Results of the Third Media Monitor — Fair, Foolish, in a Fix (Students examine Rappler, Inquirer, Ph Star, ABS-CBN, GMA 7, Radio Aksyon News 5) (part 1 of two parts)

(in their own words,  grammatical and idiomatic errors unedited, excerpted)

By serendipity Sept. 9, 2014,SN: 2012- 15827
“On a September 4, 2014 article rappler.com/nation/makati-building-cayetano-binay from Rappler by Bea Cupin, a presentation of the two sides of the conflict was seen.xxx “Cayetano on Makati building: ‘World class just Binay’s ‘palusot’, xxx the author was able to present the two sides equally.xxx two sides are presented alternately.xxx Because of the organized structure of the article, there is no question on the balance of presented arguments.
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By Kristina Rivera @tinvcr)
xxx a clear tweet by ABS-CBN News Channel (@ancalerts) that showed they were tweeting an advertisement. The post goes: @ANCALERTS: [ADVT] Don’t be a victim of viral diseases. Get the latest from Pamilya #OnGuard Proteksyon 24/7 on ANC Ch27, 4:30PM.
I was glad to see that the tweet was not masquerading as anything else other than an advertisement.
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by Kristine
xxx Sept. 7, 2014 GMA News Online published a report regarding the detainment (sic) of the actor Billy Crawford at a police precinct in BGC. According to the initial report, Crawford allegedly punched a police officer. However, upon further investigation it was said that the actor did not hurt anyone. He apparently hit a wall to release his anxiety. There was an ethical violation in this article, because there was no accuracy and truthfulness to the incident stated in the report. Moreover the news was not given proper context.
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by papa smurf
philstar.com/metro/2014/09/08/girl-7-gang-raped-manila xxxThe second sentence immediately mentions the name of a seven year old girl who was gang raped and murdered. This is against the principle of minimizing harm. In addition, according to the Code of Professional and Ethical conduct of the Philippine Press Institute:
The identities and photographs of children and women who figure in the news as victims of sexual abuse (i.e. rape, incest, sexual harassment, prostitution, battering, etc.) must not be printed, and details about their personal circumstances and identities must be withheld. In the case of incest victims, the identities of the accused and immediate family members must also be protected. Disclosure of the identities of victims of sexual abuse—but not their photographs—may be allowed only in cases when the adult victim (above 18 years old) has decided to file a case in court.
Aside from mentioning the victim’s name, the article recounts the details of the crime which is also unethical. The article is clearly exploitative and it violates the rights of the victim. When an article is about a rape victim, it is important to treat the case with extreme sensitivity because of the nature of the crime and its effect on the victim’s person even if the victim has died.
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by karenadsantiago
xxx regarding ones duty to air both sides of an argument. xxx As an individual, it is unavoidable to have biases or personal opinions towards social issues.xxx the issue of impeachment calls against Vice President Jejomar Binay:xxx newsinfo.inquirer.net/alceda-calls-for-binay-impeachment) had a rather questionable title in my opinion. Headlining something with what seems like an implication of what is a better choice (“impeach Binay best move”) should ideally not be done. However, I read the full article and thought that both sides were given ample space for each of their statements. Also, inquirer later on in the day released another article (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/why-binay-may-not-be-impeached-over-costly-makati-building), then headlined with a phrase that subtly leans towards Binay’s camp. This, in my opinion, at least makes an effort to put things at level ground. While the ideal is to have both sides equally represented in a single publication or article, realistically speaking, journalists work around the limitations of what is given to them at a certain time. Relevant information or press releases do not always become available at the same time, making it difficult for a news agency or a journalist to put out something that is not only up to date, but completely and flawlessly equal.xxx
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by paulinamatillano2014
xxx on the am radio the Tulfo brothers reporting about an incident. Then suddenly, they were saying something about the sicknesses of old people. They said it in a news like manner, and in the end, they suddenly promoted a medicine that cures the sickness. I think that they could confuse the ordinary people if they do it that way, but I think the bigger problem is, I think they are doing it on purpose.
These kinds of action I think is unethical. It is said that journalists should act independently. They should be free of any obligation to any interest other than the public’s right to know unbiased and objective information. Putting such advertisement in between news programs violates this rule.
2011-00873 Traveller
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Shain Bianca Epanag, Shain Bianca C.2013-02109
xxx the arrest and detention of Kapamilya actor Billy Joe Crawford. GMA News was the first to air the ‘story’. xxx In Lia Manalac –del Castillo’s report, according to the initial investigation, Crawford hit the sliding door and the desk officer who’s a woman. xxx gmanetwork.com/news/video/newstvlive/billy-crawford-inaresto-matapos-umano-magwala-sa-istasyon-ng-pulis-sa-fort-bgc
In del Castillo’s report, the source was not clearly stated. It cannot even be deduced whether GMA news had multiple sources for this. To add to that, even though the reporter kept on saying “’di umano”, the report somehow put Crawford in a bad light. Hours later, Billy Crawford released a statement to belie the report that he hit the desk officer at Taguig Police Station 7.

Meanwhile, in Rappler’s article, it mentioned that DZMM interviewed someone from the Police Station named Jonathan Aride who said that while it is true that Crawford pushed the glass door causing it to shatter, physical contact between him and the police officer did not take place.

For me, what Rappler did was a good move. It published both reportages of GMA and ABS-CBN who are rival network giants. It did not impose a certain side but rather, gave its readers the chance to choose which side they want to take.
This incident just goes to show that a news story has a lot of angles. Up to this moment, we do not know the whole truth yet but what is important is that news agencies should not release reports without having two or more sources for their stories. Although at the end of GMA’s report they said that they were trying to get the side of Crawford, parts of the truth were missing making the story distorted which is in violation of the provision in the Journalist Code of Ethics saying, “I shall scrupulously report and interpret the news, taking care not to suppress essential facts nor to distort the truth by omission or improper emphasis. I recognize the duty to air the other side and the duty to correct substantive errors promptly”.
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by Dianne @ijolivan) xxx Billy Crawford was arrested due to malicious mischief and disrespect to a person of authority.
GMA News was the first news platform to release news regarding Crawford’s arrest, followed by online news platforms such as Rappler, Inquirer, and Manila Bulletin. What surprised me is ABS-CBN has not released any news report about their local actor. However, the story was biased because it did not include Crawford’s side of the incident. It is evident that the news platform is trying to emphasize
It was then until Crawford clarified such claims and was arrested that ABS-CBN released an initial article about the case. ABS-CBN news online released an article entitled “Billy Crawford Arrested for Drunken Behavior”, but as I have read the whole article, it only includes and emphasized Crawford’s apologetic stand more than what really happened.

To me, the article ABS-CBN News Online released serves as the counter affidavit of Crawford. These two media platforms, GMA News Online and ABS-CBN News Online, instead of releasing unbiased articles, just like any media platform should do, showed inclination.
Moreover, what really disappointed me is seeing at the end of the news article by ABS-CBN is stating that Billy Crawford is shooting the sequel of Moron 5. The article swayed the focus from the issue to Crawford’s career.
I don’t know what is worse: the biased reporting of these news platforms or the advertisement.