TV network, online site enter media landscape
Will the changes in the media lead to changes in the way news is presented?
NEWS NEVER stops, and neither do the news organizations. A new television channel and a new online content provider were launched in 2012 just as the impeachment trial of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona unfolded. Around June, the buzz was the possible merger of GMA-7 and TV5. But throughout it all, the question remained:Â will these new developments change anything in the business of news?
Rappler.com
With Maria Ressa, Marites DaĂąguilan-Vitug, and Glenda Gloriaâall veterans in the news business, with awards among themselves to guarantee a following online and elsewhereâonline news site Rappler.com was launched as a provider of news but became very much the subject of news itself.
Rappler came to life with a great sense of timing, releasing its first stories just in time to feed into the growing hunger for news when Corona was impeached on Dec. 12, 2011, which even then promised to be as exciting as news as it was historic. Rappler made the proverbial wave when it revealed that Corona had been given a doctorate degree by the University of Santo Tomas, but that he had not written a doctoral thesis as is usually required. Instead the title and degree were given on the basis of his delivery of a lecture on environmental justice.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer republished the story âUST âBreaks Rulesâ for CJâ by Vitug last Jan. 2. It provoked a quick explanation from UST, which, written by Lito Zulueta, himself a member of the UST faculty and Arts and Books editor of the Inquirer, was also published by the Inquirer.
The article referred to the official statement of the university which questioned Rapplerâs credentials as a news organization: âIs that a legitimate news organization? What individuals and entities fund Newsbreak and Rappler? Do these outfits have editors? Who challenged Miss Vitugâs article before it went online so as to establish its accuracy, objectivity and fairness? Why was there no prior disclosure made? What gate-keeping measures does online journalism practice?â
Rappler also became a primary source for news about developments that were seen live on television, with investigative reports that kept a loyal online following as glued to it as they were to the coverage.
Its website describes Rappler as a âsocial news networkâ which promises âuncompromised journalism.â The word rappler âcomes from the root words ârapâ (to discuss) + ârippleâ (to make waves).â
It identifies Ressa, the former CNN bureau chief in Manila and Jakarta and ABS-CBN news and current affairs head, as CEO and executive editor with Gloria as managing editor, Cheche Lazaro and Vitug as editors-at-large and Chay HofileĂąa as news, citizen journalism and community engagement editor on board.
Still according to the website, Manny Ayala, a former media executive and now an Internet entrepreneur with Hatchd, and Raymund Miranda, a regional media executive who is the chairman of holding company Dolphin Fire Group, Inc., were tapped for the start-up fund of the news organization.
But questions about Rapplerâs funding continued to be raised and have so far remained unanswered.
Responding to rumors that he owns Rappler, businessman Manuel V. Pangilinanâwho heads TV5 and has stakes in various news organizationsâdenied ownership in Feb. 24 reports of InterAksyon and Rappler. But in a March 1 report on Rappler, Pangilinan said he was keen to buy a stake in the news group. Rappler in either report did not disclose who its funders are to finally quell the rumors.
Solar News Channel
Solar News was the other news organization that came to life during the same impeachment trial. Solar News Channel, formerly TalkTV, provided yet another choice for more talk and commentary as the trial took its course.
Solar News is the news department of Solar Entertainment Corp. owned by business tycoon and movie producer Wilson Tieng. It is headed by former ABS-CBN veterans Jing Magsaysay and Pia Hontiveros who are senior vice president for news and current affairs and chief correspondent, respectively.
Solar News Channelâs slogan suggests an alternative optionâânews that people can use.â Ferdie Aboga, senior manager for news production, described how Solar will be different. In an interview with PJRR last Jan. 24: âSolar News will not be airing police stories just for the sake of feeding the tabloid need of the people.â
What Solarâs staple will amount to has yet to be defined as it continues to roll out its news and current events programs. It has daily newscasts like Solar Daybreak for morning, Solar Newsday for noon, Solar Network News for primetime, and Solar Nightly News for late-night, averaging a total of five hours for their news and current affairs programs.
Solar also has a 10 p.m. block current events programs Legal Help Desk, Medtalk, News.PH, Elections 2013, and News CafĂŠ.
Solar News Channel also airs US-based news programs and talk shows like NBC Nightly News and Inside Edition.
GMA 7-TV5 merger
The merger of two big media players would have been a game-changer. So news about the possible consolidation of GMA-7 and TV5 spawned ceaseless talk and speculation, at least within the media community.
Philippine Star columnist Ricky Lo reported on June 4 that TV5âs Manuel V. Pangilinan âvirtually confirmedâ the GMA-TV5 merger in a press conference in San Francisco, USA. Pangilinan said he was misquoted, although he did admit that there were talks between TV5 and GMA-7.
MediaQuest Holdings Inc., owned by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) which also owns TV5, expressed interest in acquiring GMA-7. The Pangilinan-led group held several talks with the Felipe Gozon-owned company.
But so far, the two have not come up with any agreement. On Oct 4, PLDT told the Philippine Stocks Exchange that the two parties have terminated their negotiations.
MediaQuest issued a statement that included the explanation: âThe parties have been unable to arrive at mutually acceptable terms despite the continual discussions and efforts exerted in good faith.â
RPN-9, IBC 13 privatization
All post-martial law administrations have had to confront the question of what to do with the sequestered media companies of the Marcos cronies.
The current Aquino administration seems decided on the privatization of government sequestered stations Radio Philippines Network Inc. (RPN-9) and Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC 13), as was announced in 2011. Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio âSonnyâ Coloma Jr. said this move would mean governmentâs focusing on Peopleâs Television Network (PTV-4) since the government is mandated to operate only one network.
On Oct. 1 some 200 employees received retrenchment notices from the RPN-9 management that took effect on Nov. 15.
Coloma said during a press briefing on Oct. 2. that the government no longer has decision-making powers over RPN-9 as the majority of the stocks of the network are now owned by private groups including Solar Entertainment. Coloma said the government has only a 20.8 percent equity remaining while Solar has 34 percent, the Far East Managers and Investors Inc. has 32 percent, and the remaining are owned by other private groups.
Coloma also said the government is preparing to sell its remaining shares in RPN 9 as well as with IBC 13 as part of its plan to focus and improve PTV-4.
The employees cried foul over RPN-9âs decision to sack some 200 employees. RPN-9 management in a statement said that the move was because of âcontinuing financial losses.â
The two employeesâ union of RPN-9 found the retrenchment package the management offered contrary to the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement among others.
Meanwhile, in 2011, IBC 13 signed a blocktime agreement with MediaQuest to broadcast sports programs block called AKTV, which is under the Sports5 the sports programming of TV5.
Nothing is permanent in the Philippine media landscape as far as ownership changes, mergers, and acquisitions are concerned. But when and if these changes will ever find expression in the way the news is presented is another matter altogether.
[…] • CMFR’s “The year that was in the news media” ⢠New players in the media landscape ⢠The big news in TV news for 2012, according to MediaNewser […]
[…] • CMFR’s “The year that was in the news media” ⢠New players in the media landscape ⢠The big news in TV news for 2012, according to MediaNewser […]