TV Monitor

Shades of Marcos-era propaganda
ON JAN. 1, Express Balita tried to pass on as news an all-out propaganda item for the administration. The government-sequestered TV station aired a story on the accomplishments of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2006, which ran for more than four minutes.
The report said the president was able to hurdle all threats and challenges to her government in the past year. One example cited was the Supreme Court decision which acknowledged the authority of the president to declare a state of national emergency or Presidential Proclamation 1017. It did not mention that the high court also declared as unconstitutional the government’s exercise of prior restraint on media when PP 1017 was in effect.
The report ended with Arroyo greeting the public, followed by the reporter’s stand-upper.

Delicadeza?  What’s that?
TALK ABOUT conflict of interest—and squeezing out maximum political mileage.
When Express Balita covered Manila Mayor Lito Atienza’s state of the city address last Jan. 19, the program highlighted the mayor’s endorsement of his son Ali’s mayoralty bid in the May elections. A father can be forgiven for endorsing his son but should a news program be given the same mercy when one of its anchors is the future candidate? Ali Atienza is one of the anchors of Express Balita.
The report also dragged boxing champ Manny Pacquiao into the picture. Pacquiao, who was present during Atienza’s announcement, was asked if he would be Ali Atienza’s running mate in the coming polls.

Too juicy to resist
WHEN NEWS sources throw a juicy piece of political intrigue at the media, the latter sometimes get so excited they forget to verify the information at all.
In the wake of the suspension orders issued against several local government officials, Bandila on Jan. 16 interviewed Batangas Vice Gov. Ricky Recto who took over the position of suspended Gov. Armando Sanchez, an administration ally.
Recto, who was with the opposition, was saying that if Malacañang thought he could be persuaded to turn pro-administration because of his appointment as acting governor, they were wrong. “They can have it (the position) back,” he said.
Recto further claimed that a day before Sanchez was suspended, the admi-nistration tried to convince his sister-in-law, Lipa Mayor Vilma Santos Recto, to run for governor against him in the upcoming elections. The movie actress-turned-politician and her husband Sen. Ralph Recto are administration allies.
What did Ate Vi have to say about that?  Viewers never knew because Bandila did not ask her.

A hidden agenda?
ADMINISTRATION ALLY Rep. Marcelino Libanan (Eastern Samar) must be a favorite interviewee of Teledyaryo.
In its Jan. 9 episode, Teledyaryo gave Libanan’s views extensive airtime in three different reports of the day: 1) on the $2-million extortion charge of former Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez against former justice secretary Hernando Perez and others; 2) on the transfer to US custody of Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith; and 3) on the chances of administration candidates in the coming elections.
It was not clear why Libanan’s views were much sought-after by the news program but a hint was given in the third report. Teledyaryo anchor Angelique Lazo reported: “Si Libanan ay isa sa mga napipisil na tumakbo sa senatorial ticket ng administrasyon (Libanan is one of those being considered for the administration’s senatorial ticket).”

One-sided stories
JOURNALISTS are supposed to get both sides of a story.  But this time-honored practice has been violated so often by television newscasts, leaving the burden of completing the story to the viewers.
For instance, last Jan. 15, ANC’s Top Story reported that opposition leaders were questioning the flurry of suspension orders and dismissals of local officials a few months before this year’s May elections.
House Minority Leader Rep. Francis Escudero (Sorsogon) was quoted as saying that the orders and dismissals could be a Palace plan to sideline those who did not agree with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s policies and plans. Top Story, however, did not bother to get the side of Malacañang or even other opposition members to corroborate what Escudero said.
The following day, Teledyaryo had a different take on the suspension and dismissal of local officials. This time, NBN-4’s prime time newscast interviewed administration allies only—Zamboanga del Sur Rep. Isidro Real and Bohol Rep. Eladio Jala.
Both legislators said that in protesting the suspension orders and dismissals, the opposition wanted to block Malacañang’s efforts to stop corruption in the local governments. No opposition or local government official was interviewed to comment on the charge.

