Framing Reality: How To Documentarist of I-Witness Present, Interpret and Interact with Reality

ABSTRACT

The documentary has become a crucial arm of news and public affairs in the country and I-Witness has become the institution synonymous to Philippine television documentaries. This thesis studies the role of the I-Witness documentarist in engaging and interpreting reality in their documentaries.

The researcher interviewed the production team of I-Witness and juxtaposed their responses with content analyses of their episodes. The study looked at how the documentarist’s personal considerations, interactions with the production team, and various production considerations contribute to the representation of reality.

The study shows that the documentarists of I-Witness, who are also usually the hosts of the program, are not the sole creators of their documentaries. Greater credit must be given to all the production team members, whose perspectives and ideologies shape the documentary’s presentation of reality. This study also shows that despite the attempt to be objective, I-Witness’ presentation of reality is simply a representation which cannot be taken for the real thing.

Cosico, R.R (2010). Framing Reality: How the Documentarists of I-Witness present, interpret and interact with reality, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.

Subject Index: Documentary television programs, Public affairs television programs, Realism