MIDTERM MEASURE OF PRESIDENTIAL PERFORMANCE

 

The startling phenomenon of the absent president stands out more for the fact that it is among the underreported aspects of this presidency. His henchmen are quick to cite his age and the backbreaking demands of the office, requiring him to “rest” every now and then, asking the media to respect his need for personal time and his privacy.

 

 

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GCTA FIASCO: GOOD CONDUCT SCANDAL

The Senate investigations only further established what was already clear – that the corruption and other issues in BuCor is a can of worms hiding in plain sight. The case illustrated that media had failed to give the prison system and all its ills much time or space, and it took a controversy like the GCTA for it to capture media attention. 

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DUTERTE'S PROTRACTED "WAR ON DRUGS": ROBREDO'S BRIEF SHINING MOMENT

Robredo spent 19 days on the job before Duterte revoked her appointment. The president said that he did not really trust Robredo, as she was from the opposition; that he did not really know her. Media did not dare to ask, then why appoint her in the first place?

The media quickly withdrew from the substantive discussion, reduced the focus of the coverage to the political rift and rendered the policy divide as mere personality politics.

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CACOPHONY OF
FACTS-ONLY CHURNALISM

Covering an event one day, I sat in bleachers next to an experienced journalist from an international agency. He told me of his days as a reporter in the ‘80s who had to dictate his multi-sourced scoop in a phone booth to a stenographer for the news desk while praying he wouldn’t run out of coins.

“Today, journalists are actually stenographers,” he told me. “No thanks to the internet and social media, they stop at ‘he said, she said,’ press send and pack up for the day.”

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OTHER STORIES

Duterte in Absentia
The President’s man falls
Media on election “glitches”: All eyes on comelec
China pivot: The hollow ring of Duterte’s Independence
Crisis watch
The viral threat: Media’s learning curve
What now BARMM?
State of PH Media
Add red-baiting to the perils of truth-telling
Continuing fight for the Ampatuan 58

Media Times is an annual digital microsite which contains the findings of the Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility’s (CMFR) journalism review on media and press performance.

MEDIA TIMES 2018

MEDIA TIMES 2017

MEDIA TIMES 2016