The local press on U.S. elections: Peaks and Pitfalls

By Hector Bryant L. Macale

THE LOCAL press coverage of the Nov. 4 U.S. elections had bright spots, but these were few and far between.

From Oct. 27 to Nov. 7, PJR Reports monitored the U.S. election coverage by three major newspapers (the Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer, and The Philippine Star); two major flagship news programs (TV Patrol World and 24 Oras); and several news websites (abs-cbnNEWS.com, Inquirer.net, GMANews.TV, Newsbreak, The Daily PCIJ, and Vera Files). It should be noted that there were already reports and commentaries on the elections before Oct. 27.

The U.S. elections were a major news staple during the period monitored, often appearing on the front pages—they were bannered several times—and given prominent airtime.

Although the TV news programs had reporters covering on the ground, the wire agencies provided the most information in the coverage, which focused on the presidential race between Democratic Party nominee and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, and his Republican rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain. Not surprisingly, the wire reports provided more comprehensive information and updates on the elections.

Major gaps
Because the reports from the wires were not specifically written for the Filipino audience, election-related issues that may affect Filipinos—such as the new U.S. government’s policies on foreign affairs, migration, business and trade, and security—were meagerly covered. Helpful information related to election conduct or differences between Philippine and U.S. elections—issues that might help improve how Filipinos conduct elections or understand the need to have clean and honest elections in a democracy—were equally missing in local media coverage.

The Philippine press could have reviewed and analyzed such issues as U.S. policy on the Philippines depending on the administration, including the presence of American troops in Mindanao to supposedly help the Philippines fight “terrorist” groups.

To be fair, there were some attempts to close the gaps in the coverage, helping Filipinos understand the issues surrounding the U.S. elections by providing background information and context. These reports were rare however.

Notable reports and commentaries
Possible changes in U.S. policies towards the Philippines after the elections were discussed in some reports and op-ed pieces, but these should have been increased in the coverage, and more space and airtime devoted to them. Quoting officials and analysts, the Inquirer reported Nov. 2 that there will be no major shift in U.S. foreign policy towards the Philippines regardless of who won (“Obama or Mccain, not much will change for RP, say analysts”, p. A2). Both TV Patrol and 24 Oras interviewed political experts and government officials on the issue as well.

The views of Filipino-Americans on the elections were reported as well, although in-depth and analytical accounts were generally lacking.

A number of columnists and editorials helped provide context and critical analysis of the elections.
Inquirer columnist Conrado de Quiros discussed last Oct. 28 why the U.S. elections have captured worldwide attention and imagination. “(I)t is because it offers a sharper view of how America has always appeared to it.

Which is not of one America but of two Americas. The current direction of the U.S. campaign, with the Republicans trying to stoke the fires of bigotry and hatred, backwater patriotism and thinly veiled racism, in an effort to turn the vote around dramatizes it” (“The Two Americas”, p. A12). “McCain is imperialist America, an image that had begun to fade since the fall of the Wall and the dissolution of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) until George W. Bush resurrected it after 9/11 in the name of fighting terrorism,” De Quiros wrote. Obama, on the other hand, embodies the “American passion for civil liberties and human rights, which Bush and McCain squandered, making America look silly every time it demanded that China practice those virtues.”

“(Obama) does embody the American resolve to rein in greed with a government effort to spread the wealth,” De Quiros added. “And he does embody the American willingness to listen to the world and not just stamp its will on it.”

In his Nov. 2 “As I Wreck this Chair” column, the Star’s William Esposo shared a similar view. “Most Americans detest this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde image that their country has developed,” he wrote. “The vested interest groups who are known to support the Republican Party…are the ones who provoke the Mr. Hyde character of the US that the world has come to distrust and hate” (“Why Filipino-Americans should vote for Obama”, p. 9). This Mr. Hyde character is responsible for creation of many dictatorships worldwide, including that of Ferdinand Marcos, and human rights abuses by tyrants that serve U.S.-interests, Esposo wrote. This character is what transformed former allies such as Osama Bin Laden into bitter anti-American terrorists, and what enabled US to forget the role of Filipinos in the U.S. war against Japan.

