Digital Threats and Attacks on the Philippine Alternative Press

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Ramon R. Tuazon ◽  
Therese Patricia San Diego Torres
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
News Media ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
International Federation ◽  
Cyber Attacks ◽  
Online Harassment ◽  
Alternative Press ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Government ◽  
Legal Frameworks

In the Philippines, the assault on the press has gone digital. While Filipino journalists continue to face physical, verbal, and legal threats and attacks, cyber-attacks and online harassment/trolling were identified in 2018 as the second worst threat against them, after low wages and poor working conditions, according to the International Federation of Journalists and the Southeast Asia Journalist Unions. Websites of news outlets have also been hacked and taken down. These challenges make the press vulnerable to self-censorship and may even lead to fatal outcomes. This chapter seeks to fill the gap in the literature on the digital types of assault on the Philippine alternative press, focusing on the experience of alternative news media outlets—independent media particularly critical of the government. It explores the range of such threats and attacks and the responses, legal frameworks, and remedies in place that are used to combat dangers of this nature.

How to Tell the Truth without Outraging the Press?

MedienJournal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Li Xiguang
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Stories ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Chinese News Media

The commercialization of meclia in China has cultivated a new journalism business model characterized with scandalization, sensationalization, exaggeration, oversimplification, highly opinionated news stories, one-sidedly reporting, fabrication and hate reporting, which have clone more harm than good to the public affairs. Today the Chinese journalists are more prey to the manipu/ation of the emotions of the audiences than being a faithful messenger for the public. Une/er such a media environment, in case of news events, particularly, during crisis, it is not the media being scared by the government. but the media itself is scaring the government into silence. The Chinese news media have grown so negative and so cynica/ that it has produced growing popular clistrust of the government and the government officials. Entering a freer but fearful commercially mediated society, the Chinese government is totally tmprepared in engaging the Chinese press effectively and has lost its ability for setting public agenda and shaping public opinions. 

Framing media populism: The political role of news media editorials in Duterte’s Philippines

Journalism ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 146488492095950
Author(s):  
Jefferson Lyndon D Ragragio
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
The Political ◽  
Fourth Estate ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Media Frames ◽  
Political Role ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government

Editorials are a political force used by news media to fulfil its watchdog function in fragile democracies like the Philippines. However, they also serve as a platform to invite a more positive reading of strongman administration. Against the backdrop of media populism, the article will problematize how the Fourth Estate articulates its political stance by examining the tensions and complexities in editorials. It will highlight the ways the media deals with subjects and stories surrounding Rodrigo Duterte. Through an analysis of editorials of four leading dominant news outlets (Bulletin, Inquirer, Rappler, and Star), three meta-thematic categories of media frames are uncovered. First, character degradation frames delineate how the media denounces the ties of Duterte with other political actors, particularly the Marcoses and China’s Xi. Second, pro-establishment frames echo the optimistic mantra of the government amid crisis. And third, non-editorial frames exhibit the failure of media to publish watchdog-inspired editorials. Each of these categories has underlying frames that are indicative of the democratic potential, or lack thereof, of news media.

scholarly journals Corpus-based Comparative Study of Online News Reporting of the COVID-19 Outbreak in the Philippines and Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gio Eiron Villanueva
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Early Period ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Online News ◽  
Personal Hygiene ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
News Reporting ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Reports ◽  
The Government