Educating viewers
FINALLY, AN intelligent approach to a crime story.
On Dec. 22, TV Patrol World had a story about a woman who admitted killing her two children. Instead of focusing on the gory and personal details of the crime as it often does, the news program looked into the motive behind the killing. Focusing on the mother’s behavior after the killing, TV Patrol interviewed a psychologist to ask for an explanation. In the process, the report was able to educate viewers about the symptoms of psychotic behavior.

BANDILA GAVE viewers a good update on the issue of domestic violence against women. In its Jan. 4 report, the newscast noted that despite a law protecting women from abuse (Republic Act 9262 or the “Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004”), many still suffer physical, sexual, and other forms of violence.
Citing a study by the women’s desk of the Philippine National Police and women’s rights group Gabriela, it said that four women suffer from domestic violence every week and many of them fear reporting their cases to the police.

Good observation
24 ORAS did a good job in calling the attention of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to the ineffectiveness of its loading bays along Commonwealth Avenue.
The Jan. 18 report said surveillance showed that public utility vehicles were not properly using most of the loading bays. Two such MMDA areas were being used as parking spaces by school buses and jeepneys. Other similar structures were already damaged despite being closed to the public.
According to an MMDA repre-sentative, some  loading bays were still not operational because of ongoing repairs.

Sori na lang?
ON JAN. 12, 24 Oras reported that four media people made it to BizNews Asia’s annual list of “100 Most Influential People in the Philippines.” The program went on to identify them as Felipe Gozon, GMA-7 president and chief executive officer, and newsreader Mike Enriquez, who were ranked 14th and 54th, respectively.
Okay, so that’s two. Who were the other two? Two people who were not with GMA-7 perhaps?
And to think that part of GMA-7’s slogan is “Walang kinikilingan.”

Stick to reporting
WHEN REPORTERS decide to play Sherlock Holmes, they better come up with something good.
A news team from 24 Oras went back to the scene of an unsolved crime without police supervision last Jan. 5. The apartment’s caretaker, who did not know any better, accompanied the team.
The police had not yet cleared the area. When the news team arrived, the caretaker was filmed walking inside the house, and touching the furniture. Obviously, the group forgot that their presence could compromise the case because of unintentional tampering of evidence.
When the report was finally aired, the 24 Oras team did not have anything new to offer. All it had were interviews with the victims’ neighbors.

Religious reaction?
MUSLIMS HAVE often complained about the media’s biases and they have good reasons to do so. The report of 24 Oras last Jan. 5 on the violent clearing operations by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is one example.
According to the report, “angry Muslim vendors” fought with the MMDA personnel after the latter demolished the bridge used by the vendors to get to their work place.
The point of the story was that the violent reaction was provoked by the demolition. So why should the religion of the vendors matter?

Santa Siete
Charity projects initiated by media organizations are laudable, but are these really done to help people or just to promote the networks’ image as caring institutions?
Not content with its “Kapusong Totoo” segment in 24 Oras, where anchor Mel Tiangco “reports” on GMA-7’s charitable activities, the network gave extensive coverage to its other activities last Dec. 22.
GMA-7 had four reporters do first-person stories about their efforts to make Christmas happier for people burdened with different problems. Part of the telecast was a plug of a party hosted by the network’s news and public affairs department for poor families in Quezon City.
In all the reports, the message of the Kapuso network was very clear: GMA-7 was helping and bringing good cheer to poor families during the holiday season. Sincere or self-serving?

Minding the inmates
SENTRO REPORTED on an oft-forgotten sector in its Jan. 10 broadcast—inmates at the New Bilibid Prison and their health conditions.
The account reported the various diseases the prisoners were afflicted with, from tuberculosis to hypertension, and noted that quite a number of them acquired these illnesses in prison, some even dying from them while behind bars.
It also noted that the budget for health for the inmates was pegged at P1 a day and that the present allotment of P20 million annually was not adequate to cover the prisoners’ medical needs.

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