the top sources from GO, with seven reports.
Due to a number of recent controversies involving them, party-list groups and candidates were used as sources in the coverage 46 times.
Independent candidates were also quoted 46 times, with Pangilinan leading the group with 15. Other top sources running as independents were: Gomez (eight) and Gregorio Honasan (six).
If TV programs rarely used candidates running indepen-dently and those from parties outside the administration and opposition banners, neither did they use the allies of these personalities as sources during the period monitored.
It was noticeable in the coverage that Teledyaryo did not use any GO candidate or ally as source in the two weeks of coverage.
Slant
CMFR’s count of slanted articles included all stories for or against any of the candidates. It is thus possible that a report might have been slanted for someone or something and at the same time slanted against another candidate or an institution.
Most of the reports in the coverage were neutral. 24 Oras had the highest number of neutral reports (94.59 percent), while Sentro had the least with 55.56 percent of neutral reports out of its total number of Senate and party-list election reports.
There was no consistent pattern on the positive and negative slants by the programs, although it was clearly noticeable in the coverage that administration candidates got many positively slanted reports from Teledyaryo. Sentro had the most number of negatively slanted reports, a number of them against party-list groups.
NEWSPAPER COVERAGE
The broadsheets monitored from March 3 to 16 were the front pages of the Manila Bulletin, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and The Philippine Star.
The second monitoring period saw several improve-ments in the newspapers’ coverage of the Senate and party-list elections. The Bulletin, Inquirer, and the Star paid more attention to the party-list groups, particularly Bayan Muna. Some of the candidates and parties previously ignored also received more coverage.
Notable too was the increase in the number of neutral articles in the Inquirer and the Star. Only a small number of slanted reports appeared in both broadsheets.
However, some coverage characteristics noted in the first Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) report stayed the same—e.g., the newspapers monitored continued to report on the campaign sorties of the candidates. While there was an increase in the number of articles on development and policy issues, as in the first three weeks of the campaign, these issues were not sufficiently explained.
As in the first monitoring period of the campaign, administration candidates were again reported on more frequently than their opposition counterparts. Unlike the first monitoring period, however, allies of the administration were reported on more frequently than those from the opposition. Except for a candidate or two, candidates from other parties or running independently received far less coverage.
The fourth and fifth weeks of the campaign period saw more front-page articles on the party-list elections, compared with the coverage during the first three weeks. Most of the reports came from the Inquirer, which printed nine out of the total 14 reports on party-list groups, or 64.29 percent.
Although there was a sharp increase in the number of party-list reports, these reports comprised only 4.12 percent of the news hole of 340 articles on the elections. The coverage of the Inquirer and the Star on the party-list groups focused on the alleged involvement of Bayan Muna Rep. Saturnino “Satur” Ocampo in the communist purges in the 1980s. Only the Inquirer reported on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey on the leading party-list groups.
On the other hand, reports on the Senate elections decreased in the Inquirer (30) and Star (12). A number of issues unrelated to the senatorial elections competed for space in the Inquirer, such as a recent survey where the Philippines placed as the most corrupt country in Asia, and Ocampo’s case. The Star, which did not publish any report on the Senate elections for three consecutive days (March 11 to 13), gave considerable space to the fire that razed the old Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Manila and the alleged extramarital affair of presidential spouse Jose Miguel Arroyo.
Placement
Most of the reports on the Senate and party-list elections were published below the fold (59, or 62.77 percent of the total 94 reports). The Inquirer had the highest at eight. These included reports on Santos’s gubernatorial bid, Ocampo’s case, the latest SWS survey results on senatorial candi-dates, and El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde’s call to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to release a shortlist of senatorial candidates for endorsement.
Subjects
TU candidates were again the most extensively covered among the senatorial aspirants. They were the subjects 87 times in the reports, while GO candidates were featured 78 times. The Bulletin featured TU candidates in 46 reports, bigger than the combined figures for the Inquirer (16) and Star (25) front pages.
Candidates from Ang Kapatiran Party and the Philippine Green Republican Party (PGRP) made it to the Inquirer’s front pages. The lone candidate from the relatively unknown PGRP, however, was featured only with other independent candidates in a short list that had the candidates’ photo, educational background, and advocacies.
Party-list candidates, particu-larly Bayan Muna and its lead nominee Ocampo, were also covered by the Inquirer and Star.
Except for the Inquirer, the newspapers monitored also covered the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, but still focused on one of its candidates Joselito Pepito “Peter” Cayetano. The Bulletin and the Star reported on the visit of GO’s Alan Peter Cayetano to his namesake’s home and family in Davao City.
Among the administration candidates, Sen. Edgardo Angara was the most covered (11 reports), followed by Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. and Sen. Ralph Recto who tied with 10 reports each. Angara received ample coverage from the Bulletin (seven out of the total 11 reports were about him). These reports were solely on his statements on various issues.
