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NOVEMBER-DECEMBER
2011 2011
WHATSiNSIDE
Boy Abunda and the
Entertainmentization
of News
Another
Opportunity
Missed
A Waiting
Game in Year
Two of the
Ampatuan
Massacre trial
PRESS CALLS
FOR MORE VIOLENCE
IN MINDANAO
MEDIA
WARMONGERING
media coverage on Mindanao increased in frequency and prominence. But media attention eventually waned and shifted to the
death of Libyan strongman Col.
Moammar Gadhafi, the Nov. 1
holiday preparations, and the
Ramgen Revilla murder case.
Turn to page 8
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011
editors NOTE
PRESSED FREEDOM
al requirements; of some form of examination similar to those required of such professionals as accountants, nurses, doctors, and
lawyers; and licensing in the manner of such countries as Malaysia and Singapore. Short of these measures, a Right of Reply law,
an accreditation system by a government agency, and the banning
of reporters from the sites of conflicts and emergencies have been
proposed.
Besides being unconstitutional, none of these can guarantee
that skills levels will rise and ethical journalism will be the rule
rather than the exception. What the Constitution does allow, and
what is likely to work, although admittedly only in the long run, is
still self-regulation, which, to address the uneven development of
Filipino journalists, can take the form of centralizing the continuing education of journalists that for years has been offered in various forms by media advocacy groups, journalists organizations,
and even academic institutions.
A center for the purpose of updating journalists skills, and
acquainting those without training with the ethical demands and
standards of the profession, could be patterned after the University of the Philippines Law Center, which undertakes both legal
research as well as continuing lawyer education. Such a center
could be established in one of the countrys state universities, and
could help make the difference between a journalism characterized by vast differences in the quality of both its practitioners and
its products, and a journalism whose outputs will be, on the average, capable of providing information thats at the very least accurate and reliable.
Manix Abrera
Luis V. Teodoro
PJR Reports
(Philippine Journalism Review Reports)
is published by the Center for Media
Freedom and Responsibility. All mail
should be addressed to:
PJR Reports
Center for Media Freedom
and Responsibility
2/F Ateneo Professional Schools,
130 H.V. dela Costa St.
Salcedo Village
Makati City 1227
Phones:
(632) 840-0889/(632) 840-0903
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E-mail: staff@cmfr-phil.org
Website: http://www.cmfr-phil.org
The publication of this issue is supported by a grant from the Open Society Institute.
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011
speaking
of MEDIA
frontPAGE
Much of the Philippine
press was asking for
more blood in Mindanao
in this
ISSUE
Activist-journalists
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011
Media Warmongering
Media at Work
1
5
6
7
10
12
16
REGULAR SECTIONS
Media influence
As the people yearn for truth, the professional duty of the press is to ferret out
the truth even if it will hurt those in power.
When our national and local government
officials start to take actions inimical to the
public, the press should inform us. When
public officials start to mind their own personal interests over that of their constituencies, the press should stand in between
by exposing government abuses, graft and
corruption, and then direct the public discourse for social upheavals and genuine
political reforms.
Surigao del Norte 2nd District
Representative Guillermo Jun Romarate,
Jr. during the 43rd anniversary and
induction of officers of the Surigao Press and
Radio Club, Oct. 22
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011
Media at work
Beating the
war drums
in Mindanao
It is easier to report war
rather than conflict
LITO OCAMPO
n By Ed Lingao
N NOV. 2, 2011, The Manila Times, the countrys oldest newspaper, came out with a banner story that outscooped everybody else.
Mindanao War Inevitable, the headline
screamed in big black type across the entire
width of the newspaper.
It was a startling, if not alarming, piece of prophetic journalism,
especially since a careful reading
of the article that followed the
headline did not even quote anyone as saying that the dogs of war
were certain to be let loose on
those intransigent and extremely
uncooperative Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in AlBarka, Basilan. In fact, the nearest
anyone in the article said anything
that appeared to remotely support
the headline was statement from
a Palace functionary that government soldiers will do their job if
MILF rebels refuse to surrender
Dan Asnawi, one of the subleaders
of the MILF troops in Al-Barka.
Asnawi is reportedly the subject
of an arrest warrant for his alleged
participation in the beheadings of
several Marine troopers in an encounter in Al-Barka in 2007.
We have made it clear from
the very beginning, from the onset
that we are pursuing not the MILF
but lawless elements, the Times
quoted Palace deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte as saying in a
radio interview. Either they cooperate or they stand aside and let
our law enforcers do their jobs.
Whether this quote translates
into the inevitability of conflict in Mindanao remains to be
seenalthough an entire month
later, a full-scale war has still
not broken out in Mindanao. Either Times editors had read too
much into the statements of their
sources, or government officials
have also become extremely intransigent, uncooperative, and
unresponsive to the war drums
being beaten by the Philippine
media.
