CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Attacks against journalists and media workers marked the start of 2012 in the Philippines.

Jeers to The Manila Times for its biased and unsubstantiated banner story on the alleged bar exams leakage.

Jeers to Manila Bulletin for a front-page report on the courtesy call of Gwendoline Ruais, Philippine representative to the Miss World pageant, on Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Cheers to the Philippine Daily Inquirer for its series that looked at the alleged negative effects of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-fueled taxis.

The media were at it again, drumbeating war.

Biased, sensational and contextually inaccurate reporting of the bloody encounter in Al-Barka, Basilan between Philippine Army troops and Moro rebels last Oct. 18, and succeeding incidents, stoked the flames of what many journalists—especially those who fancy themselves as macho war reporters—excitedly awaited: more firefights between government troops and Moro rebels.

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Local anti-riot police detained and manhandled a group of journalists and media workers during the demolition of an allegedly illegal settlement in San Juan City last 11 January 2012. San Juan is a city within the Philippines’ National Capital Region (Metro Manila).

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – NO SUSPECT has been identified in the 15 December 2011 killing of a local newspaper publisher in Trinidad City, Bohol province. Bohol is a province 640 kilometers south of Manila.

Showbiz news used to consist only of a segment and were usually aired near the end—after the “hard” news on politics, business, and social issues.

Today’s showbiz news is no longer confined to one segment and is usually distributed throughout the news program, and delivered by a host—a showbiz celebrity in some cases—specially assigned to dish out the day’s showbiz gossip.

The overnight visit of United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last November received wide, though not necessarily meaningful coverage from the Philippine press. Among the television networks, GMA News TV devoted an hour of its regular programming to air a special forum with Clinton with journalists, students, and social media users.

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Police are still investigating the killing of a newspaper publisher in General Santos City last 5 January 2012. General Santos City is a chartered city in Mindanao approximately 1049 kilometers south of Manila.