The three most extensively covered opposition candidates were Senate President Manuel Villar (10 reports), Taguig-Pateros Rep. Cayetano (seven reports), and former Sen. John Osmeña (seven reports).
During the period under review, lesser-known candidates from TU and GO were finally given much-needed exposure. Zambales Gov. Vicente Magsaysay (TU) was a subject of two reports—one each from the Inquirer and the Star. GO’s Sonia Roco received front-page treatment with five reports in all three papers monitored. Neither Magsaysay nor Roco had made it to the front pages of the three papers monitored in the first three weeks of the campaign.
The allies of administration candidates also received more media mileage than those from the opposition camp. During the period, TU allies were the subjects 20 times in the reports, while GO allies were featured nine times.
Other subjects covered by the three newspapers included the Comelec, religious and business groups, the police and the military, among others.
Use of photos, caricatures, and infographics
TU and GO candidates had almost the same number of photos on the front pages of newspapers. There were 15 photos on TU and 17 on GO candidates. The Bulletin accounted for more than half (28) of the 40 photos published during the period.
Rez Cortez, an actor who supported the campaign of fellow actor Fernando Poe Jr. in the 2004 elections, was a subject in one of Star’s caricatures related to the Senate and party-list elections. When Cortez criticized former opposition personalities Angara, Sotto, and Teresa Aquino Oreta, and ex-GO guest candidate Pangilinan, the paper mocked the actor in a caricature implying that his foray into politics was due to his lack of show business projects.
In its story about the low ranking of Pichay, the biggest TV political advertisement spender—and how the ranking of a relatively unknown candidate, Ang Kapatiran’s Martin Bautista, was near Pichay’s—the Inquirer’s quintessential Guyito said: “Hindi lahat nabibili ng pera (Not everything can be bought with money)!”
Only the Inquirer published infographics on the SWS senatorial and party-list survey results.
Themes
Stories on campaign sorties still dominated the newspaper coverage during the period with 41 reports. Most of these came from the Inquirer (19 reports), while the Bulletin and Star had 12 and 10 reports, respectively.
Other themes frequently reported were TU and GO’s disagreements over the venue of the senatorial debate and issues to be included in it, and the charges against Ocampo.
The Inquirer also allocated substantial space to the issue of possible election fraud, with its reports on the graft cases against Felipe Evardone, former director of the National Printing Office (NPO) and brother of TU media campaign manager Benjamin. NPO is the government agency in charge of printing the ballots for the elections.
Suspicions, and later, an official investigation on the cause of the March 12 fire at the Comelec were also reported by the three papers.
Development issues
There was a significant increase in the number of reports that touched on development and policy issues. The bulk of these stories appeared in the Bulletin, which had 16 such reports. However, the Bulletin reports on the views of the senatorial candidates on issues like the economy and health were mainly based on press releases and the campaign speeches of the candidates.
Again, the papers were remiss in thoroughly reporting what the candidates stood for or opposed. The reports in the Inquirer, for example, merely mentioned the advocacies of the candidates without explaining their programs of action.
Sources
Aside from being the most covered, TU candidates were also the most extensively quoted during the period (32 times). Not far behind were GO candidates who were used as sources 30 times.
CMFR noted that some of the most extensively covered candi-dates were also used as news sources most frequently. TU’s Recto was the top source, with seven reports. Pichay was second, with five reports quoting him as source, followed by Singson, with four reports. On the GO side, Cayetano, Legarda, and Villar were most frequently quoted (four reports each).
Ten sources from party-list groups were used in the reports, with the Inquirer accounting for the majority of that number with eight such reports.
The three papers sought more sources other than the candidates and their allies during the period, as opposed to the first three weeks of the campaign season. This was due to the various events that linked elections to other sectors, such as Velarde’s call for CBCP’s endorsement of senatorial candidates, the military and the police’s involvement in the Ocampo case, and the senatorial debate-turned-forum sponsored by the business community.
Slant
Seventy of the total 94 reports on the Senate and party-list elections (74.47 percent) were neutral. This was a marked improvement in the coverage from the first monitoring period, which had only 56.44 percent neutral reports. The number of neutral articles in the Inquirer and the Star was almost the same as their total Senate and party-list elections reports, while half of the Bulletin’s total reports were neutral (20 out of 40 reports).
As in the first monitoring period , the Bulletin published the highest number of slanted reports (20). The Inquirer and the Star had only two slanted reports each.
There were more positively-slanted than negatively slanted reports. The Bulletin accounted for the majority of reports with positive slants (17 out of the 18 total positively slanted reports, or 94.44 percent). The Inquirer had only one positively slanted article, while Star did not have any at all.
On the other hand, the CMFR study noted 11 negative slants from the three papers: the Bulletin had seven; the Inquirer, two; and the Star, two.
(First monitoring period, February 13 – March 2, 2007)
(Third monitoring period March 17 – 30, 2007)
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