ONLINE media provided comprehensive coverage of the 2007 elections and served as a “perfect complement” to traditional media by providing a thorough discussion of important issues that were not given enough information by the latter.
This was a key finding of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) in its final report on the 2007 elections coverage. From February to May, CMFR monitored the coverage of the three major dailies ” Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, and Manila Bulletin ” and six television news programs on ABS-CBN 2, GMA 7, ABC 5, and NBN 4.
It also conducted a supplemental study of the election coverage of public affairs programs on ABS-CBN 2, GMA 7, and ANC, as well as political advertisements in three leading broadsheets and seven television news programs. CMFR also monitored four tabloids and three radio programs.
Online media was not a main focus of the study, which tackled this topic in an annex after the main report. CMFR lauded many online publications for using “new web tools to give readers a holistic look at the Philippine elections”. These publications “capitalized on the interactive and multimedia features of the medium to trace the roots of current issues” CMFR added.
Compared to other news websites, PCIJ produced more in-depth articles about the elections on all levels, said CMFR. It cited a PCIJ analysis on the contrasting fates of administration candidates in the two chambers of Congress (An Abnormal Return to Normality) and an in-depth report on the effectiveness of senatorial campaign advertisements (Missing the Message) as examples of stories that focused on issues instead of personalities.
PCIJ was also commended for educating readers about the party-list system and issues surrounding it, along with Bulatlat and Davao Today.
Other news websites utilized new media tools to create features that helped guide readers around the election process and assist them in voting for the right candidate.
GMANews.Tv and abs-cbnNEWS.com uploaded news videos, photo essays and webcasts in addition to publishing the usual running accounts.
Inquirer.net presented comprehensive data in an elections map, as did GMANews.Tv and abs-cbnNEWS.com
Newsbreak put up a series of special sections on elections.
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ONLINE COVERAGE OF THE 2007 ELECTIONS |
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Focus of Coverage |
Treatment of Stories |
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abs-cbnnews.com |
Most reports were on the national elections, especially senatorial race;election-related violence;survey |
Mainstream; many stories were personality-based;leaned towards what’s popular/sensational |
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Bulatlat |
Party-list elections and issues, elections in Mindanao, poll fraud, election-related violence |
Alternative; majority of the stories critical of administration |
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Davao Today |
Party-list elections and issues, Mindanao elections, particularly in Davao, poll fraud; election-related violence |
Alternative; majority of the stories critical of administration |
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GMANews.TV |
Most on the national elections, especially senatorial race; election-related violence; surveys; section on political stars |
Mainstream; breaking news tended to focus on personalities and what’s sensational; longer pieces went deeper into the issue |
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Inquirer.net |
Mostly on the senatorial race, also some reports on the party-list and local elections |
Mainstream; most were in the he-said-she-said format |
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Newsbreak |
Alleged election fraud; significance of political ads; hotly contested races like the ARMM polls; Comelec and other poll watchdog organizations; campaign financing |
Provided information lacking in other medium and online publication as well as deeper analysis of election issue |
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PCIJ |
Senate elections most covered but had stories on party-list issues, participation of civil society in guarding the vote, poll fraud, developments in some of the local contest, and Comelec’s integrity |
Stories were more in-depth than usual news reports and gave attention to interesting but otherwise ignored aspects of elections |
CMFR said that what remains a challenge for the online medium “is to have an impact on the electorate despite its limited reach.” The Philippines has one of the lowest Internet penetration rates in Asia at only nine percent as of May 2005, according to Internet World Stats.
Despite this, “Filipinos’ increasing interest on what the online medium has to offer — especially during the elections — has given news websites a reason to be optimistic that they will continue to play a role in future elections.”
TO ALL
I know this to be out of place. Please bear with me. I just want to create awareness by choosing the busy forum or the latest.
Do consider Dr. Martin Bautista for the next elections obviously (a senatorial candidate of ‘Ang Kapatiran’ together with Adrian Sison and Zosimo Paredes). He’s a 44-year-old gastroenterologist in the US who came home after 17 years. You can see from his background that he truly means service. For those who find him to be a hypocrite for working abroad, do understand he’s a family man who needs to sustain his family, that he will be able to keep his independence by not relying on public funds to support his family. He helps his countrymen in his capacity but it’s just not enough for there are millions of Filipinos. It’s a good start in Philippine Politics to have him and his party around.
I urge you to forward/text/inform all your contacts about them. I believe they only lack exposure that’s why I’m doing this. But I can’t do it alone so I’m appealing to everyone’s help. If all will inform their contacts about them and urge them as well to forward, we might hit a million.
We cannot afford to be indifferent now if we want meaningful change. Otherwise we only have ourselves to blame. BUT TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
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