Philippine media passes fairness scrutiny

THE Philippine mainstream media has been under pressure lately, accused of being unfair, irresponsible and, worse, of peddling fake news. Some media organizations have also been threatened with closure, and journalists, even death.

In the 2018 World Press Freedom Index, the country slid from its 127th place in 2017 to 133rd this year, out of 180 countries ranked by media watchdog Reporters without Borders. No less than President Rodrigo Duterte himself has expressed hostility towards media, saying he felt slighted for the unfair treatment he received during his 2016 presidential campaign.

“Is there, in fact, basis for the allegations that the mainstream media has been unfairly and irresponsibly reporting about the Duterte administration?” Tita Valderama, training coordinator of The Manila Times College, asked our students during their internship run if such was the case.

There was little to no dissenting answers as the students and interns from TMTC, University of Santo Tomas, and Lyceum of the Philippines University generally said the media has been anything but factual, and merely reporting the “negativity” expressed by government.

Majorie Abeleda:

No. As far as I’ve known, there is positive news about the Duterte administration as he had made positive outcomes since he was elected as president. It’s just that, the negative news about his administration is too controversial that people would rather focus on these.

These allegations are merely just how the audience understands the news they get from different sources whether these are reliable or not. It is a problem of media literacy.

Lady Agot: Luis Miguel B. Arucan:

The mainstream media has not been unfairly reporting on the administration. The information in news articles about the President by different media outlets agrees with each other. Multiple sources saying the same thing on the same story is a good sign that those sources are

that the news stories’ information may have on the administration are not the media’s fault.

Ralph Daniel Crisostomo:

Based on my observation, activism is starting to overcome accuracy especially with the current government

as well as its trolls repeated attacks on the press. However, I still see activism as a good thing,

what you think is right. It’s also a good practice of free speech, but activism should not overthrow the truth in favor of an agenda.

Mark Angel Lester Andrie Cruzet:

We could notice that some media entities are being too personal in attacking the President but it doesn’t mean that they are unfair and irresponsible in their reports about the current administration. If our chief executive has a clean and tidy conscience, he has nothing to worry about on this numerous reports against him.

Jeah Noreen B. Dalaten:

Mainstream media is composed of professionals who have studied

from wrong. Also, journalists would not risk the name of their company for something petty. The allegations of irresponsible reporting may just come from the President’s avid supporters, who believe that reports are creating a bad image of Duterte when journalists are just doing their job, which is presenting factual information.

B. Dukha 3rd:

I believe that mainstream media is doing its job to let the people know what is happening in the society, the government, and especially the leader of the country. It is just that President Duterte’s actions are usually unacceptable. Being the image of the country and its foreign affairs architect, he does not meet the usual criterion of an

the government. The irony of this is that the administration seems to dislike when news outlets tell the people what horrible thing did the President do today. What else would they write about?

I have read a lot of news articles on how different news media organizations report on the current administration. They would often quote the most outrageous thing that the President has said in a conference or how he would catcall a female reporter. Some news outlets would

Fatima Layson: