The RH Bill as Women’s IssueIn-depth Reporting Needed
THE MEDIA have been covering the reproductive health (RH) bill, but have not subjected the issue, which has been the topic of much debate, to the kind of in-depth reporting that could help the public form informed opinions on it.
PJR Reports monitored the three major newspaper dailies—Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, and Manila Bulletin—for their reporting on the bill and women’s issues from Jan. 15 to March 15, 2011. Only the news and editorial sections were monitored. Sections that usually feature stories about women, such as lifestyle and fashion, were not included.
Monitoring women’s issues
Of the three newspapers, the Star (83) had the most number of stories on women’s issues. The Inquirer was a close second (80) while the Bulletin (75) ranked last.
In terms of story placement, the Star (11) had the most number of stories on the frontpage, followed by the Inquirer (6) and the Bulletin (3). Most of the news stories were in the inside pages.
The women’s issues reported during the monitoring were human trafficking, crimes against women, health, domestic violence, women empowerment, public policy, and labor. PJR Reports also looked at the coverage of the RH bill and to what extent it was being covered as a women’s issue.
In-depth reporting needed
Although they reported the most recent events that could be considered as related to women’s issues and the RH bill during the monitoring period—the Aquino administration’s listing of its priority bills, the passing of the consolidated version of the six RH bills filed in the House of Representatives, the barangay ordinance in Ayala Alabang regulating the sale of condoms and other contraceptives through doctor prescriptions, and the celebration of Women’s day and month—the newspapers monitored still failed to provide the in-depth coverage of the RH bill that could have helped the public to better understand both the bill itself as well as the context in which it has been introduced (for example, maternal and child health, population and development issues).
Most of the attention and coverage the RH bill received were limited to the endless and mostly irrelevant debates on morality and the Catholic Church’s opposition to the bill.
The need to look at the wisdom and viability of “sex education” in the early grades, the use of both natural and artificial family planning methods and most especially how the bill intends to address women’s health issues were barely reported.
RH as a women’s issue
“Understanding Reproductive Health: A Guide for Media,” which the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility published in 1996, points out that reproductive health concerns both sexes but is more central to the overall health of women and is an aspect of women’s issues and rights.
The media should avoid such stereotypes as that women are only for reproduction but have the right to informed choices, including family size and control over their own bodies.
The guide notes the discrepancy between reproductive health and population management. RH policies in other countries have failed because they assume that RH legislation is equal to population management policies, whereas it is more centrally a women’s rights issue.
Fourth estate function
Despite the failure to provide adequate reporting on RH bill as a women’s issue, there was adequate monitoring of government initiatives on the RH bill.
The newspapers reported the government’s list of priority legislation, its talks with the Catholic Church, the drafting of the administration’s own version of the RH bill and the removal of the RH bill as priority legislation.
There is, however, a need to provide the reporting such contextual information as that the country is a signatory to international treaties relating to women and women’s rights, particularly the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
In a review of the 2006 Philippine report on the country’s implementation of the CEDAW agreement, the CEDAW Committee in New York concluded that the absence of a reproductive health policy is a form of discrimination and fails to protect women’s human rights in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, in a Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism report on the viability of the country to achieve the eight MDGs, as of 2010, the absence of an RH law makes it less likely for the country to lower the maternal mortality rate and to increase contraceptive prevalence rate.
Same old, same old
Many aspects of the bill need to be explained, beyond the claims of both the pro- and anti-RH bill advocates. The bill has been drawing much attention but the same coverage seems to prevail.
PJR Reports has looked at the reporting of RH bill for some time, and has observed that the superficial media coverage has prevailed. A report in the September-October 2010 issue, for example, noted that the media had failed to explain the importance of a reproductive health policy despite the urgent need for one, choosing instead to focus on such trivia as the “Damaso” incident in which Manila tourist guide Carlos Celdran unfurled a streamer during a Catholic mass.
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