INTRODUCTION. I was into hearing the news since elementary. Back then, the Philippine politics was nothing less of a drama. The decade of 2000s had the Filipino populace stand on their feet for several instances: the impeachment and resignation of then President Joseph "Erap" Estrada, EDSA Tres and the highly polarized 2001 national elections, the Hello Garci scandal highlighting the alleged cheating in the 2004 presidential and vice presidential elections, and the two attempts to overthrow the Arroyo regime by a group of Magdalo soldiers. What I know about these issues were mainly fed by what I see on TV.
My parents were avid viewers of GMA-7 newscasts, because they believed the news delivery of GMA News is the most unbiased in Philippine media. Influenced by them, I acquired this mentality in the following years and started to admire (and even imitated) news personalities from the said network.
WAVERING ENTHUSIASM TOWARDS GMA NEWS. 24 Oras became the primary news source of the family. At the time, what I liked about the news program was their ability to get multiple angles in a story, whether politics-related or natural disaster coverage. Main anchor Mike Enriquez even went to the origin of the news (which is now a rarity), given his expertise in his many decades in broadcasting, he knows which parts of the news really matter and are vital for the audience to know. One of the best examples I can show to you was their coverage of the aftermath of storm "Unding" in 2004 which directly battered the town of Roxas in Oriental Mindoro.
Those were the times GMA used to allocate lots of airtime for important news, even deciding to preempt several entertainment shows, notwithstanding the potential losses from advertisements not aired due to their news coverage. GMA News and 24 Oras, to me, were the standard of news reporting.
The situation is different nowadays.
Mike Enriquez has been absent from 24 Oras for quite some time, I felt the newscast is lacking. Sure, GMA is doing their best by filling his gap with award-winning journalists but the delivery power of Mr. Enriquez is just not there. In the national TV ratings, 24 Oras is seeing a viewership decline, coming from 15-17% in 2022, now in August 2023, it is raking just above 13% of the sample people share (per Nielsen data). To be fair, this may not be attributed to Mr. Enriquez's absence alone, but without a successful "succession plan" (training or grooming someone who can fill a part of his shoes), I can say GMA might not have seen this decline coming.
Moreover, I felt 24 Oras and other national newscasts produced by GMA Integrated News were a mix of "previews" or summaries of the news items. I am certain I am not the only one harboring this opinion: I noticed GMA Network, while understanding they are a commercial television network, became more "revenue-centered," compromising the quality of the news delivery they once held (and are saying they still hold) with high regard. For example, the newscast State of the Nation on GTV (GMA's secondary channel), it debuted as a full-hour of news, analysis and interviews, now it is reduced to just 30 minutes.
Right now, in general, I feel I am not fully informed by just relying on GMA Integrated News alone. I need more information that I have to go to another news source for a different and more detailed view.
This is why I resorted to watching news programs from other networks now.
STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH. Owing to YouTube's algorithm, I found myself watching videos posted by CNN Philippines and ANC 24/7. These two news organizations have programs where they invite people involved in a national story or businessmen or even government officials to give insights about what's happening behind the scenes, behind the headlines.
CNN Philippines' The Source with Pinky Webb and The Final Word with Rico Hizon are eye-openers. ANC or the ABS-CBN News Channel's Headstart with Karen Davila is also a very good program where you can hear statements straight from the horse's mouth. The three journos/newscasters ask direct but necessary questions; you will be fascinated on how much research they read before drafting their queries and actually commencing the interviews, it shows in the kind of questioning they portray on their shows.
I also commend Headstart's Karen Davila for her enthusiasm to get more information from the newsmakers. In the video I share below, despite the limited time, she just couldn't hide her excitement (barring the possibility of overtime) from start to finish when she did this interview with Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno:
Another example I can show you is Rico Hizon's interview with a top official of United Airlines. He effectively lets us understand the rationale of the airline opening San Francisco-Manila-San Francisco route, competing with Philippine Airlines which is monopolizing the route as of writing. You be the judge, I am confident you will concur with me that the entire interview is satisfactory; all that you need to know, you will know.
You might say that GMA is yet to offer such format of a news program, they only do fast paced delivery of news, one item after another. Here is a part of ANC's newscast Market Watch. There were concise reports, but my perception was the news delivery is not "rushed." I also noted the balancing technique the newscaster (or the writers and editors behind the script) did when reporting about the lower-than-expected GDP performance of the country for the second quarter of 2023 (you may skip ahead to timestamp 6:53).
If you want to get more real facts about the news, these are the news programs for you.
GMA REGIONAL TV. I am not all-negative towards GMA Integrated News. There is a branch of the reputed news organization that still embodies their former tagline "Walang Kinikilingan... Serbisyong Totoo lamang" (favoring no one, true service only), that is the regional arm of GMA Network, GMA Regional TV.
I am from Manila, yet I am interested in the regions as well. Primarily, because Manila and the regions are intertwined: when Manila decides on a policy, whether on security or economy, the regions follow suit; on the other hand, when the regions fall short of production (such as food), Manila will have to bear its effects. Learning what is happening there gives me an edge on being fully informed about the entire nation.
Now, without ABS-CBN operating their once-extensive regional network, GMA has to step in. GMA, as of writing, has local news teams in Dagupan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Batangas, Naga, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos and Davao. It is yet to establish local production presence in other parts of the country. So anyway...
The anchors and the correspondents in any of the GMA Regional TV newscasts may not be well-known nationwide, but I can say they are some of the most talented (being multilinguals), most flexible (many of them do morning show hosting and national newscast reporting aside from their job as local journos), most credible (not involved in any controversy) and most unbiased (discreet in political views) in the country. Such characteristics are an embarrassment to some of their counterparts in the national newscasts in GMA.
All GMA regional newscasts have very limited airtime - they are to finish within 25 to 30 minutes, and yet the regional news teams are able to deliver the news that really matter to their area of coverage, especially when natural disasters occur, most of the newscast's airtime is dedicated for the delivery of the main headline and the effects it brought to the locality. They often feature interviews of the locals to add weight to the credibility of their reports.
In this 28 July 2023 episode of GMA Regional TV One North Central Luzon, almost the entire airtime was allocated for reporting the danger and damages incurred by Super Typhoon Egay (international name: Typhoon Doksuri) over the said region.
As you can see, this regional newscast is a far cry from what the current GMA national newscasts are offering. No sensationalizing, just news.
CONCLUSION. With the broad availability of news sources on the internet, most especially on YouTube, it is super essential for us to filter which among them can provide quality news delivery. I still put my faith in the mainstream media. It is healthy for me to have access to more news organizations other than what I traditionally subscribe, because at my age, all I want is to be informed, not with flowery or rushed style, but with balanced and effective reporting.
MINI BLOG PLUG.
Got more time reading? You may want to explore more on this blog by reading these two about the author (Outer Layer and Inner Core), or by finding the all-time most popular posts at the bottom part of this page.
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