The November visit of Hillary ClintonAnother opportunity missed
By Bryant L. Macale
Published in PJR Reports, November-December 2011
The overnight visit of United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last November received wide, though not necessarily meaningful coverage from the Philippine press. Among the television networks, GMA News TV devoted an hour of its regular programming to air a special forum with Clinton with journalists, students, and social media users.
Clinton’s visit, her first under the new Aquino administration and partly to sign a declaration affirming the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) on its 60th anniversary, could have been an opportunity for the press to help enlighten Filipinos on some of the current issues in US-Philippine relations. The press could have looked at it as an occasion to go beyond the usual press releases from the government and the US Embassy in Manila. Among the critical issues involved in US-Philippine relations are the following: US commitments to the Philippines’ external defense; its position on the Philippine claim to part of the Spratlys Islands and its impact on US-China relations; the extent to which the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) is in keeping with US strategic interests in Asia; and overall, US foreign policy and its socio-economic and political repercussions on the Philippines, among others.
Unfortunately, the media missed the opportunity. The coverage of Clinton’s visit was generally shallow and in fact bordered on the trivial. Most of the reports in both print and broadcast were limited to quotes from Clinton on the MDT, the VFA, the Spratlys controversy and China’s claim, her opinion on various matters, including the latest victory of boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and what she did during the visit.
Even such relatively non-controversial issues as the country’s inclusion in the “Partnership for Growth” initiative of US President Barack Obama (which Clinton announced during her visit), did not merit much attention from the press, which merely mentioned it in passing.
The coverage of the last visit of Clinton to Manila was also a virtual duplicate of the coverage of her 2009 visit.
Monitor period
PJR Reports monitored the coverage of Clinton’s visit by the following newspapers from Nov. 14 to 20: BusinessMirror, BusinessWorld, Malaya, the Manila Bulletin, Manila Standard Today, The Manila Times, Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Daily Tribune, and The Philippine Star. The following news programs were also monitored from Nov. 14 to 17: 24 Oras, Aksyon, Bandila, Primetime on ANC, State of the Nation, Saksi, Teledyaryo, and TV Patrol.
PJRR also monitored the coverage of the following news websites from Nov. 14 to 20: abs-cbnnews.com, gmanetwork.com/news, inquirer.net, interaksyon.com, mb.com.ph, and philstar.com. Included in the monitor period was the Nov. 14 to 20 coverage of the following news organizations: Bulatlat.com, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, MindaNews, Pinoy Weekly, and VERA Files.
What forum?
The Clinton forum GMA News TV launched for the occasion—“US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Conversation in Manila”—served as a mere showcase in which only the most innocuous, and worse, the most fawning questions were asked of Clinton by the actors, comedians, and social media users who were invited to make up an audience for the “Conversation” as well as by the station’s host anchors.
The journalists and public affairs hosts at the forum did not conceal their awe of Clinton, starting with forum host Vicky Morales, who declared it a historic day (“Vicky: “Isang makasaysayang araw ang ating sasaksihan ngayon…)” because it would enable everyone to chat with one of the highest officials of the US government, a former US first lady and senator.
The pre-program banter echoed the thrill of fans upon meeting a celebrity face to face.
“She’s like a rock star, she’s one of the most famous Americans worldwide,” fellow host and journalist Howie Severino gushed in Filipino.
“I’m here to listen to her. We all know what a great woman she is. But I’m really, really excited to hear her first hand that’s why I’m here,” GMA-7’s primetime news anchor Mel Tiangco said. “We are here because we really want to meet Mrs. Clinton.”
“Ako rin ay fan ni (I am a fan of) Hillary Clinton. I really admire the woman and I agree with the young folk here that she should probably be the next president of the United States,” GMA News TV public affairs host Winnie Monsod said.
The above suggested that the forum was not going to be a journalistic engagement intended to provide insights into the complex issues of US-Philippine relations through the US Secretary of State, but a social one of which the media were mere outreach instruments.
The third host was non-journalist and entertainer Ramon Bautista. Bautista asked two members of the audience: “Kung si Sec. Clinton ay papatikimin mo ng ulam ng Pilipinas, anong ulam iyong papakain mo sa kanya?” (If you were to ask Sec. Clinton to try a Filipino dish, what would that be?) Not content with that, Bautista asked one of the three GMA-7 celebrities present in the event: “Ano sa mga katangian ni State Sec. Clinton ang nakakabilib sa kanya?” (What qualities of Sec. Clinton are worth admiring?)
The silly questions continued throughout the forum. The audience’s questions focused on the usual subjects of inquiry in the style of show business and fashion magazines: “What’s inside your purse?” “What’s on your iPod or iPad?” Morales followed up this previous question with: “What’s the music in your iPod?” Later, she asked Clinton: “If you were given three days to have a vacation, where would it be?
“With your daughter already married, are you and (former US President Bill Clinton) looking forward to becoming grandparents?” someone online asked. A Facebook user came up with: “As a former first lady, what advice can you give our President, President Aquino on the importance of having a first lady?”
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