LET THEM TELL YOUR STORY

Aquino, M. M. (2011). Let Them Tell Your Story: How GMA 7’s OFW Diaries at mga Kwentong Pinoy Overseas frames stories of Overseas Filipino Workers and their families. Undergraduate Thesis. College of Mass Communication. University of the Philippines Diliman

This study examined how GMA 7’s OFW Diaries Diaries at mga Kwentong Pinoy Overseas frames stories of OFWs and their families. It discussed the framing processes and presentation of OFW stories. The contents of five OFW-related episodes of program were analyzed to describe the trends in framing and representation of OFW stories. Focus interviews among the staff of the program were also done to determine the framing process. This study revealed that GMA 7’s OFW Diaries at mga Kwentong Pinoy Overseas had three key points in story framing and representation namely (1) The Goal to Rate (2) In Accordance with the Regulators (3) Adherence to the Choices of the Production Staff in which the social forces around them should also abide. The frames of the OFW stories provided a representation of OFW’s reality in relation to ideologies that has been naturalized by the program. The stories produced and aired by the media were products of their observance and obedience to their personal values, judgment and social forces around them. What the audiences see are only representations of the perceived reality and media ideology. The study recommended that frames should be approached in terms of how it constructs meaning in relation to reality rather than merely depending on whether the frame is realistic or not.