Estrada got most TV news coverage among candidates

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines – Former President Joseph Estrada had the most television news coverage among presidential candidates during the first week of the presidential campaign, a local media watchdog reported.

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), in a report released last Monday, said Estrada got the most airtime in news coverage in NBN-4’s Teledyaryo, GMA 7’s 24 Oras, and ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol during the Feb. 9-27 monitoring period.

Estrada, of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), logged a total of 36.29 minutes airtime, followed by Nacionalista Party’s (NP) Sen. Manuel Villar with 34.51 minutes and administration bet Gilbert Teodoro with 34.36 minutes.

Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III had 29.34 minutes; Bagumbayan Party’s Sen. Richard Gordon had 17.33 minutes; JC de los Reyes of the Ang Kapatiran Party (AKP) had 14.36 minutes.

Religious leader and Bangon Pilipinas Party standard-bearer Eddie Villanueva got 13.43 minutes; independent candidate Sen. Jamby Madrigal 12.11 minutes; disqualified Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) standard-bearer Vetellano Acosta 7.36 minutes, and environmentalist Nicanor Perlas, 6.16 minutes.

“As expected, election news coverage was focused on the presidential candidates, with all three news shows devoting most of their election airtime to the activities of the major contenders. GMA’s 24 Oras allotted 17 percent of its total airtime to the presidential race, while TV Patrol had 13 percent and Teledyaryo allotted six percent of its total airtime,” the CMFR said in its report.

Aside from the coverage of sorties, Estrada was also the subject of special news reports such as GMA’s 24 Oras story on Feb. 16 titled “Erap, tinanggap ang pagso-sorry ni Yasay,” and ABS- CBN’s TV Patrol’s Feb.23 episode “Erap, pinapaatras.”

Villar, on the other hand, was the most-covered presidential candidate of the news program 24 Oras, while Teodoro was almost exclusively covered by NBN-4’s Teledyaryo.

For the vice-presidential race, Sen. Loren Legarda of NP topped television coverage from the same stations with 7.14 minutes of airtime, followed by LP’s vice-presidential candidate Sen. Mar Roxas with 6.12 minutes and Lakas-Kampi-CMD’s Eduardo Manzano with 4.04 minutes.

Bagumbayan’s Bayani Fernando got 4.01 minutes; Bangon Pilipinas’s Perfecto Yasay 3.47 minutes; Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) Jejomar Binay 3.21 minutes, KBL’s Jay Sonza 1.31 minutes, and AKP’s Dominador Chipeco, 1.03 minutes.

The CMFR has been monitoring media coverage of Philippine elections since 1992.