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FRAMING THE PANDEMIC: A CONTRASTIVE MEDIA

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF COVID-19 NEWS

An Undergraduate Thesis

Presented to the Faculty of the

College of Arts and Sciences Education

University of Mindanao

Davao City

In Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Bachelor of

Arts in English Language

SUZANNE MAY F. ALCASID

JOHN DOMINIC C. CASTILLO
ANDREW P. TIDALGO

September 2021
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TABLE OF CONTENT

Page

TITLE PAGE i

APPROVAL SHEET ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT iii

DEDICATION v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

INTRODUCTION 1

METHOD 3
Research Design 3

Research Corpora 4

Data Gathering Procedure 5

Data Analysis 5

Ethical Consideration 6

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 6

Framing Mechanisms 6
24 Oras 9

Frontline Pilipinas 9

TV Patrol 10

Comparative Analysis 11

Ideological Themes 13

REFERENCES 17

APPENDICES 18

A. Data Transcript 18
B. Letter of Permission to Conduct the Study 41
C. Letter to the Adviser 42
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D. Letter to the Panel of Examiners

E. Endorsement Letters
F. Turitin and Grammarly Results
G. Minutes of Outline and Final Defense
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INTRODUCTION

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first reported on

December 31, 2019 in China. Only a couple of months after, other countries
reported observing the same disease, spreading from one place after another
until it became the global pandemic that changed society’s norms. Stuck at
home, people turned to social media platforms and T.V. programs for any news
about COVID-19, such as quarantine statuses, safety equipment to handle the
virus, and procedures when contact was made with an infected individual.
Many were undoubtedly afraid of the abrupt changes. Face-to-face classes were
no more, and hospitals were filled to the brim with patients. News media
outlets helped disseminate important information for audience consumption;
however, stories were subjected to the journalist’s understanding of the
transpired events. Due to time constraints, journalists arbitrarily exclude
irrelevant parts and piece stories that they deem engaging for the public
masses. This is the basis of news framing (Communication Studies).

In previous studies, the foundation of measuring news frames was not

objectively sound and was designed for a specific study, making it difficult to
replicate due to samples being too small, especially in an inductive approach
(de Vreese 53). A deductive approach, on the other hand, would prove to be
more reliable. Robert Entman’s procedure of demonstrating words and images
chosen for a story reveals which aspects of the pandemic carry the information
for framing. It is an ideal method for this research.

Analysis of news frames with relation to the pandemic in the national

context is also scarce. Some online articles and journals investigate how
international media outlets frame COVID-19 and involved parties. For
example, Poirier et al. explored Canadian media websites and headlines that
were COVID-19 related. Kabigting provided a metafunction analysis of online
news headlines in the Philippines, including GMA News and ABS-CBN News.
This shows an underwhelmingly researched topic of Philippine news outlets,
their framing methods, and ideological themes in a COVID-19 environment. It
necessitates and justifies an analysis to further gain knowledge of the inner
workings of three media outlets that operate mainly in the Philippines
concerning the ongoing pandemic.

This study aims to look at three national news media outlets and contrast
how they frame COVID-19 in all its aspects. The researchers will focus on
examining the contrasting news frames used in the pandemic news coverage of
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each national media outlet, namely TV Patrol of Kapamilya Channel, 24 Oras

of GMA Network Inc., and Frontline Pilipinas of TV5 Network Inc., as well as
discovering the ideological themes gleaned from the ways each outlet frames
pandemic news. This is to analyze how they differ in the ways they select,
present, or frame COVID-19-related stories. Consequently, the researchers will
discern the ideological representations of the ingroup (self-representation) and
outgroup (other-representation) in their news coverages.

Considering that COVID-19 is a global phenomenon, the duty of

Philippine news media in framing pandemic reports is of importance. Yet, only
a few studies have focused on the framing of national news coverage as well as
the ideological representations it poses towards its audiences. In this, the study
will serve as a reference for researchers, academes, and certain institutions in
looking at how the three national news outlets contrast in presenting framed
reports concerning the pandemic, with how frames differ in the news coverage
of each outlet, and the ideological themes gathered for the consumption of
audiences. Furthermore, given the nature of the research, it may set out certain
implications to the readers in the conduct of news of the three media outlets.
The results of the study will provide an avenue for academes and other
institutions to recognize the role of media outlets in potentially shaping,
altering audiences’ perceptions and public attitudes using frames in presenting
the information.