For several weeks after the
failed October 18 Army mission
into Al-Barka, many in the Philippine media were certainly busy
beating the drums of war, or at
least cheerleading those calling for
Muslim blood. At that moment,
Philippine media again showed
their Achilles heelsthe reporters, opinion writers and broadcast
talking heads whose opinions are
firmer than their facts, and whose
prejudices are stronger than their
belief in the concepts of fairness
and accuracy.
A major national newspaper
insistently and consistently used
the words massacre and slaughter to describe the fighting that
left 19 soldiers dead. This, despite
the fact that there was still no evidence to show that a slaughter
or a massacre had taken place,
instead of a firefight between two
opposing, equally armed sides.
The same newspaper, in a
paragraph that claimed to explain
the background of the peace talks
between the MILF and the Phil-
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011
Some words
and phrases
can carry strong
emotional
connotations
and their use
is actually a
way of passing
and inviting
judgement
From page 1
Sensationalizing violence
An outbreak of hostilities is by
itself sensational. It involves blood
and gore and casualties, but also
a range of story angles and ideas.
Body-count or war-reporting
can contribute to further conflict.
Consequently, the telling of that
part of the story should be done
with caution, with the account being more precise, and, of course,
accurate.
But media emotions ran high
in the coverage of the governmentMILF clash. The newspapers monitored led off with screaming headlines: MILF goes on a rampage
(Star, Oct. 24) and No Mercy: 6 soldiers killed in cold blood (Bulletin,
Oct. 20), among other examples. The
news programs aired extensive footage on the families of the soldiers,
who were distraught with grief and
howling before the cameras, in a too
obvious attempt to attract viewer
sympathy for the soldiers killed and
their familiesand antipathy for the
MILF and Muslims.
Loaded language
Missing perspective
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011
ing to body counts and divorces
violence from its causes. It makes
it easier for the press, as well as
the public, to favor retaliation
because the effects of violence
are very visible and conflict highlights the differences and distrust
among players.
Several personalities called for
an all-out war against the MILF,
forcing the Aquino administration
to respond with an all-out justice
policy. The press joined the fray:
TV Patrol polls on Oct. 20 and 21:
Dapat na bang suspendihin
ng gobyerno ang peace talks
at magdeklara ng all-out war
laban sa MILF (Should the
government suspend peace
talks and declare an all-out war
against the MILF)?
A: Oo (Yes, 97 percent)
B. Hindi (No, 3 percent)
Sa kabila ng panibagong mga
pag-atake ng MILF sa mga
sundalo sa Zamboanga, sangayon ba kayo sa desisyon ng
Pang. Aquino na huwag lusubin ang kampo ng MILF sa
Al-Barka (Despite the recent
MILF attacks against soldiers
in Zamboanga, do you agree
with the decision of President
Aquino not to attack the MILF
camp in Al-Barka)?
A: Oo (Yes, 11 percent)
B. Hindi (No, 89 percent)
Photos by LITO OCAMPO
Media
coverage
becomes
problematic when it limits report-
A FEW REMINDERS
Understand conflict conceptually and in its actuality. It is necessary to know the background or roots of conflict in our society.
Identify and understand the peace process and, if any, the terms/
framework of negotiations. Explore and take seriously peace proposals and initiatives wherever they come from, not just those
from our side.
Investigate the field. Gather factual information from the field. The
story should be based on facts that you yourself validate.
Do not arbitrarily assign blame for violence. What are the causes
of the violence? Have people tried other avenues and been frustrated or blocked?
Clean your text of stereotypes. Check out your copy for terms that
demonize or dehumanize any proponents. Avoid the imprecise use
of emotionally-laden words unless you are certain they apply to
the event you are reporting.
Know who the participants are. Get the views of all those involved
and affected by violence and war. The military perspective should
not be the only perspective in the press.
Source: The CMFR Ethics Manual: A Values Approach to News Media Ethics
(Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, 2007 ) and Peace Journalism
Training Manual (Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, 2008)
A: Oo (Yes, 10 percent)
B. Hindi (No, 90 percent)
TV5s Lourd de Veyra commented that there was nothing wrong
with the BLMI grantwhile the
network flashed images of AK-47
assault rifles and bombs. (Aksyon,
Oct. 27)
Continuing process
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011
16
Covering
conflict
journalists
for peace
The focus on battles and
casualties has the tendency to
tag people as heroes and villains
n By Ryan Rosauro
Fomenting war
How the Philippine media behaved last October was not new;
it was reflective of a lingering pattern of war-slanted, sensationalized reportage about the Mindanao conflict.
The first major battle between
government and the MILF occurred in March 2000, culminat-
An adventureand some
questions