A Content Analysis of the Reportage of the Laiban Dam Project in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Philippine Star, and the Manila Bulletin
A Content Analysis of the Reportage of the Laiban Dam Project in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Philippine Star, and the Manila Bulletin
The Philippines has a long history of press manipulation as the print media has
become a business enterprise. External powers like businesses have put extra-legal
limitations on the media. This thesis examines the potential role of the private sector in
influencing the agenda-setting function of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Philippine
Star and the Manila Bulletin in their reportage of the Laiban Dam project. This study
attempted to check the performance of the three leading national broadsheets in reporting
the Laiban Dam issue in adherence to its Agenda-setting and Framing functions, to gauge
the private sector’s influence on the press in relation to the Critical Media theories and to
identify lapses and, consequently, improvements in the practice of journalism. The
researcher analyzed a total of 126 articles published in the aforementioned broadsheets
from February 10, 2009 to September 10, 2010 and interviewed a media expert for the
validation of the initial findings. The treatment of the issue by the Philippine Daily
Inquirer, the Philippine Star and the Manila Bulletin as a business agenda confirmed the
possible precedence of external powers over the power of the media.
Keywords: Content Analysis Laiban Dam Project Philippine Daily Inquirer Philippine Star Manila Bulletin