Loose Ends

Let us take a quick fly across the news and catch up on a few loose ends.

Anteater Jacket

22,000 Pounds Is a Lot of Anteaters

The Chinese poaching vessel that ran around on Tubbataha Reef near where the US minesweeper was recently extracted carried 11 tons of dead anteaters. Those Chinese, boy, they are weird in the cuisine and clothing departments. The maximum jail time for poaching is 12 years, and time for having endangered species is another six. So I'd give the captain the full 18 years and the next guy in charge eight and all the crew five years each at labor, assigned to assist Palawan in their re-foresting effort.

I'd guess these are not spiritual guys. They don't climb to the tops of mountains and reflect on the power and beauty of God's glorious green earth. 

Bias R Us

"Hey Joe, what's with letting the American minesweeper crew off without jail time, but demanding the Chinese get jailed? Your bias is showing!"

That is not bias, that is a crisp understanding of the TRUTH that commie leftists and ultra-nationalists deny, the United States is a part of the Philippine family and we ought not jail our own errant relatives. Especially if we want America to sweep the Chinese mines off the beaches of Palawan a year or two from now. The distinction is akin to that between a drunken uncle who staggers through the living room and breaks Mama's favorite vase, and a snarling neighbor caught red-handed on the terrace trying to steal Mama's prized Australian cockatoo.

Boston Massacre

When things like this happen, I recognize what a pitiful place our planet is in the people department. To hate so much that the murder of innocents is rationalized as righteous. I ache for the good people who were cast into tragedy by the bomber(s). They were out to celebrate and lost loved ones instead.

Separating Issue from Individual: The President

I've often urged Filipinos, particularly bloggers, to stop criticizing their President as if he were out to "get" the Philippines each time he makes a move they disagree with. Joe Klein of Time Magazine expressed this thought well as follow-up to the Boston Marathon bombing. He was speaking to American media:

• 6. And I would urge those in the media who speak of the United States government as if it were a foreign entity to chill out. You may be further poisoning the demented. Criticism of the government is, of course, as American as oxycont . . . but it is our government and this is our President. You may disagree with one program or another–you may think (wrongly) that Obamacare is socialistic, you may think that the Patriot Act is part of a ruinous, possibly conspiratorial invasion of privacy–but this President has proved time and again that he is a strong American patriot. Any inferences otherwise may reap the whirlwind.

Chinese Fingers

I love a good headline. This one was from Reuters a few days ago.

• "China points finger at U.S. over Asia-Pacific tension"

The article describes China's pout, or rant, about the US pivot to Asia. It quotes a Chinese minister as saying:

•  "There are some countries which are strengthening their Asia Pacific military alliances, expanding their military presence in the region and frequently make the situation there tenser."

By howdy, isn't that the truth. I'm thinking that if China would stand down on its military build-up, maybe the US would go away and leave Asia to its broad enrichment, peacefully. And if they'd get their flippin' boats out of the Philippine EEZ, off Vietnamese islands, and away from Japanese islands, the tensions would fizzle faster than one of JoeAm's famous flat soufflés.

The Chinese are horrible at looking inward and accepting accountability for problems. They remind me a lot of the Catholic  Church.

Could be their cuisine needs changing . . .

Blogging Platforms

JoeAm will be moving his blog to the Word Press platform in early May when he returns from a family vacation to Hong Kong. This will facilitate a cleaner look to the blog and layered discussion threads. The blogs are much richer and deeper when commenters engage each other.  The system will require that those who wish to comment indicate their e-mail address. Addresses will be held in private. Perhaps this will also help thin out the spam that has been infesting the Blogger blog. The web site address will be released when it is opened up for public comment.

Elections

JoeAm has refrained from engaging in election discussions, not wanting to influence Filipinos who are unable to think for themselves. The Department of Immigration made clear that we foreigners are a National Security risk and will be deported if we fool around with elections. Joe does smirk in ironic pleasure as he drives past his Barangay Captain's house, which is the vote-buying center for our area. The candidates for governor of the mighty Biliran Province are playing the election game as it is always played. Without dastardly intellectual discussion.  They won't get deported, I'm quite confident.

Giant Snails and the Slime Infestation

The state of Florida in the US is doing battle with an infestation of giant African snails. The creatures will eat anything green plus your house, if it is made of stucco, because the stucco contains calcium that the snail craves for its shell.  The creatures produce 1,200 young a year, which tops even Filipinos. The snails can be horrid as the following excerpt from a Reuters article illustrates:

• In some Caribbean countries, such as Barbados, which are overrun with the creatures, the snails' shells blow out tires o the highway and turn into hurling projectiles from lawnmower blades, while their slime and excrement coat walls and pavements.