“This Mr. Hyde character of the US is what accounts for their current interest to promote a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) in Mindanao even if that will mean a dismemberment of Philippine territory,” Esposo wrote. “On the hope that a Barack Obama presidency could mark the shelving of this Mr. Hyde grotesque character of the US and the emergence of a fair and loyal character of America, Filipino-Americans should vote for Barack Obama.”

In a later column, Esposo compared and discussed the role and responsibility of media in covering the elections both in the US and the Philippines (“Compare American and Filipino media and voters” Nov. 6, p. 11). Bulletin columnist Florangel Braid also discussed the media’s role in political campaigns (“Media in political campaigns”, Nov. 5, p. 10).

In his Oct. 27 “Reveille” column, Inquirer’s Ramon Farolan explained the so-called “Bradley effect” phenomenon as a possible reason why despite newspaper endorsements of Obama and showing him leading in surveys, there were no predictions of his landslide victory and the elections still so close between Obama and McCain (“The Bradley Effect”, p. A15).

While there will be no fundamental change in the Philippine and U.S. relations, Inquirer columnist Manuel Quezon III wrote, Obama’s election will mean “significant changes in certain nuances concerning that relationship” and its repercussions to the current Philippine administration and the country (“New era of intervention”, Nov. 6, p. A10) .

Another Inquirer columnist, Amando Doronila, explained the implications of Obama’s victory on U.S. relations with the Philippines and the rest of Asia (“Hopes and fears about Obama in Asia”, Nov. 7, p. A15).
The Star’s “Gotcha” columnist Jarius Bondoc noted some lessons Filipinos should learn from the U.S. presidential campaign. The US presidential campaign showed Filipinos “what peaks of democracy they can aim for and pitfalls to avoid,” Bondoc wrote (“Lessons Filipinos learned from US poll campaign”, Nov. 5, p. 17).

Newsbreak’s Miriam Grace Go provided readers with several first-person accounts of the elections, sharing as well her personal knowledge and experience of Philippine elections as a citizen and journalist (“Notes from the Campaign Trail”). Go observed the campaign and elections as a Jefferson fellow of the U.S.-based education and research organization East-West Center.

Former GMA-7 senior producer Joseph Laban wrote how the U.S. media covered the elections. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism posted Laban’s personal essay on The Daily PCIJ blog last Nov. 6 (“Of Barack and ‘media bias’”, http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=3168).

Dominated by wire reports
Reports and analyses from wire agencies proved helpful as well in giving general overview of the elections.
The news organizations monitored provided background information about the candidates and followed latest developments of the campaign, and later, election results.

The Bulletin published an analytical piece from Reuters about the various economic problems the winner in the elections has to face (“Recession clouds next US President’s economic aims”, Oct. 31, p. 11).

Last Nov. 4, the Star published on the front page positions of Obama and McCain on some major issues in the presidential campaign such as economy, immigration, health care, international trade, and policies on Iraq, Iran, and Russia (“The candidates on issues”).

The Inquirer published a short Agence France Press report briefly explaining the complex and unique aspects of U.S. elections, especially the Electoral College system (“Voting for a President, American style”, Nov. 4, p. A6). Last Nov. 5, the paper published an Associated Press (AP) report detailing relevant election statistics (“2008 White House race in numbers”) and another AP report detailing a state-by-state review of the elections (“A state-by-state look at Election Day”).

2010 election coverage
The wire reports and analyses also provided another service for the local press: they set examples on how to improve election coverage.

With the 2010 presidential elections on the horizon, the local press could nevertheless review the U.S. elections coverage by US and other international news organizations for practices that could be adapted locally so as to enhance coverage of that important event.

One response to “The local press on U.S. elections: Peaks and Pitfalls”

1. The Pinoy media and the US elections | PinoyJourn: Stories behind the Stories says:

   December 2, 2012 at 4:46 pm

   […] of the 2008 US polls, Hector Bryant Macale of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility noted the lack of in-depth stories on election-related issues affecting […]