By and large, has media been fair or unfair to President Arroyo?

Although one TV network tends to put the blame on PGMA for every alleged crisis the nation faces, media, in general, has been fair to the President. – Leandro Tolentino, Batangas City

The media has been fair and unfair to the President at various points in time. – Jose Fabello Jr., Misamis Oriental

Media’s duty in a democracy

Fair, because the media is only doing its duty in a democratic atmosphere. Besides, she should not be onion-skinned. – Romeo Caubat, Masbate

Media’s role is to report PGMA’s good and bad accomplishments in public. Bad news should induce PGMA to do better and to stop government wrongdoings. – Edwin Castillo, Tanauan City

Bad press is of her own doing

It’s just fair, even if she’s being negatively hit left and right. I assume that the media is just being fair because they won’t write issues about her without any basis. – Ella Arenas, Pangasinan

Media has been fair to PGMA because both the positive and negative sides of her administration have been laid down. The negative side has been her own government’s doing. – Leonard Villa, Laoag City

In general, Philippine media has been fair to Ate Glo. Their only fault, maybe, is in telling the news as it is. – Eufrocino Linsangan, Isabela

The media is fair towards her. Media practitioners only report the facts, like the “Hello, Garci” scandal, her announcement that she won’t run and her subsequent change of mind, the ZTE deal, her appointment of retired military officials to various government positions and others. – James Gaw, Parañaque City

The tendency to sensationalize

Most of them tend to make a mountain out of a molehill. They sensationalize to the point of fabricating stories. Their purpose is simply to earn the ire of the people. It’s so unfair to her, but no matter how hard they try to put her down, they just can’t. – Debbie Genato, Quezon City

Pres. Arroyo can’t seem to do anything right in the eyes of many media practitioners. A lot of media organizations would rather report the negative in the government. In their eagerness to sell their news, they resort to sensationalism and report the worst. – Seth Carranza, Catanduanes

The cream of the crop (all of whom are in Phil. STAR) are fair and courageous. The others are simply trying hard kaya may pagka-unfair para mapansin. - Rey Onate, Palayan City

Media has mostly been unfair to PGMA. They seldom report about her good work and accomplishments. Rather, they look for and sensationalize her mistakes and shortcomings. I admit, even I was not in favor of what she did in 2004. But what if her closest opponent won? Would our country be much better than today? Your guess is as good as mine. – Danny de Leon, Al-Khafji, Saudi Arabia

Media networks with vested business interests are severely critical and unfair to PGMA; panig sa katotohanan is not true. – Rey Ibalan, Antipolo City

The media, regarded as the fourth estate, is so powerful and has become a tool to make or break certain individuals, including Pres. Arroyo. Based on news reports, her bad side is highlighted prominently; thus, the latter is treated unfairly, all in the guise of press freedom. – Pedro Alagano Sr., Vigan City

Only GMA can say

Only GMA can say whether the media is fair or unfair to her. – Gerry del Cano, Muntinlupa City

She lacks charisma

Largely unfair. For all the intelligence of this President, she lacks even half of the charisma of the bumbling Erap. As a result, whatever she does or says comes across in a negative way to her opponents and to a large segment of media. It does not help that the largest of the media outfits is an opposition mouthpiece. – R. Los Baños, Las Piñas City

All things considered, the media has been fair to the President, and even far more than it should be. She’s not in the same league as FVR, Marcos or Magsaysay. – Dino Monzon, Caloocan City

Media has been generally fair

When the President and her allies are the only ones complaining about media’s partiality, it’s likely that the media has been fair to her. – Renato Taylan, Ilocos Norte

Fair. Bad things would not be written about her, her relatives and this government without even a semblance of truth. It makes us aware of what is happening in this country. – Digoy Coro, Batangas City

Media is generally fair in its coverage of PGMA and reflective of the facts or events as they unfold. PGMA’s unpopularity or perception of her regime as Asia’s most corrupt is not media’s fault but her minions. – William Gonzaga, Marikina City