The researchers will primarily utilize Robert Entman’s method of

detecting contrasting frames by comparing narratives. It will give light on the
contrasting elements of the frames used among the three national news outlets
in their pandemic news.

Initially, Gregory Bateson introduced the Framing Theory in 1972.

Bateson defines framing as a behavior of putting news components and report
content in an amicable context. The groundwork of this theory centers on how
media outlets put great emphasis on specific events and assign them in the
confines of meaning. The theory suggests that the method of conveying in the
media (called frames) directly shapes or regulates the decisions of the
audiences in processing pieces of information. Frames serve as concepts in
mapping and structuring the essence of a message. The Framing Theory
explicates how media utilizes frames as a design to amplify perceptions and
reorient interpretations. It may also work as a “cognitive shortcut” to connect
news items and stories into a broader picture.
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Entman, on the other hand, provided a direct means of identifying the

frames where context may be drawn to better understand the nature of the
media. Thus, the researchers will be using Entman’s method as it provides an
interesting comparative lens on frames,

Furthermore, the researchers will also utilize the Ideological Square

Model of Teun van Dijk (1993) to garner ideological themes prominent in the
news coverages of the three national media outlets. This seeks to outline
positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation—emphasizing the
positives of “us” and the negatives of “them”, and at the same time
deemphasizing the positives of “them” and the negatives of “us”. This model
may help to ascertain the common “us” and “them” actors present in the three
national news outlets, and themes regarding their ideologies. Thus, this study
seeks to analyze the dominant framing mechanisms and detect ideological
themes gleaned in the pandemic news of each national news outlet.

METHOD

Research Design

The researchers will utilize a qualitative, inductive approach in

analyzing the data to gain thorough insight on the prevailing framing methods
of major national news outlets as well as ideologies contained in the news.
Discourse analysis is crucial in providing a descriptive and interpretive output
to identify contrastive elements. A thematic analysis will also be employed
with van Dijk’s ideological square model to categorize and define themes from
COVID-19 news reports.

According to Green and Bricki, by understanding social life and its

methods, narratives are used for data analysis rather than numbers. It will
present bias due to researchers' involvement with the study who impose their
understanding of the corpora. That is unavoidable. Entman’s (1991) method of
detecting contrasting frames by comparing narratives will be utilized in the
contrastive analysis of frames by the national media outlets.

An inductive approach stems from broad ideas and develops into

specific theoretical assumptions and frameworks. Raw data are summarized
and, if any, show connections between variables (Thomas 237). This analysis
will seek the link between how news outlets present limited COVID-19
information and pandemic news itself.
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The particular method that fits the context of the researchers’ goals is a
media discourse analysis. Broadcast platforms interact with the audience by
disseminating important information through written or spoken means
(O’Keeffe 441). Discourse happens even when the recipient cannot influence
the sender, although the sender will still write/tell stories geared towards these
non-present recipients. One way for the audience to appreciate controversial
topics is to introduce a reasonable ideological structure. Positive self-
representation and negative other-representation is an effective strategy that ties
with social psychology (van Dijk 144). The readers and viewers would exhibit
an affirmative willingness towards the ingroup and an unfavorable notion of
the outgroup. The journalist in charge of composing this type of news is also in
control of spinning the story, structuring it to fit how they understand the
transpired event.

The methods mentioned will aid the researchers in comprehending how

COVID-19 framing is utilized in the news field and what mechanisms these
outlets lean on the most.

