Monitors: TV
Cake and candles in the news
Okay, we all have the right to celebrate our birthdays, but must journalists do this during a newscast?
Toward the end of the Sept. 15 edition of Teledyaryo, the national government television network’s prime news program, anchor Angelique Lazo announced the birthday of her co-anchor, Rey Langit. In some shows, that would have stopped there. But not in government-controlled television.
Lazo passed the microphone to Langit’s son, Jay-R, who reported on how his father celebrated his birthday with the Kasangga Foundation and was helping malaria victims. The “report,” which ran for two minutes, was accompanied by a video clip showing the older Langit distributing gift packages to patients and giving a speech.
By now, the viewer must be asking, “Who cares?” Or, “Is this guy going to run for Congress or something?” Only Teledyaryo knows for sure.
Lazo then led the singing of “Happy Birthday,” a cue for the news staff to bring out a cake and—get this—party balloons. Langit quickly got into the spirit of the party by blowing the candle on the cake, but not after making a “secret wish” before the cameras.
Now, who can beat that?
Retracing Cha-cha steps
To help viewers know more about current efforts to amend the Constitution through the people’s initiative, Saksi provided a backgrounder on the 1997 decision of the Supreme Court junking a similar move during the Ramos administration. The report showed how some of the judges voted, including current Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban who went against the majority decision.
The side of the pro-people’s initiative camp was aired by lawyer Raul Lambino of Sigaw ng Bayan (Voice of the People) while the opposing view was presented by Marlon Manuel of the Counsels for the Defense of Liberties.
Saksi’s report—which ran for about two minutes and 30 seconds—was longer than the usual reports.
Disappointing TV interview with Nicole
Top Story on Sept. 19 had a phone interview with “Nicole” about her complaint against the state prosecutors. From out of the blue, anchor Pia Hontiveros asked “Nicole” if she still communicates with her former boyfriend, a former US Marine. The question obviously took “Nicole” by surprise, but she answered it anyway. “Nicole’s” case may have gained national importance, but does this give media the right to pry into her personal affairs? What is the relevance of having an American boyfriend to the rape case?
In an earlier report by the Big News on the walkout of “Nicole’s” camp during the hearing last Sept. 14, her mother was interviewed and named, a giveaway of the victim’s identity.
A case of insensitivity
How to draw the line between aggressive reporting and insensitivity to human suffering—this was an apparent problem in Bandila’s Sept. 13 report about a fire that razed a thousand houses in Leyte.
Not content with showing various shots of people crying as their houses burned, the reporter even tried to interview a five-year-old child who was still in shock.
Missing the important details
On Sept. 18, the Big News reported that congressmen who did not support the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo were each given a P1-million pork barrel—a scholarship grant for students—sourced through the Commission on Higher Education (Ched). The story was attributed to Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño. Pro-administration congressmen Gerry Salapuddin and Prospero Nograles refuted Casiño’s claim. But the all-important detail in the story—the confirmation, or denial, from either Ched or Malacañang—was missing.
Focusing on children
Finally, children’s issues are getting more attention from media. On Sept. 13, Newswatch gave prominence to a report from the International Labor Organization on the decline of child labor cases in the Philippines. The RPN-9 news program also explained briefly Republic Act 9231 (or the Anti-Child Abuse and Discrimination Act), which states how child workers in the country should be treated.
Highlighting the hidden
Bandila’s Sept. 13 report on the poor medical services at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila showed the government’s failure to properly address the country’s health needs.
While most public hospitals make do with an inadequate budget, the Department of Health (DOH) has a stock of expensive medical equipment and medicines that remain unused, the report said. Among these items are:
• P87-million hemodialysis machines for the Zamboanga Memorial Hospital which no one knows how to use;
• P70-million vaccine production machine for the Research for Inter-tropical Medicine which is in the storage room because the building that would house the machine has yet to be built;
• an P8-million defective electron microscope; and
• P27-million worth of expired vaccines.
Asked for his reaction, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said he was aware of the situation and was trying to improve the department’s procurement procedures.
Informative, educational
On Aug. 25, TV Patrol World focused on the oil spill’s possible effects on Guimaras’s different sea grass species.
An expert predicted that the oil spill would have long-term adverse effects on the country’s marine life as some species of sea grass, an important part of the ecosystem, were sure to suffer. Its destruction would have a domino effect on the other forms of marine life dependent on it. It was estimated that it would take 30 years before the sea could recover from the disaster.
The report noted that the Philippines, with its 16 sea grass species, half of which could be found in Guimaras, is second only to Australia in terms of diversity.
News or reality TV?
Confrontation, a distasteful staple in police stories, achieved a new low last Aug. 22 in TV Patrol World.
TV Patrol World showed two drunken men arrested by the police. The two were shown engaged in a heated argument over who started the fight and must be jailed. The report ended with one of the men hitting the other with a piece of bread that was on a policeman’s desk. The program so relished the bread-hitting scene that it replayed it.
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