Jhbautista: Putting Nation Back Into Media Coverage of the State of the Nation Address (SONA)

2016-06-29T16:44:10Z

Putting Nation Back Into Media Coverage of the State of the Nation Address (SONA)

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'''Abstract'''
Every year, the President of the Philippines report on the status of the country and future plans of action through the State of the Nation Address (SONA). SONA, too, has
been an annual gathering of the members of the House and Senate who sit together to
listen to the President speak. Yet, meters away from Batasang Pambansa walls, another
version of the state of the nation is being delivered, this time by the very people the
President speaks of – the masses which constitute the nation.
This research examines media production of discourse and representation of the
public in their coverage of President Benigno Aquino III’s six SONA occasions. This
would look at media portrayal of non-state actors vis-à-vis their representation of state
actors during the various events taking place during SONA, and three days before and
after it.
The study looks at the extent to which interest groups, social movement
organizations, and ordinary people are cited, referred to, and represented in news reports
about particular issues compared to government actors. It scrutinizes SONA-related
reports to unveil recurring themes and frames used by the Philippine Daily Inquirer
(PDI), Philippine Star (PStar), and Manila Bulletin (MB), and how they ultimately serve,
in the end, to either challenge, or maintain the existing societal power relations.
x
The study points out that (a) political controversy theme and corruption issues
prevailed in the news reports of the three broadsheets, while discussion of basic sectors’
issues has been far and in between, (b) the publications greatly relied on state actors as
official sources of information, while non-state actors tend to be backgrounded in the
lower half of reports, (c) MB had the strongest anti-progressive groups and pro
administration stance among the three publications, but priveliging of state actors and
backgrounding of non-state actors ruled in every broadsheet, (d) progressive groups were
negatively portrayed as disorganized, disorderly and violent mob while state actor
representation had been more positive; police forces, particularly, were represented as
exuding authority and power, and finally (e) media’s lack or misrepresentation of the
public/non-state actorsd in their coverage of SONA is reflexive of the inner workings of
societal power relations that the media have supported and continue to maintain. >

[http://iskwiki.upd.edu.ph/flipbook/viewer/?fb=2012-12217-Putting- View Thesis]

[[Category: < CMC > Thesis]][[Category:Theses]][[Category:< Journalism >]][[Category:2016 Thesis]]

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Jhbautista: Putting Nation Back Into Media Coverage of the State of the Nation Address (SONA)