Monitors: TV

Minding the children

Media gave special attention to the worsening child labor situation in the country last June.

On June 27, ANC started a series on child workers but with a different angle: the proliferation of adolescent pimps in the metropolis. The comprehensive series also looked at how former adolescent pimps are helping child sex workers to lead a new life.

The following day RPN-9’s Newswatch reported on the use of minors as runners in drug trafficking. Entitled, “Left Behind,” the feature explained how the government has been addressing the problem.

The Luzon-based community weekly Mabuhay tackled the alarming number of child laborers in Bulacan. The report said that Bulacan, with around 6,000 child workers, is one of the eight provinces in the country employing the highest number of child laborers (“Child labor,” June 16-22).

In its special report on June 29, the Insider tackled the alarming cases of child pornography in the country. According to the report, the Philippines has the fourth highest number of child pornography cases in Asia. It pointed to cyber sex dens—where websites carrying photos of Filipino children are accessed—as the main perpetrator of child prostitution. The report also noted the weakness of the country’s anti-child pornography law.

TV Patrol World’s stereotypical tabloid treatment of the news surfaced again last July 7 in the story about a 17-year-old rape victim who said two men took nude videos of her because she had a “perfect body.” The accuser’s face was covered all right but the camera focused on the victim’s body and what she was wearing—a sleeveless shirt and mini-skirt.

What sensitivity?
On July 12, TV Patrol World reported on a squabble between two parties in a case of gang rape involving a minor in Bataan. Relatives of the suspects staged a rally just outside the prosecutor’s office in the presence of relatives of the complainant. A word war ensued and this became the focus of the news. The report then went on to use a sound bite from an angry relative of a suspect who blamed the victim for what happened.

Talk about sex
Media can enrich the debate on controversial issues. On June 30, Insider discussed pre-martial sex among young people. Interviewing experts, it attributed the problem to lack of education and misconceptions about sex, among other causes. Experts said adolescents do not discuss issues about sex with their parents. This has pushed the number of 15- to 24-year-olds who experiment on sex, according to a University of the Philippines Population Institute survey. Students were also asked who they think should educate them about sex. Some pointed out it is the responsibility of the parents; others think it would be best learned in school.

TV Patrol ’s ‘exclusive’
It used to be that exclusive stories were among the best that a media organization could offer. That seems to be changing. On July 7, TV Patrol World aired a non-story: a hair-pulling match between two women in the middle of a street in Iloilo City. The “exclusive” report showed a video of the two women hitting each other while spectators cheered them on. The footage was replayed at least twice. The brawl started when one woman refused the other’s offer to drink a shot of liquor. The report ended with a slow-motion shot of one woman dragging the other by the hair.

Unrepentantly, the news program had a follow-up report on July 10, which again used the footage of the hair-pulling incident.

Ready or not…
Viewers witnessed a real-life murder in the June 29 newscast of TV Patrol World and Insider. The programs showed video clips of a Japanese businessman being stabbed by his Filipino employee inside an Internet shop. The incident, captured by a surveillance camera installed in the shop, was aired at primetime without any warning to the viewers about what they were about to see.

A statement as news
Nothing can be more incomplete than the Teledyaryo report on the June 29 where Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno claimed that the Philippines was the safest place in Asia in terms of addressing terrorism. The context of Puno’s statement was not clear. The report did not even say why Puno described the country as a safe heaven against terrorists.

Gov’t news goes showbiz
NBN-4 has finally joined the bandwagon of newscasts featuring entertainment news. Its new segment, Balitang Taartits, started on the first week of July. Was it the government-owned station’s answer to ABS-CBN’s Star Patrol and GMA-7’s Chika Minute?

Seeing the big picture
So why are Pinoy workers fleeing Lebanon? To inform viewers about the root of the recent hostilities between Lebanon and Israel, 24 Oras gave a brief historical background of the conflict.

The July 18 report narrated how, after World War II, Jews all over the world petitioned for the creation of Israel on what was then Palestinian soil. The formation of the Jewish state displaced many Palestinians and angered the fledgling country’s Arab neighbors, including Lebanon.

Troubled bridges
They’ve been there for a long time but it took the news program 24 Oras to report on the implications of having a growing number of people inhabit Metro Manila’s bridges and flyovers.

The reports (July 6 and 7) noted that the government spent P32 million for the repair of the C5-Katipunan flyover, which was damaged in December when fire broke out in the illegally constructed shanties under the bridge.

The report added that of the 328 bridges and flyovers in the metropolis, 68 could end up like the C5-Katipunan flyover because of their unwanted residents.

Promise vs. reality
Another special report by 24 Oras in June 26 revealed that the current administration may not be able to fulfill its promise to improve the quality of education in the country.

The report noted that despite having the biggest share of the national budget this year, allocation for the education sector has actually shrunk in the last three years. And since the government is operating on a reenacted budget, the increasing needs of the education sector could not be addressed.

24 Oras also found out that the budget for education as a percentage of the gross domestic product is much lower compared to that of other Asian countries.

Propaganda misfires
On July 3, Saksi reported how military units deployed in some areas of Bulacan tried to win the people’s trust by launching a propaganda campaign and regularly interacting with residents. The effort, said to be directed at the youth, hopes to discourage civilians from helping the insurgents and preventing the New People’s Army from recruiting more members.

A follow-up report by Saksi, however, revealed that the strategy might be producing the opposite effect. Residents have become fearful of the military after the latter imposed curfew and nightly patrols in the communities.

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