Understanding

the News,
Media and
Information
Ethics
Journalism
and Society
 What is
Journalism?
“
the collection and editing
of news for presentation
through the media."

- Merriam-Webster

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“
something that embraces
all forms in which or
through which the news
and comments on news
reach the public.”

-Fraser F. Bond
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“
the activity of gathering,
assessing, creating, and
presenting news and
information.”

-American Press Institute (API)

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“
to provide citizens with the
information they need to
make the best possible
decisions about their lives,
their communities, their
societies, and their
governments.” - API

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Journalism
￮ A fundamental component of the
society
￮ Through it, people are informed of
significant issues
￮ Provides an avenue for multiple voices
or viewpoints
￮ Allows citizens to make better
(informed) decisions

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Principles of
Journalism
1. Its first obligation is to the truth.
2. Its first loyalty is to its citizens.
3. Its essence is a discipline of
verification.
4. Its practitioners must maintain an
independence from those they
cover.
5. It must serve as an independent
monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public
criticism and compromise.

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7. It must strive to keep the
significant interesting and
relevant.
8. It must keep the news
comprehensive and proportional.
9. Its practitioners must be allowed
to exercise their personal
conscience.
10. Citizens, too, have rights and
responsibilities when it comes to
the news.

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History of the
Philippine
Press
Journalism in the
Philippines
￮ Dates back to the early part of
17th century
￮ Successos Felices, published in
1637 by Filipino printer Tomas
Pinpin, was the first newspaper
in the country

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Spanish Period
￮ First newspapers contain news about
Spain
￮ Intended for Spanish readers
￮ Del Superior Govierno (1811), La
Esperanza (1846), Diario de Manila*
(1848)

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Free Press
￮ Its aim is to raise the level of
consciousness among Filipinos
about the oppressive
conditions prevailing in the
country under the Spanish
regime
￮ Mainly published and written
by the so-called ilustrados
(Filipino educated class)

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Free Press
￮ La Solidaridad (1889) –
mouthpiece of the
revolution/organ of the
Propaganda Movement
￮ Kalayaan (1986) – fueled the
secret movement, Katipunan

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Free Press
Revolutionary newspapers which
advocated for political reforms:
￮ La Libertad (1898)
￮ La Independencia (1898) – the
only publication that survived
the Spanish regime and fought
against American imperialism
￮ La Republica Filipina (1898)
￮ Periodical el Heraldo de la
Revolucion (1898) 17

￮
Imperialist American
Regime
￮ censorship laws and libel
cases were directed against
Filipino journalists
￮ they were not only viciously
harassed and imprisoned but
also deported to Guam or
Hongkong.

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Imperialist American
Regime
￮ Introduction of new
newspapers published mostly
by American journalists: The
Manila Times (1898); Manila
daily Bulletin (1900).
￮ Philippine Herald (1920) – pro-
Filipino newspaper

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Imperialist American
Regime
Other nationalistic newspapers (ceased
publication):
￮ El Nuevo Dia (The New Day) in
Cebu
￮ El Renacimiento
￮ Sakdal – most popular, attacked
national problems such as
regressive taxes, big government,
and abusive capitalists and
landlords — issues that remain
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relevant today.
Japanese Occupation
￮ When WW2 broke out, all publications
were destroyed except these three:
Manila Tribune, Taliba and La
Vanguardia – under strict Japanese
censorship
￮ These contain news from Japan and the
successes of Japan’s military forces in
Asia
￮ All radio sets in the country were
confiscated
￮ Underground “newspapers” flourished,
mostly typewritten or mimeographed,
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passed on hand to hand.
Golden Age of PH Journalism
￮ post-war era to pre-Martial Law period
(1945-1972)
￮ the Philippine press began to be known
as "the freest in Asia."
￮ the press took on its watchdog function
seriously and was sensitive to national
issues, and critical of government
mistakes and exploitations
￮ the press was forced to merge with large
business enterprises and political groups