Research Corpora

The data to be evaluated will come from three national news outlets,
namely TV Patrol of Kapamilya Channel, 24 Oras of GMA Network Inc., and
Frontline Pilipinas of TV5 Network Inc. These programs have YouTube
accounts where live streams are posted daily. Five news stories will be selected
from these accounts. These stories must be fixated on the COVID-19 virus, or
at least events connected to the virus. Also, the stories must be found in all
three outlets for a competent, contrastive study. Lastly, they must be
televised/live-streamed from March 2021, the date when vaccination jabs
started in the Philippines, up to the present. To narrow potential candidates
down, the researchers will categorize the videos by their general contents and
choose the ones with the greatest number of views from each content category.
The reason for this is that these reports may have likely reached the widest
possible variety of viewers and are deemed most relevant by the public.
Content may include vaccination drives, quarantine statuses of regions,
personal stories, worldwide pandemic updates, and economic conditions, as
these are the most common types of pandemic stories.
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Data Gathering Procedure

In the conduct of this study, the researchers will undertake the following
steps:

a. Identification of potential pandemic scoops. There are three

conditions for a story to be considered: it must be COVID-19
related, reported by TV Patrol, 24 Oras, and Frontline Pilipinas,
and televised/live-streamed from March 2021 up to the present.
b. Categorization by content. The researchers will review each
scoop and classify them with the type of content they offer.
c. Reduction of reviewed candidates. The video with the most
number of views will be subjected to analysis.
d. Transcription. A transcription process will prove to be beneficial
for reviewing textual content and for citation purposes.
e. Extraction and contrasting of news frames. Using Entman’s
framing news, the frames will be identified and contrasted to
show how discursive elements including images affect the
presentation of news by the biggest news media outlets.
f. Analyzation of themes. van Dijk’s Ideological Square Model will
be practical for this study, as news broadcasting likely focuses on
one perspective due to lack of time. A thematic analysis will
reveal existing themes used by these news outlet.
g. Discussion and presentation of findings. Contrastive media
discourse analysis can show the impact of the framing methods
concerning COVID-19 news. The researchers will
comprehensively discuss the data set considering the linguistic
features and ideological themes.

Data Analysis

Gregory Bateson was the first author to postulate the Framing Theory.
He described it as a psychological approach by the media, and that the audience
absorbs news information and fits it into their personal, cultural viewpoint
(Ardèvol-Abreu). Measuring these news frames, however, are exclusively
found in the selected sample. Any previous study that defines these frames may
not match the standards of this analysis. Using Entman’s news framing, the
news broadcasts will be transcribed and analyzed. This will allow the
researchers to uncover the critical linguistic choices that framed the news
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stories, which would seem natural choice of words or images but vary in
presentation.

Thematic analysis using van Dijk’s Model as a framework will uncover

ideological notions by the news outlets. The significant linguistic features
within the dominant frames of each outlet will shed light on their ideological
philosophies. The “us” and “them” groups are defined as the
public/masses/people and the government respectively. It will be an insightful
experience to discuss the types of existing themes, as well as the methods of
highlighting or mitigating the ingroups and outgroups in news reporting.

Ethical Consideration

The researchers understand that prejudices and predispositions of the

national media groups may affect the contrastive analysis. With a qualitative
approach, personal interpretations may be skewed. To minimize this, each
researcher will present their assessment free from the influence of other
researchers. This way, the objectives of this study and the results will not be
exaggerated or misleading.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Framing Mechanisms

News frames are difficult to detect when one does not have multiple
corpora to contrast. In this case, frames can appear unremarkable on their own,
and word choice may seem unimportant (Entman 6). As an example, by
conducting a comparative analysis of one story from multiple news outlets,
further insight may be gleaned from the seemingly ordinary frames.
Understanding the motive behind the selective presentation is a step toward
grasping the framing methods of such outlets.

In framing, selection and salience have been the pioneering subjects of

emphasis. The conceptualization of framing unvaryingly offers a method to
explicate the impact of a communicating text. Through frames, pieces of
information from a particular subject are selected, thus uplifting them in
salience. The postulation of salience here primarily centers on how to make a
snippet of data more recognizable, significant, or retainable to the consumers.
In elevating salience, the potentiality for information comprehension,
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identifying implications, processing, and stockpiling them in the memory of the

audiences will be magnified (Fiske & Taylor 165).

