Puff pieces promote Padilla, Gatchalian

JEERS TO some broadsheets’ practice of publishing PR pieces in the guise of news. In just one month, they published a number of reports on Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Robin Padilla. Those pieces made it appear that their statements were landmark declarations on pressing issues. 

From July 11 to August 8, the Manila Bulletin, the Manila Standard, The Manila Times, The Philippine Star and The Philippine Daily Inquirer printed a total of 26 pieces on Gatchalian and his statements. 

Coverage of Gatchalian promoted his priority measures and amplified his takes on education issues. Some reports discussed the favorable results of surveys commissioned by the Senator on the K-12 curriculum and on the proposal to make Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) mandatory. 

One example is the Times’ July 28 piece, which emphasized the results of a survey in favor of reinstituting mandatory ROTC, a measure mentioned by President Marcos in his State of the Nation Address and supported by Gatchalian through a Senate Bill he filed. 

Gatchalian ran under Marcos’ senatorial slate in the May elections. The piece presented Gatchalian’s arguments and said that his proposal includes “safeguards and ensures compliance” with national policies on child protection. However, it failed to present or address any of the various arguments against the imposition of mandatory ROTC raised by child rights advocates and other concerned groups. 

In the same time period, the same newspapers printed 23 reports on Padilla, most of which exaggerated the significance of his remarks as a first-time lawmaker. Coverage on Padilla picked up his comments on using English in the Senate and his admission that he found it difficult to keep up with his colleagues. Other reports promoted his priority bills without the addition of necessary context or background to set the reports apart from paid promotional content. 

Media treated Padilla’s comments as entertaining and quotable, without checking whether or not these comments actually contributed anything substantial to public discourse. On August 1, the Manila Standard’s report “Robin: Filipino must be used all year round” promoted a bill filed by the Senator and detailed his statements on the use of the Filipino language beyond August, which is celebrated as “Buwan ng Wika.”

PR pieces that did not appear in the news outfits’ print editions were excluded from the above count. But a search of their websites found a number of promotional pieces for both. Reports favoring Gatchalian increased to 35, and 54 for Padilla.

Media should stop disguising promotional content as news. Not every statement, comment, and quote, especially by public officials who benefit from the publicity, should be given equal space and time as relevant information.