What does Pres. Arroyo expect? All praises when Filipinos have nothing to eat? Of course the media is fair to her. – Gigi Zulita, Zamboanga City

The media is fair to GMA. The President should understand that media is also a business and bad news sells. – Ricardo Tolentino, Laoag City

I think the media has been fair to PGMA and her administration. Except for paid advertisements, the coverage on the projects and failures of her leadership has been given due consideration. – Alfredo Carballo Jr., Negros Occidental

I guess the media has been fair to PGMA, especially The STAR. There is a fair account of what she is doing. – Lydia Reyes, Bataan

I think the media has been fair enough to President Arroyo. I’d say it is she that has been unfair to the media. She has not always been truthful and transparent and she can be rude to mediamen at times. – Mario Tejada, Ilocos Norte

If Philippine STAR’s treatment of Pres. Arroyo were used as the benchmark, I’d say she is getting fair treatment. Over radio, there are some pro- and anti-Arroyo broadcasters who are on the extreme in extolling or lambasting the presidency. On the boob tube, it is generally fair. What is disgusting is the practice of a few in media, in the form of AC-DC (attack and collect; defend and collect), which gives journalism a black eye. – I.Q. Calata, Parañaque City

The media peddles its perception

Media surveys information and then creates perception. It is remiss and unfair to PGMA, if its created perception that makes her unpopular isn’t the truth. – C.B. Fundales, Bulacan

Media as watchdog

Without the media, corrupt officials in the Arroyo government would have taken everything they could lay their hands on. The Pidal account, the 2004 elections cheating, fertilizer scam, swine scam, North Rail scam, ZTE-NBN scam, AFP NCAH scam, double insertions, etc., we only learned about through media. – Manuel Abejero, Pangasinan

GMA cannot muzzle the press; what the media hears or sees is what the public gets. Cordon sanitaire is a thing of the past. – C. Gaspar, Laoag City

What the media sees, so it reports. We see that the good Ma’am is really implicated in whatever transactions that the government has entered into. Kahit si FG pa ang naka-front, the ultimate beneficiary of all those big, overpriced deals is her. The media told the truth about Garci, and Ma’am said sorry, kuntodo emote pa on TV. The kidnapping of Lozada and the ZTE deal, we saw it on video, then Gina de Venecia supported the accusation. Look at what happened to Abalos. Si Neri was given pa a position. The media sees everything, and so it is only doing its job. We should be thankful because, if not for them, the Philippines would already be a private property of Ma’am or Mindanao would already be a property of Malaysia. Ang Sabah kaya, nabenta na?– Rose Leobrera, Manila

We would like to believe that media has been fair to PGMA, as it only reports events as they happen – how, where, when, why they happened – so people are informed accordingly. – Col Ben Paguirigan Jr., Ret., Zamboanga City

On Newsmakers, GMA said media is unfair to her. I salute director Dante Nico Garcia for not editing that line. It’s another manifestation of GMA saying one thing but meaning another. How would one dare a taray President? Those in the Palace beat know better. There are a few hard-hitting ones and we should be thankful to them for their exposés and their guts to bring to us the real issues. – Imee Aglibot, Rizal

Depends which side one is on

Unfair but expected; there’s nothing like administration-bashing news with morning coffee to juice one up, but I draw the line at shallow, unverified, stretched and manipulated news reports. – Norberto Robles, Taguig

The media has always been so to all presidents, past and present. Fair or unfair, the story ultimately depends on the reader. – Rico Fabello, Parañaque City

I think media is fair to PGMA, but not to FG and to the PNP during the Manila Pen siege. – June Deoferio, Cavite

The answer depends on one’s personal and political inclination. I would reckon, however, that self-righteous members of the media, including our own texters, have not only been unfair but have actually abused their rights and become perennial vilifiers of PGMA. – Felix Ramento, Manila

It depends; those who are pro-administration say media is unfair to her, while those on the other side of the fence see it the other way around. – Jun Cajucom, Tacloban City

The way I look at it, it depends on the interest of the media outlet. Those that are pro-GMA always project a good image of the President. – Roel Dahonog, Cagayan de Oro City