In concomitance to selection and salience, frames also have the capacity

to divert the direction of the communication into another outlook. Framing is
characterized by what is excluded as well as incorporated, and the deletion of
potential issue definitions, clarification, assessments, and proposals might just
be as pivotal as the inclusions in directing people. Audience perceptions are
inevitably influenced if they discern and process interpreted data with limited
or disparate information about the presented outcomes. The utilization of
frames that underlines reality yet blur specific elements can manifest divided or
dissimilar responses from the consumers. This is why, on these grounds, the
deletion and inclusion of particular information and elements by frames are
essential. Despite that, Entman addresses that even though salience is a result
of the reciprocal influence of words and consumers, as distinguished by the
current researchers, the embedded frames in the words do not collaterally
undertake or have a universal effect on the perception of the consumers
(Entman 54).

Entman identified four framing mechanisms which guided the analysis

discussed in this section: problem definition, causal interpretation, moral
evaluation, and treatment recommendation, to categorize the contrasting
features each news channel possesses.

Problem definition. It recognizes the pioneering agent’s measures of

action with regards to the loss and benefits which are normally estimated by
anchoring to the normal social qualities. This means that the news channel
highlights the events as the problem, which are closely tied to some form of
cultural value that are lost or gained.

Causal interpretation. This mechanism’s function is to diagnose causes.

Alongside the presentation of issues, determining the factors or forces that
drive them to occur is the focal point of this mechanism.

Moral evaluation. It is an assessment of the pioneering agents and their

impact. The creation of moral judgments is highlighted here.

Treatment recommendation. The remedial section in which solution-

oriented texts are provided. This framing mechanism proposes treatments for
the problems at hand and anticipates their probable effects.
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It is important to note that a single text may perform one or more of

these framing mechanisms. Also, a frame in a text may not automatically
involve all these four framing mechanisms (Entman 52).

Consequently, upon reviewing the news stories of each news channel,

the researchers have determined three major content groups: Issue,
Government, and Society. These major content groups are commonly evoked in
the news stories per news channel.

Issue/Problem and Written Restrictions. In this area, news channels

present the issue/s at hand, just like how a standard news story contains.
Furthermore, taking into consideration the nature of the news stories, Written
restrictions are prominent and often highlighted as a causal agent of an issue.
Written restrictions refer to the promulgated list of regulations the government
has issued for society’s consumption.

Government. One of the pioneering entities in each news story is the

government. The constant involvement of the government gave rise to four
news content: The government’s statements (interviews that address the issue/
problem at hand), the government’s response to the problem/issue (interviews
that address the accusations, claims, and condemnation thrown by the people),
the government’s action through policies (the creation of policies to undertake
an issue/problem), and the government’s plan (presenting future
countermeasures to alleviate the issue/problem).

Society. On a similar note, society is also one of the prime entities in the
pandemic news stories. Through a consistent inclusion, five news contents have
arisen upon analysis: Effect on society of the issue/problem (the resulting event
of the issue at hand), Effect on society of the policy (the impact of the
promulgated restrictions on the society), Society’s response to the
problem/issue (statements or events), Society’s response to the government’s
response (a retaliation or an action towards the government’s declarations), and
Society’s response to the policies (a refute or acknowledgment to the policies
established by the government).

As a result of the analysis, the following section discusses the framing

mechanisms utilized by the news media outlets.
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24 Oras

Upon analysis, the moral evaluation framing mechanism is prominent in

the news stories of 24 Oras, because the constant assessment of the pioneering
agents and impacts of the issues are being highlighted. Along with this, they
also have clear and real problem definitions which serve as the basis for the
interpretation of moral judgments. Furthermore, mitigating the gravity of the
problem has been a consistent frame which is why their second dominant
framing mechanism is the treatment recommendation. There is a continuous
inclusion of assurance that the government is doing something to address the
issues. Even with the sequential presentation of problem definition and moral
evaluations, remedial suggestions are persistent, principally in their concluding
statements.

“Silver lining during this time that we are already

seeing this Delta Variant na nakapasok na sa atin
ay siya ring pagdating ng maraming supply ng
bakuna… We will be in a different situation
actually than we were, let’s say, probably noong
beginning of April.”

(We are seeing a silver lining during this time

because we are already seeing this Delta Variant
that has already entered our country, which
coincides with the arrival of plenty of vaccination
supplies… We will actually be in a different
situation than we were, let’s say, probably at the
beginning of April.)

