No biased reactions

This is regarding Ramon Tulfo’s article titled “Fairness and objectivity” published May 31, 2022 in his column “Sentinel.”

In his column, Mr. Tulfo wrote: “When reports of early election returns showed Bongbong Marcos leading candidate Leni Robredo by a mile were being aired, three TV anchors showed their displeasure by grimacing.”

While Mr. Tulfo did not name any names, he made a reference to the motto of GMA News and Public Affairs, betraying that he was referring to viral posts featuring GMA News pillars Jessica Soho, Mel Tiangco and Vicky Morales and their supposed reactions during the network’s Eleksyon 2022 coverage.

Given the GMA News and Public Affairs ethos “Walang Kinikilingan, Walang Pinoprotektahan, Walang kasinungalingan. Serbisyong Totoo Lamang,” we take seriously any allegations of partiality among our anchors.

As such, GMA Network, led by its Internal Audit and Human Resources team, conducted a thorough investigation of the Eleksyon 2022 coverage. The process involved a review of hours of footage and showed that the three anchors were found not to have exhibited any biased reactions during the coverage. In the screencapped photos, the anchors were intently listening to an explanation of a guest analyst and were not reacting to any results. The investigation team concluded that viral posts were taken out of context by some social media users.

We sincerely hope that this sets the record straight. Thank you. – Nessa S. Valdellon, First Vice President, GMA News and Public Affairs