Phl media cited for fair, accurate reporting

News media in the Philippines have received high marks in terms of fair and accurate reporting of political issues and other news events, a global survey conducted by US-based non-partisan think tank Pew Research Center showed.

The results of the survey, conducted in 38 countries early last year, was part of the recently released Global Attitudes Survey of the international organization.

It noted that the news media in the Philippines were among those that received positive feedback from local consumers in all four measures.

It showed that 87 percent of the 1,000 Filipino respondents said that news media in the Philippines are doing a good job at covering the most important stories.

Eighty-six percent said Philippine media are doing well in providing accurate news, while 78 percent said coverage of local political issues are fair.

Meanwhile, 83 percent said news media in the Philippines are doing well in covering the government.

The ratings of the Philippine news media are higher than the global median, placing within the top five among 38 countries in all four categories.

Tanzania topped in all four measures, obtaining 92 percent in coverage of significant events; 93 percent in accuracy; 89 percent both in covering the government and fairness in political reports.

The American media drew mixed views, obtaining 61 percent in cover- age of significant events, 56 percent in accuracy, 58 percent in covering the government and 47 percent in fair reporting.

While the Philippines obtained high marks in all measures, Pew said the global public are divided on whether their respective news media deliver on their need for unbiased news reports.

Globally, 75 percent of the over 40,000 respondents said news media should never favor one political party. Twenty percent said it is sometimes acceptable.

In the case of the Philippines, however, fewer number of respondents – 52 percent – said political bias is not acceptable. A rather high 41 percent said favoring one political party is sometimes acceptable.

Online news consumption

According to Pew, digital technology has started to influence news habits worldwide.

It noted that 42 percent of the respondents among the 38 countries surveyed said they get their news from the internet at least once a day.

The Philippines ranks low in terms of news consumption using the internet, with only 21 percent saying they get their news online at least once a day.

Younger Filipinos also tend to rely more on the internet, with 37 percent from the 18-29 age group saying they get news online at least once a day.

In comparison, only 20 percent from the 30-49 age group and four percent of those above 50 said they use the internet at least once a day to get news.

The survey in the Philippines was conducted between Feb. 26 to May 8 last year. It has a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points.