(News story #1: Delta Variant)

Frontline Pilipinas

Parallel to the previous channel, moral evaluation is also the dominant

framing mechanism in the pandemic news of Frontline Pilipinas. The channel
focuses more on the presentation of government presence, procedure, policies,
and their effects on society. They show clear and real problem definitions and
treat moral evaluation as a resulting aspect of the problem at hand. In fact, 24
Oras and Frontline Pilipinas relatively have the same utilized framing
mechanisms. The channel also has the same manner of reducing the weight of
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the problem by providing assurance that the government is taking active

measures to combat COVID-19. They offer remedial statements to assuage the
intensity of the situation and to implicate the existence of government aid in the
procedures.

“Now, kinakailangan po lahat ng biyahero na

papasok po sa ating bayan ay magpakita po ng
katunayan at kinakailangan sumunod sa testing and
quarantine protocols na inaprubahan po ng IATF.”

(Now, it is necessary for all the passengers who will

enter our country to present a certificate, and strictly
follow the testing and quarantine protocols which
are approved by the IATF.)

(News Story #1: Delta Variant)

TV Patrol

Their most dominant frame in all the analyzed news stories under their
channel is the moral evaluation, wherein they focused on the government’s
responses and actions to address the problem or to address their implemented
policies. For example, their presentation of the first news story, which
concentrates on the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) with heightened
restrictions in Metro Manila, highlighted the steps that the government took to
prevent further COVID-19 outbreaks.

However, their anchorperson’s introduction seemingly suggests that the

General Community Quarantine (GCQ) itself is the issue that is negatively
affecting Filipino citizens, and then further establishes that idea during the field
reporter’s account of the policies. Reduced operational capacities for various
services take their toll on the people who feel the immediate effects, such as the
staff members and consumers, despite the increasing number of Delta Variant
cases in the Philippines being the real problem.

Another instance is their third news story. Primarily, the actual issue is
the insufficient reimbursement as compensation in the form of hazard duty pay,
but the news outlet in question (TV Patrol), had a different take on the problem
at hand. According to their report, the issue lies in the government’s responses.
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They provided many interviews and statements that came from the affected
medical organizations and associations.

This brings us to TV Patrol’s second agenda, which is shaping the story

in a way that will almost always include the opinions and thoughts of the
concerned citizens, and capitalize on the viewer’s sympathy.

It can be therefore inferred that deviancy occurred with TV Patrol’s

problem identification because, comparing this frame to other news channels,
TV Patrol almost always differentiates itself by presenting another issue as the
problem. This is what is commonly present in the agenda-setting theory
purported by McCombs and Shaw in 1972 (Alvernia University). The media
sets what agenda the people should concentrate on, which connects with
Entman’s definition on selection and saliency.

A piece that stood out was their second story. They took statements
from four business people regarding the Circuit-Breaker Lockdown (CBL),
then proceeded with government responses on the matter.

It is now clear that this news outlet has a particular way of framing the
problem. Instead of the usual effects of COVID-19 such as the increasing Delta
Variant cases and insufficient hazard pay, they opted to frame the government
and its plans as the culprit. This has major implications for their dominant
framing mechanism.

Comparative Analysis

Upon careful and rigorous analysis of the news stories of each national
news outlet, disparate framing techniques and mechanisms are utilized to
present news stories for people’s consumption. Albeit there is a uniform
similarity in the dominant framing mechanisms, TV Patrol has its unique
display of COVID-19 news.

However, let us venture first on the similitude of 24 Oras and Frontline

Pilipinas. As mentioned above, these two channels have almost the same
presentation and framing mechanism. From the analysis, these two channels
seem to have less aggressivity or a lesser degree of pressure on the
government’s activities upon presenting their problem definitions. They focus
more on the mitigation, displaying the government’s presence in combatting
the COVID-19 outbreak, and presenting causal agents/interpretations as to why
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the issue/problem has come into existence. They do not excessively feature the
issue, but more on the moral evaluation or assessment of the pioneering agents,
their impacts, and emphasis on the salience of the problem definitions.

