The year that was in the news media

Typhoon coverage in 2012

Equally impressive improvements were evident in the press coverage of the floods and typhoons that struck the country in 2012. Some issues in the coverage still need reviewing, but improvements in this year’s coverage are a welcome development since the CMFR first issued guidelines for disaster coverage 22 years ago.

“The media have roles to play before, during, and after a disaster. In many incidents, journalists are among the first to arrive on the scene and report on events as they unfold; they are first informers in the disaster zone,” writes Aspen Institute journalism projects director Amy Korzick Garmer in a 2006 report of the Institute’s Communications and Society Program on the lessons the news media learned  from the reporting on Hurricane Katrina, which struck the United States in  August 2005.

The Philippine press, especially broadcasting, lived up to its role as “first informer” in its coverage of typhoons in 2012. This was evident in the thorough coverage of the disastrous August monsoon that dumped 1,007 millimeters of rain on Metro Manila and surrounding provinces,  and recently last December, “Typhoon Pablo”, the 16th typhoon that hit the Philippines this year.

Usually first on the scene, journalists provided timely and comprehensive information. The special coverage of news organizations during times of disasters helped the public deal with such situations by informing them about weather advisories, affected communities, rescue and relief operations, and advising what and how to prepare. The reports provided the big picture, stories of human interest, and disaster mitigation and relief efforts by the government, media, and concerned groups.

Mostly calm, in contrast to the often hysterical coverage of the past, the news anchors summarized what was happening on the field and gathered the views of the responding public officials and experts in weather and climate change, and public preparedness, among others. With the help of citizen journalists and new media, the broadcast press showed how Filipinos were dealing and responding to the crisis and updates from the ground.

Some special reports in the newspapers provided much-needed analyses on the typhoons and researched the possible causes that exacerbated the disaster’s impact.

Active efforts

Melinda Quintos de Jesus, pointed out in her Aug. 16 In Medias Res blog post, that the improved coverage was tied to the evidence of major gains in government’s disaster preparedness and rescue operations, among the more notable could be found in the improved systems of Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Services Administration (PAGASA) and other disaster-related agencies incorporated under Project Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazard (NOAH) launched last July 2012, which were not then available during other devastating typhoons such as “Sendong” (international name Washi) in December 2011 that had claimed more than 1,200 lives and injured more than 6,000 people.

“Project NOAH is the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) response to the call of President Benigno S. Aquino III for a more accurate, integrated, and responsive disaster prevention and mitigation system, especially in high-risk areas throughout the Philippines,” according to gov.ph.

“The Project will harness technologies and management services for disaster risk reduction activities offered by the DOST through PAGASA, PHIVOLCS (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology), and the DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), in partnership with the UP National Institute of Geological Sciences and the UP College of Engineering.”

Partnerships with local and international weather agencies to provide update and comprehensive information during typhoons using the latest technologies improved this year’s coverage.

The first 24/7 weather network was launched this year, offering the latest reports and updates about typhoons and other information about the weather. Launched last May, TV5’s Weather Information Network partnered with New Zealand-based graphics provider METRA Weather for its reports using an advanced computer-based weather visualization system. (Although TV5 and METRA had started their partnership in 2010 with the network’s Aksyon Weather Center.)

GMA Network partnered with the DOST’s Project NOAH for a better reporting during typhoons. BusinessWorld also reported that both ABS-CBN and GMA Network made partnerships with US weather data provider Weather Central for their reportage. (“Talking about the weather”, Sept. 6)

Weather reporting in 2012 has also improved because of active efforts by news organizations to beef up their reportage with experts and reporters trained in weather and climate reporting. These experts and reports ably explained the complexities of the weather phenomenon and made them understandable to ordinary people.

In June, GMA News hired meteorologist and former PAGASA spokesperson Nathaniel “Mang Tani” Cruz as its resident meteorologist and lead weather news presenter. The network also hired social media weather expert and former educator Karen B. Cardenas to further improve the “GMA Weather” desk.

Even the government-owned National Broadcasting Network started airing hourly news updates about the weather dubbed “PANAHON.TV” in September, BusinessWorld reported.

Special reports

The TV networks also aired special reports on issues related to typhoons. For example, after massive rains and floods affected Luzon in August, ABS-CBN’s Krusada last Aug. 30 reported that the architectural structure of houses in the country should be modified to make it flood and typhoon-resistant, given the disaster-prone nature of the country.

In its Dec. 6 coverage of Typhoon “Pablo”, ABS-CBN News Channel did a 20-minute interview with Mahar Lagmay, Project NOAH head and a professor of the University of the Philippines National Institute of Geological Sciences on the typhoon’s severe impact in New Bataan, Compostela Valley and the issue of the area’s geohazard map.

GMA News TV’s State of the Nation with Jessica Soho last Dec. 7 also aired a special report that examined whether rescuers during typhoons have adequate training and safety equipment.

TV5’s InterAksyon.com provided helpful and digestible information about “Pablo”, clearing some of the misperceptions such as that “Pablo” had reached “supertyphoon status” and comparing “Pablo” with “Sendong” which had entered the country the same month but in 2011. (“5 Things You Should Know About Typhoon ‘Pablo’”, Dec. 3)

What’s good about “bad news”

Both the Corona impeachment trial and the disasters in the form of floods and landslides brought by excessive rainfall and typhoons would obviously be in the “bad news” category decried by President Aquino. But both had to be reported not only for their significance to the lives of the media and press audiences. There is also a value in the reporting of “bad news”—which conventional journalism enshrines in its practice—which is in calling attention to the need to address the problems societies face so that both governors and governed can begin to address them.

That consideration aside, providing relevant information whether positive or negative is the primary responsibility of all journalism. Aquino is right about the need for reportage to be fair and accurate—and for practitioners to be free from corruption.  But reporting mostly the good news would mean the press’ concealing information its public constituencies need to know.

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One response to “The year that was in the news media”

1. Philippine TV trends of 2012 (Part 2) | PinoyJourn: Stories behind the Stories says:

   January 18, 2013 at 12:55 am

   […] ABS-CBNnews.com’s Top stories for 2012     • CMFR’s “The year that was in the news media”  • New players in the media landscape    • The big news in TV news for […]

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