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 Golden Age of PH Journalism
￮ National Press Club (1952) was
organized “to promote cooperation
among journalists and uphold press
freedom and the dignity of
journalists.”
￮ Philippine Press Institute (1964) was
organized “to foster the
development and improvement of
journalism in the country.”
￮
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The Marcos Years
￮ Martial law was declared on
September 21, 1972, by the late
President Ferdinand Marcos.
￮ Mass media was redirected and was
tasked to aid in nation-building and
social change
￮ Marcos’ first order: “take over and
control of all privately owned
newspapers, magazines, radio and
television facilities and all other
media communications” 24
The Marcos Years
￮ Press was highly controlled
￮ Journalists were forced to self-
censor
￮ Daily Express and Bulletin Today
(now Manila Bulletin) – pre-Martial
Law papers allowed to publish
￮ Times Journal (1973) – new
publication allowed to open and
publish

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The Marcos Years
￮ Alternative press emerged in 1980
￮ WE Forum, Pahayagang Malaya,
Veritas, Business Day (now Business
World), Inquirer, and Mr. and Ms.
Magazine
￮ Xerox journalism - news clippings
from foreign news that provide
accurate information on
developments in the country

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 The
Philippine
Press Today
Notable Changes in Media
Content and Coverage
Positive changes
￮ The press has never been more
religious in its "watchdog function"
as today in covering government
issues and events.
￮ Public discussions and debates on
issues are stimulated through
media channels

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Notable Changes in Media
Content and Coverage
Positive changes
￮ local issues are not only covered
but also publicized and promoted
to national awareness (i.e.
agrarian problems of farmers)
￮ Investigative stories are increasing
in popularity and practice among
journalists

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Notable Changes in Media
Content and Coverage
Positive changes
￮ The coverage of science and
technology, agriculture, education,
health, business and economics
are improving.
￮ Human interest stories from
various regions in the country are
significantly gaining visibility in the
media.
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Notable Changes in Media
Content and Coverage
Positive changes
￮ Some major news organizations have set
up regional news stations in major
regions in the country.
￮ Several workshops and publications are
conducted by the Center for Media
Freedom and Responsibility – upgrade
professionalism and responsibility among
journalism and media practitioners

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Notable Changes in Media
Content and Coverage
Positive changes
￮ The Asian Institute of Journalism
and Communication (AIJC) also
supports Philippine journalism
initiatives – trainings, media
research, policy advocacy,
publications, graduate degrees in
journalism and communication
management
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Notable Changes in Media
Content and Coverage
Issues
￮ Sensationalism, or exaggerating a
non-issue/event fuels conflict
situations
￮ Envelopmental journalism –
“envelopes with some money
distributed to journalists in return
for a favor — positive media
coverage or an end to negative
publicity." 33
Notable Changes in Media
Content and Coverage
Issues
￮ Lack of follow-up stories
￮ Stories with a more controversial slant
are given more prominence (child
abuse, child labor, prostitution)
￮ Less controversial, but equally
important, issues are covered less
frequently (malnutrition, lack of access
to basic education and primary health
care)
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Notable Changes in Media
Content and Coverage
Issues
￮ Stories on ethnic/cultural
communities tend to revolve
around conflict situations; poor
coverage of their way of life and
the richness of their culture
￮ Stereotyping the more visible
cultural communities is rampant
(Muslims as violent people)
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Code of Ethics for Journalists

https://www.ifj.org/who/rules-and-
policy/global-charter-of-ethics-for-
journalists.html

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“
￮ In the end, journalism is
an act of character.

￮ -Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel,

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What Makes
News
Exploring the Criteria
What is News?
￮ News is “an oral or written report of a
past, present or future event. It should
be factual, truthful, accurate, unbiased
and interesting.”

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Elements of News
What makes news newsworthy?

￮ Proximity/Nearness
￮ Conflict
￮ Immediacy/Timeliness
￮ Prominence
￮ Significance
￮ Oddity/Unusualness
￮ Progress

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Elements of News
What makes news newsworthy?

￮ Proximity/Nearness
￮ Conflict
￮ Immediacy/Timeliness
￮ Prominence
￮ Significance
￮ Oddity/Unusualness
￮ Progress

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Elements of News
What makes news newsworthy?

￮ Proximity/Nearness
￮ Conflict
￮ Immediacy/Timeliness
￮ Prominence
￮ Significance
￮ Oddity/Unusualness
￮ Progress

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5ws and 1H

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 Citizen
Journalism
is where ordinary members of
society create and distribute
news, typically through the
internet and social media.

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Questions?
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Exercise 3
Recognizing news in the community

￮ In your community, choose an