Both, if you read the pro-GMA press, puro “praise” release. If you believe the anti-GMA press, puro negative. But if you read Phil. STAR, balanced lang. Media is a two-sided bladed weapon that can defend truth or distort it. Marcos controlled the media (then called the “Daily Suppress”) and made sure that it only “the true, the good and the beautiful” were reported. May freedom of speech daw in RP, FM said; but sa US, may freedom even after the speech. – Gerii Calupitan, Muntinlupa City

Some fair, some unfair

When some of its members tinge the profession with colors of yellow and or violet, that’s when media becomes unfair. – Cris Rivera, Rizal

Very small fractions are obviously biased and diehard Estrada supporters. If you want fair and balanced reporting, read Jarius Bondoc. – R. Santos, Isabela

The media should not be taken as a whole, because there are the likes of Julius Bondoc and William Esposo, who put under microscopic lenses every move of PGMA and they always see everything is wrong. On the other hand, there are also the likes of Alex Magno, who always see only the bright side. There are those who just report on what they found, no less, no more. Some media people are really arrogant and abusive, like those who covered the Manila Pen siege. I wonder if they have learned from Ces Drilon’s kidnapping incident. Whether they criticize or praise PGMA or anybody else, they should be objective, impartial and constructive and not just promote themselves or the organizations they represent. – Germi Sison, Cabanatuan City

Some are fair (neutral) like The STAR (except Esposo and Bondoc), but most are biased against GMA (they never appreciate her good work). – C.B. Manalastas, Manila

Ties that bind

Yes and no. Yes, she is getting fair treatment because what the media reports are of her own doing, and no because media isn’t economically dependent on PGMA as they are on economic pirates; thus, they’re unfair to her. – Elpidio Que, Vigan

Media plays politics

It’s obvious. The media in the Philippines doesn’t have standard practices like those of Reuters and other respected media. They practically play opposition. – Alpha Cy, Metro Manila

The Philippine media can’t be correctly evaluated as to their fairness or unfairness to PGMA as she’s not treated differently from the rest of the personalities or issues. However, it is safe to say that media is unfair to the tenets of journalism. It’s known for taking sides and having biases instead of reporting factually. The media is obviously playing politics. – Rodolfo Capili, Caloocan City

Although I agree with media most of the time, it’s so unfair to PGMA. Sometimes I think of ABS-CBN as an opposition party. – Ric Vergara, Calamba

Local media is unfair

Very unfair. It has been my observation that they condemn the President all the time, but they don’t lift a finger to criticize their corrupt governors and mayors in their own provinces. – Lorenzo Fernandez Jr., Nueva Ecija

Kailan ba naging fair ang local media kay PGMA? Mabuti pa ang foreign media at fair lang ang treatment sa kanya. – Erwin Espinosa, Pangasinan

The truth sets us free

The media, with Phil. STAR as an example, operates on the principle of cause and effect. The STAR has been fair to GMA, as it always lets the truth prevail. – Jim Veneracion, Naga City

The media has been fair and unbiased towards PGMA and she should accept criticism as the media has a responsibility to the masses. The truth matters. – Eric Gopilan, Quezon City

As long as the media is doing its job according to its own code and ethical standards, then it’s fair. Their reports should be as transparent as possible, balanced and not motivated by any political, financial and selfish interest. The media’s role is to tell the truth because the word of God declares that “The truth will set our country free.” – Jaime Macayanan, Republic of South Africa

REACTIONS

To Nito Aquino: I can’t see why the RH bill will kill the unborn, when in fact, there’s no conception that occurs. Who is to be massacred? – Joel Caluag, Bulacan

To Nito Aquino: So I see you still lack of information re: RH bill. Well, bear in mind that family planning is just a prevention and not extermination. – Enrique Tenazas, Quezon City

Views expressed in this section do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The STAR. The STAR does not knowingly publish false information and may not be held liable for the views of readers exercising their right to free expression. The publication also reserves the right to edit contributions to this section as it sees fit.

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