Sounds a little like Get Real Post to me.

The Florida government is looking for a good strong poisonto try to eradicate the slimey creatures.

Philippine Media: The Lay of the Land

This blog is a little different, as I search for order rather than meaning. Indeed, many of you may already know these media, but it is a process of discovery for me.

I have read repeatedly about Philippine news reporting being shallow and sensationalist. But it has only lately crystallized in my mind how damaging this can be to the Philippines as the nation seeks to emerge as a productive, modern,  respected nation in the global community of human rights and commerce.

Sensationalist news focused mainly on problems can overwhelm good works. That's the main danger, that news reporting would undermine the trust people have for their government and its leaders, and convey the wrong impression about what is happening.

So I thought I'd explore in more depth what the various media bring to the information table in the Philippines. Indeed, this is a long-dormant passion of mine. It was my chosen field of work laid to waste by an economy gone south in the early 1970's. I had acquired a master's degree in Radio and Television Arts, doing my thesis work at CBS Television in Los Angeles. Job opportunities were thin at the time. The fates determined that I should become a banker, or rather a bank marketing officer, working on the other side of the media business, as an advertiser.

But journalism is an area where I have a decent understanding of good communication principles. What we see in the Philippines is "light news", a kind of "quick and dirty" reporting without a lot of investigative work. Interviews and "hearsay" evidence are taken as facts and this repesents the content of many news articles. So do murders, rapes, tragedies and other titillating stories.  And, indeed, the sensationalist drive for ratings means that news frequently gets laced with emotionally charged words. Headlines are written to strike nerves. Filipinos, emotional at heart, love the stuff.

I won't belabor this further. Let me just say that for now, we will accept the argument that media news disciplines in the Philippines are very slack, in the interest of profit. We might shade this differently as we progress.

As we work through this together, we can identify certain issues for follow-through. For example, how about politics? Does that drive anything? We must put that on our task list for further study.

A second takeaway becomes quickly evident. There is no central resource of broadcast or print media because the Philippines has no media regulator. The industry is "self-regulated". This is very different than in the United States where the Federal Communications Commission regulates media ownership and monitors that media are properly serving the best interest of the public. So no central repository of licensing or cross-ownership of media appears to exist. It takes considerable effort to identify the full scope of media power of the larger organizations. Sorting that out becomes a "to do" item for the future.

Because of the lack of a central regulatory data base, it was difficult putting together this simple starting profile. Some of the information is a couple of years old, and some of the specific players may have changed. But this is just a starting point, so rough edges will be fine for what we need to do.

THE MEDIA DEFINED

It would be good to get a good reading of the landscape before we advance into it. Our focus is on news and information, not entertainment. The national goal is presumably an educated community having access to a variety of kinds and sources of information. Opinion columns or broadcasts represent the interpretive part of the news, so we include that in the realm of study as well.

We can start by breaking news sources into four groups:

• Television networks and stations
• Radio networks and stations
• Newspapers and other print media
• Internet news and commentary

Let's try to characterize each:

Television networks and stations

There are three dominant television networks and a wide range of over 200 local television stations, most affiliated with a network. Dissemination of programs is via airwaves, cable and satellite.

The two top networks, ABS-CBN and GMA-7, battle almost equally for dominance. It is a bitter battle, with interpretation of leadership meaning a lot in terms of advertising revenue. The two networks have engaged in legal and public bickering for about 7 years now, each claiming it is number one. The third network, is ABC-5. Recent Nielson ratings reported percentage viewership as follows:

Network	Share Points
GMA-7	36
ABS-CBN	30
ABC-5	15

ABS-CBN claims it held the prime time lead at 41% to GMA's 32%. The source is a different rating agency.

Beyond the "Big 3", we have the following television networks:

• Both GMA and ABS-CBN own secondary stations that broadcast shows aimed at younger "lifestyle" audiences, QTV-11 and Studio 23, respectively.

• One of the larger radio networks, Radio Philippines Network, owns a television station, RPN-9 (oops, outdated; read on. JA).

• Several other significant networks target regional or specialized audiences:

• UNTV 37, a public service channel owned by the Progressive Broadcasting Corporation in Quezon City.

• NET 25, featuring IT programming and encompassing Asia and Australia.

• IBC 13, the Intercontinental Broadcasting Company managed by the national government. (Update. Now only the People's Television Network is held by the government; see comments below. JA).

• RMN 31, the Radio Mindanao Network, which has 10 stations across the Philippines and one station in New York, USA.

• Cable and satellite subscribers can also sign up for CNN, BBC and other information channels. These typically do not feature the Philippines, and they are controlled outside the Philippines.