When faced with new and threatening events like a global health crisis, the public tends to draw inferences from news media to make sense of the uncertainties of the situation. This study explores how online news media in the Philippines and Malaysia depicted the outbreak of COVID-19 during the early period of its spread. The study analyzes the discourse around the outbreak based on a large corpus of Facebook news posts between January and March 2020. Using a corpus-based approach called Keyness Analysis, salient themes & topics, and framings around the disease were identified and interpreted. The results show the differences in the reporting of the outbreak between the two countries. News reports in the Philippines depicted the disease in an enigmatic lens which explains the alarmist angle of news reports and the reassuring tone of the government, versus the war framing of Malaysian news that depicted the disease as an enemy to be fought and defeated. In reporting about the bid to contain the spread of the virus, Philippine news reports dealt mostly with the restrictions and regulations of movement while the Malaysian news covered more issues on personal hygiene and safety protocols. Lastly, concerns for Filipino seafarers and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) that needs to be repatriated was a recurring theme in Philippine news reports regarding COVID-19, while concerns for the economy was prominent in the Malaysian news reports. The study therefore shows that the depiction of COVID-19 in Malaysia and the Philippines are shaped by each country’s present social and political conditions.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Martha Minow
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
News Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
News Reporting ◽  
For Profit ◽  
The Press ◽  
Production And Distribution ◽  
Government Involvement ◽  
The Government ◽  
Historical Developments

As traditional for-profit news media in the United States decline in economic viability and sheer numbers of outlets and staff, what does and what should the constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press mean? The book examines the current news ecosystem in the United States and chronicles historical developments in government involvement in shaping the industry. It argues that initiatives by the government and by private sector actors are not only permitted but called for as transformations in technology, economics, and communications jeopardize the production and distribution of and trust in news and the very existence of local news reporting. It presents twelve proposals for change to help preserve the free press essential to our democratic society.

Propaganda and Journalism

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mira Sotirovic
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
News Media ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
American People ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political World ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Government ◽  
American Society

Journalism defined itself as a profession in opposition to sensationalism and propaganda at the beginning of the 20th century. The American Society of News Editors statement of principles was written to codify “sound practice and just aspirations” of journalism after the public learned how the press was complicit in misinforming and deceiving the American people during World War I. As part of a massive propaganda campaign to win support for the war, the government fed false information and misleading stories to the press to make the public see the war as they desired it to be seen. Most definitions of propaganda converge toward the idea of organized influence on group attitudes through manipulation of symbols for a desired purpose of propagandist. The ASNE 1923 statement of principles clearly differentiated journalism from propaganda by its processes (to inform and scrutinize) and its purpose (to hold power accountable). However, many times since then the news media have been often accused of unintentionally becoming one of the most effective vehicles of political propaganda. Journalism’s proximity to the political world, and at the same time its obligation to bring independent and impartial scrutiny to that world, creates a set of contradictions and opens cracks where propaganda can get a foothold. In the political world, truth is to a large degree subjective and irreducible to facts. Journalistic practices that equate truth to a collection of facts, without questioning of why these particular facts are chosen and how they are presented, introduce various biases that amount to propaganda. Subtle suggestions based on facts, and faulty interpretations that do not follow from facts make propaganda truly dangerous because it is hidden behind ideologies of a free and objective press. With the growing mastery of media technology, propaganda is becoming an even more formidable force, perhaps easier to detect but more difficult to combat.

scholarly journals Newspaper Language in Representing Ethnic Violence: Textual Analysis of Kompas dan Republika Newspapers

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Prayudi .
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Ethnic Violence ◽  
New Order ◽  
West Kalimantan ◽  
Public Interpretation ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Control ◽  
Unwritten Law

The reconceptualization of ethnicity came to its peak when the New Order regime introduced the policy of ‘suku’ (ethnic), ‘agama’ (religion), ‘ras’ (racial) or ‘antar golongan’ (inter-group). The policy, known as SARA, was meant to limit and control public interpretation over all socio-political conflicts that may endanger national stability and to restrict languages used in the news media. The policy had became the main foundation of all government policies related to society. Conflicts should be avoided and difference within society was intolerable. The Indonesian press then faced a dilemma when it came to reporting issues of ethnicity. On one side, they had an obligation to report the news to public; on the other side, the concept of SARA had become an unwritten law to restrict the press from reporting the issue. Further, the government could revoke the publishing permits without any warning it thought that the press had broken the law. The objective of the research was to define and analyze the usage of language in national newspapers in representing ethnicity issues. The analysis focused on the 1997 ethnic violence in West Kalimantan.

