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News and Public Affairs Program
News and Public Affairs Program
Report
on
NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAM
submitted to
Prof. Ellaine Hufano
Writing for Television
by
Izar, Nikko Norman C.
Mercado, Lalaine S.
Alcantara, Luis Jaime
Panaligan, Amaris
GMA News and Public Affairs is the news department of the Philippine broadcaster
GMA Network. It produces news and infotainment programs for all GMA Network
owned and affiliated television and radio stations in the Philippines, and
internationally through GMA Pinoy TV and GMA Life TV. GMA News and Public Affairs
is currently headed by Marissa Flores. It is headquartered at the Ground Floor of
GMA Network Center in Quezon City.[1]
News division
The GMA News division traces its origin from the Republic Broadcasting System,
established by Robert Stewart. Programming of its radio station, DZBB depended on
mostly on news reports. The station covered the eruption of Mt. Hibok-Hibok in
1951, and the election and untimely death of former President Ramon Magsaysay.
While RBS Channel 7 was established in 1961, it was in 1970s that GMA became
one of the most-watched television news source in the country. In 1983, Channel 7
was the first to break the news of Ninoy Aquino's death, and later would be the only
television station to broadcast his funeral. The channel also became the first station
to broadcast the Ramos-Enrile break-away that led to the People Power Revolt.
In 1998, GMA teamed up with the Philippine Daily Inquirer to produce election
coverage. Its flagship newscast, Saksi, won the 1999 Asian Television Awards and
2002 New York Festival awards for Best Newscast. In 2006, GMA News was praised
by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for its news coverage, and said that it was the
reason for the network's high ratings. In the 2006 SWS Media Trust survey, GMA
News garnered 60% of public trust, second only to rival ABS-CBN with 68%. But a
similar Pulse Asia survey shows that GMA News is the more credible in the country
and to key demographics.
GMA News became a pioneer in local television news in many ways. GMA was one
of the pioneers of women in broadcast journalism. Tina Monzon-Palma was one of
the first women co-anchors when she first presented News at Seven, one of the
most-watched news programs in the 1970s. Helen Vela was the first woman to
anchor news in Tagalog, and Mel Tiangco was the first late-night solo anchor. GMA
was the first to broadcast an hourly news program, which is known today as the
GMA Flash Report, and the first station to use a ticker for breaking news and traffic
information. GMA News was also the first to use Electronic News Gathering Vans in
the country. In 2004, it regularly began to use Satellite News Gathering facilities to
reach more remote areas. It also covered major events in the country, such as the
1995 World Youth Day, 2003 World Meeting of Families, and 2000 Today.
GMA’s Public Affairs division was established in 1987[2] when Tina Monzon-Palma,
then head of GMA News recognized that a 30 minute newscast was not adequate
and sufficient to inform the general Filipino public on what is happening to the
recently established Aquino government after the historic People Power Revolution
in February 1986]. It started with five news personnel including Marissa La Torre
Flores (now handles GMA News and Public Affairs as senior vice president) and held
office inside the cameramen’s locker room before moving into the state-of-the-art
GMA Network Center with no experience, equipment, camera and an improvised set
broadcasting at the old GMA building in Edsa with only a passion to work attitude.
Now with more than 500 news personnel—here and abroad—and producing 16 of
the most awarded programs on Philippine television today.
The public affairs program Weekend With Velez, was the first network-produced
program on GMA, afterward renamed to Velez This Week and was hosted by Jose
Mari Velez. Later that year it was joined with other public affairs shows such as
Firing Line with Teddy Benigno (later on hosted by Oscar Orbos); View Point with
Dong Puno; Straight from the Shoulder hosted by Louie Beltran and The Probe Team
by Che-Che Lazaro.
From a makeshift and improvised set, the once GMA News garnered several honors
and recognitions from local and international award-giving bodies, including two
gold medals in the New York Festivals and their first Peabody Award in 1999[5], one
of the most distinguished merit in the broadcast industry, the only one awarded to
an Asian country. The first Peabody was given for Kidney for Sale, an investigative
work on the selling of kidneys in a depressed area along the coast of Manila Bay.
The award also recognizes Marissa Flores as the executive producer and a team of
producers, writers, directors and reporters, as well as Jessica Soho, Michelle Seva-
Recto, Jay Taruc, Leogarda Sanchez and Rowel Cornejo, Melchor Quintos and Gregg
Gonzales.
Coinciding with its 20th anniversary in broadcasting excellence, GMA News and
Public Affairs aired a documentary entitled 20: Dalawampung Taon ng GMA Public
Affairs (20: Twenty Years of GMA Public Affairs) on October 28, 2007[6].
The Public Affairs division of GMA is now headed by Nessa Valdellon as Vice
President for Public Affairs.
ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs is the news and current affairs division of
Philippines broadcaster ABS-CBN. The organization is responsible for the
daily news and information gathering of the network's news & current affairs
programs. According to a SWS media trust survey, ABS-CBN News & Current
Affairs topped the list, garnering 68% of public trust; thus its current slogan
"Panig sa Katotohanan, Panig sa Bayan" (Sides for the Truth, Sides for the
People).
It serves the main ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, ABS-CBN Regional
Network Group, Studio 23, ABS-CBN Radio (both AM and FM networks) and
the ABS-CBN News Channel. The division operates mainly from the ABS-CBN
Broadcast Complex in Quezon City while the regional ABS-CBN stations also
have their local news divisions, which also help in newsgathering for the
whole network. It also has several foreign bureaus—one each in North
America, Europe, the Middle East, and now in Australia with the help of ABS-
CBN Global.
The organization is split into three sub-groups:
• News Group, headed by ABS-CBN Vice-President and former CNN
Jakarta Bureau Chief Maria Ressa;
• Current Affairs Group, headed by former American Broadcasting
Company news correspondent and former GMA Network vice president
for news and public affairs Luchi-Cruz Valdez; and
• News Gathering Group, headed by former Reuters correspondent and
one-time ABS-CBN reporter Charie Villa.
Aside from regular programming, it also operates the ABS-CBN News
Channel, the first and currently only 24 hour news channel in the country.
The division also operates a news website in partnership with The Philippine
Star and The Manila Times.
Current programs
•
• Bandila
• Bottomline
• The Correspondents
• Failon Ngayon
• I Survived
• Kabuhayang Swak na Swak
• Kulilits
• Matanglawin
• News Patrol
• Probe
• Rated K
• Salamat Dok!
• S.O.C.O. (Scene of the Crime Operatives)
• Sports Unlimited
• Trip na Trip
• TV Patrol World
○ TV Patrol Sabado
○ TV Patrol Linggo
• Umagang Kay Ganda
• Urban Zone
• XXX: Exklusibong, Explosibong, Exposé
Appendices:
http://www.publicaffairsnetworking.com/whatis_pa.php
http://www.america.gov/st/freepress-
english/2008/April/20080416211618eaifas0.8870203.html
www.wikipedia.org