Radio Networks and Stations

There are just short of a thousand radio stations in the Philippines. All major cities across the nation have at least one radio outlet. Manila has 51.

The two largest TV networks also own substantial radio properties.

We also once had the Radio Philippines Network, cited above. But it's a changing world and RPN has been consolidated with former government radio stations of the IBC, and recast as ETC, under private ownership (including by San Miguel Corporation). The government got tired of losing money and offering crappy program so cobbled together a new network and kept only the public television station.

The major radio networks in the Philippines include:

• Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC) – 200 owned and affiliated stations nationwide. The news and talk station DZRH is its anchor, and it feeds other network stations such as Radyo Natin , as well as television through companion station RHTV. MBC also owns entertainment stations Love Radio, Aksyon Radio, Easy Rock and Yes FM. 

• ABS-CBN –  DZMM Radyo Patrol national news which feeds cable TV news channel DZMM TeleRadyo.  ABS-CBN also owns  My Only Radio's regional network of 14 FM music and entertainment stations.

• Radyo Mindanao Network (RMN) – AM and FM stations in 34 cities across the Philippines with heavy representation in Midnanao.

• Bombo Radyo – Bombo Radyo talk radio has 22 stations and Star FM operates 21 music stations. Based in Iloilo City.

• Catholic Radio Network – 52 church-run radio stations under a variety of different names nationwide.

• GMA Network – 23 radio stations across the country with main stations DZBB SilverRadyo and the Campus FM chain of music stations.

Newspapers and Other Print Media

There are approximately 75 newspapers published in the Philippines. Of these, 48 are in English with most being local publications from large cities, 20 in Filipino languages, 2 in Spanish, 1 bi-lingual and 4 in Chinese.

The major national newspapers include:

• Philippine Daily Inquirer.  Estimated circulation 260,000 daily with an average daily readership of over 2 million.

• Philippine Star. Circulation of about 270,000. Reaches Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.

• Manila Bulletin. Circulation of about 280,000.  Owned by Emilio Yap who also owns tabloids Tempo and Balita and magazines such as Liwayway, Bisaya and Philippine Panorama.

• Manila Times.  President Aguinaldo read this publication. 

Other newspapers include

• Other: Business World, Malaya, Manila Standard Today, The Daily Tribune

• Tabloids:  Abante (circulation 420,000), Balita (Tagalog), People's Journal and People's Taliba (English and Tagalog versions), Pilipino Star Ngayon (Star's Tagalog paper), Saksi Ngayon (Tagalog) and Tempo (Manila Bulletin)
  

The Inquirer established a radio station in 2010, Radyo Inquirer.

If you'd like a more detailed history of the Philippine newspaper business, here is a link to an article published by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts on a recent but unknown date.

Internet News and Commentary

The largest television and newspaper enterprises also have robust and informative web versions of their daily news and opinion fare. Videos and live feeds are featured on television sites. Here are the links to the news or main sections of those outlets.

• ABS-CBN
• GMA-7
• ABC-5
• Philippine Inquirer
• Philippine Star
• Manila Bulletin
• Business World  

The most significant internet-only news and opinion site is, of course Rappler. It is a younger, more interactive and less advertising intense news effort.

Information is not readily available as to the impact of the internet on newspaper circulation, or the financials of these undertakings. The web sites are significant efforts, maintained in a much more dynamic, current state than are government agency sites, for example.

We also have attached to the news outlets robust opinion and commentary sections, with top columnists such as Randy David drawing several hundred reader comments in response to an article. Bloggers represent fly-by-night opinion mongers, rather wayward and quite broke orphan cousins.

Conclusions

There are three or four main players in each media category. The internet is the most competitively robust because it has both newspaper and television players, plus Rappler.

In order of dominance based on daily viewership, I'd guess the impactful voices stack up as follows in terms of power:

1. ABS-CBN
2. ABC-5
3. Abante
4. Philippine Inquirer
5. Philippine Star
6. Manila Bulletin
7. Manila Broadcasting Company
8. GMA-7
9. Business World

We now have in this first blog is the general lay of the land. There is much, much more to explore.

For Further Study

• What is the ownership connectivity among the major players. That is not clear from this cursory review.

• Do editorial or news policies reflect a political bias?

• What are the issues emerging from "self regulation" of media? Are television and radio frequencies considered a "public resource"? Or are they the total purview of private interests?

• How does the quality of news reporting vary from outlet to outlet?

• What are trends in internet readership? How is the internet affecting the financial viability of the mainstream media?

The next article in the series will take up trends on the internet, and financial impacts if such information is available.