A Critical Analysis of Audience Perception of the News as Reported by Gay News Anchors in the DZMM Radio Show Talakan

ABSTRACT

The researcher decided to conduct this study while listening to the DZMM radio program Talakan and its gay news anchors. The entertainment that the researcher got from listening to the gay news anchors of the program and their use of gay language and expressions in delivering the news motivated her to pursue this study.

The study’s main objective was to determine whether having gay news anchors and using gay language and expressions in news reporting and interpretation influence the audience’s perception of the news.

The researcher used qualitative methods to gather the necessary data for the study. Three sets of focus group discussion were conducted among the residents of Barangay Balong-Bato, in the city of San Juan to determine their perception of the gay news anchors of the program and whether the “gay style” of news reporting employed by the anchors influenced their perception of the news.

In-depth interviews with the executive producer of the program and its hosts were conducted to determine the reason behind the program’s creation (and later its cancelation). An expert on Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transvestite Psychology was also interviewed to help in the analysis and interpretation of the reactions of the participants during the FGD toward the gay news anchors and the gay style of news reporting.

Two theories were used in the study: Stuart Hall’s Encoding and Decoding Theory, and the Language Expectancy Theory. The Encoding and Decoding Theory categorized the informants according to the three ways of reading the text, which in this case are the gay news anchors of Talakan. The three categories were the dominant reading, negotiated reading, and oppositional reading. The Language Expectancy Theory was used to analyze and interpret the effect of the gay news anchors and the gay style of news reporting on the audience perception of the news.

The study showed that the new elements in news reporting introduced by the DZMM radio program Talakan, such as having gays as news anchors and the use of gay style in news reporting, influenced the audience perception of the news in both positive and negative ways. Results showed that while the impact of the news on the audience changed, the credibility of the news remained the same.

Erfe, E.L. (2011). Balitang Troolaloo, Walang Halong Eklavoo: A Critical Analysis of Audience Perception of the News as Reported by Gay News Anchors in the DZMM Radio Show Talakan, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines Diliman College of Mass Communication

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Subject Index: Gay broadcasters--Philippines, News audiences--Philippines, Radio talk shows--Philippines