How to Tell the Truth without Outraging the Press?

MedienJournal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 37-51
Author(s):  
Li Xiguang
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Stories ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Chinese News Media

The commercialization of meclia in China has cultivated a new journalism business model characterized with scandalization, sensationalization, exaggeration, oversimplification, highly opinionated news stories, one-sidedly reporting, fabrication and hate reporting, which have clone more harm than good to the public affairs. Today the Chinese journalists are more prey to the manipu/ation of the emotions of the audiences than being a faithful messenger for the public. Une/er such a media environment, in case of news events, particularly, during crisis, it is not the media being scared by the government. but the media itself is scaring the government into silence. The Chinese news media have grown so negative and so cynica/ that it has produced growing popular clistrust of the government and the government officials. Entering a freer but fearful commercially mediated society, the Chinese government is totally tmprepared in engaging the Chinese press effectively and has lost its ability for setting public agenda and shaping public opinions. 

scholarly journals Media, politics and the threats to journalists in Pakistan

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rukhsana Aslam
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
War On Terror ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Fm Radio ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Press ◽  
Media Politics ◽  
The Government

This article examines how the fundamental right of freedom of expression for news media in Pakistan continues to be threatened both by the government and conflicting parties, an issue that is compounded by the threat to the journalists’ safety and survival. Giving examples of three Pakistani journalists who lost their lives after their investigations during the America’s so called ‘War on Terror’, the article gives an account of the nature of the dangers and threats that are faced by the journalists in Pakistan who report on armed political conflicts. Drawing on the experiences of five other journalists, who were interviewed during research visits to Pakistan in 2012 and 2014, the author also reflects on the role of journalists in the light of the social responsibility theory and explores some of the factors that contribute towards making conflict reporting a dangerous business in Pakistan.Pictured: Figure 1: The Press in Stress report in 2012. Shown in the cover image is a curbside radio-seller in Quetta. FM radio is hugely popular in Balochistan. Image: Aurangzazib Khan

Atrocities

2021 ◽  
pp. 119-135
Author(s):  
Steven Casey
Keyword(s):  
Policy Change ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Pacific War ◽  
Congressional Record ◽  
Plane Crash ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Press ◽  
Bataan Death March ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Veil

For the first two years of the war, the government was extremely reluctant to release information about the atrocities being committed by the Japanese. Officials warned returning civilian internees not to speak to the press about the conditions they had faced as Japanese prisoners. The Office of Censorship applauded the media’s restraint in covering the execution of American airmen captured after the Doolittle raid. And even when Ed Dyess escaped from the Philippines with details about the Bataan death march, senior officials prevented his story from being told. The Chicago Tribune, which paid Dyess $21,000, lobbied hard for a policy change, to no avail. Only after Dyess’s tragic death in a plane crash at the end of 1943, followed by a threat to have a friendly legislator read his story into the Congressional Record, did the government finally lift the veil on this dimension of the Pacific War.

The Papal Election in the Philippines: Negotiating Religious Authority in Newspapers

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 400-421
Author(s):  
Kerstin Radde-Antweiler
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Press Coverage ◽  
Religious Authority ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media

The Roman Catholic Church has always been present in news media worldwide. In 2013 the papal election caused special attention from the media because of the resignation by Benedict xvi. Heated discussions not only on the possible successor, but also on the necessary obligations of the Pope took place in the press discourse. Is there a changing understanding of authority, as the press coverage as well as millions of websites, Twitter contributions etc. suggested? The influence of new media on religious authority structures is assessed quite differently so far. However, what exactly is understood as religious authority? The paper presents exemplarily the press coverage in the Philippines and discusses the construction of religious authority in the press discourse during the papal election. Applying an analysis model, it thereby analyzes the different construction processes within a specific media genre and asks how and what kind of authority was ascribed to.

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