For instance, on the 2nd news story which is about the General
Community Quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions, TV Patrol’s
coverage highlights more the society’s response to the issue and not the essence
of the promulgated policy. With this, the policy, which was created as a means
of alleviating the increasing cases of COVID-19 in the country, became the
definition of the problem for TV Patrol.

On the other hand, Frontline Pilipinas also featured a representative

from a driving school to relay her sentiments upon the closure of their business.
It was, however, not deemed as a problem but rather the effect. Another
ostensive instance of the differing presentation of problem definitions came
from the 5th news story, which talks about the vaccination stampede.

For 24 Oras and Frontline Pilipinas, their focal issue was on the fake
news (people cannot acquire government aid unless vaccinated) and not on the
stampede, which TV Patrol adamantly portrayed. This can also be verified by
the sources they have on the news story. For TV Patrol, numerous
interviews/statements from the people who lined up in vaccination sites were
displayed. Yet, for 24 Oras and Frontline Pilipinas, the stampede was only the
effect, and the clear problem was the fake news, which is why their sources are
mostly from the government’s account to clarify the false information that has
spread. For TV Patrol, the crowding of people was the problem/issue and,
based on the selection and salience of the people’s sentiments, the government
is the one to blame for the situation.

This disparity underlies the notion that even with the uniformity in the
prominent framing mechanisms, TV Patrol’s presentation of the problem
definition is different compared to the other two national news outlets. As
mentioned above, TV Patrol tends to capitalize on viewers’ sympathy in the
way they frame their news stories. Almost always, the government policies,
plans, and actions to mitigate the outbreak of COVID-19 are countered by the
selection and salience of people’s sentiments.

However, it is not all the time that TV Patrol paints a bad light on the
government. For instance, in the 4th news story: COVID on the ship, the
government was not portrayed negatively. This was also similar to other news
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channels, but this can be explained by the subject matter and the affiliated
organizations of the news stories. Nevertheless, capitalizing on the emotions of
the people is a prominent framing technique of TV Patrol.

In another instance, 24 Oras and Frontline Pilipinas are consistent in

affirming and presenting the trustworthiness of the government’s statements
that the problems are acknowledged and there are active measures to address
such problems. This brings forth a sense of reduced antagonism as it massages
the sore spot of the problem and provides assurance. Although, all of the news
outlets rendered treatment recommendations as one of their framing
mechanisms, the consistent debunking and counterattacking of the
government’s policies, plans, and actions through the inclusivity of society’s
statements in the pandemic news stories of TV Patrol astray them in this
feature.

Ideological Themes

Ideologies represent the unquestionable and fundamental beliefs of a

social group that help distinguish their norms and their values (van Dijk 193).
The discursive strategies that form the Ideological Square have polarized sides.
One side represents the emphasis of the positive representation of us (or the
self-representation) and the negative representation of them (other-
representation), and the other side represents the mitigation of the negative
representation of us and the positive representation of them. Instead of
ideologies, however, the researchers opted for a thematic analysis to determine
the ideological themes that appeared during the analysis of the corpora.

1. Problem definition determines framing. As mentioned earlier, TV Patrol

frames moral evaluation as the problem definition for some of their
news stories. They make it known that the government is the instigator
by displaying more responses coming from the self-representation (the
people; masses) compared to the other-representation (the government).
A straightforward example is the 1st news story, which largely
comprised of information concerning the General Community
Quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions and the LGU’s policies
as the result. It was made abundantly clear that the Frontline Pilipinas
and 24 Oras presented their facts around the Delta Variant as the causal
agent of the issue. In TV Patrol, however, they focused more on the
policies and regulations of the other-representation. It may seem like an
obvious choice to make because viewers would likely be more interested
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in the guideline changes, but they apparently did not highlight the fact
that the people are afraid of the Delta Variant and rather made it seem
that the new protocols are impeding and negatively affecting businesses.
It mitigates the positive impact of said protocols, which is one of the
four strategies that van Dijk mentioned in his Ideological Square
(mitigating the positive representation of them).

2. Selection and salience of information. The presentation of information

through interviews also holds significance. For example, in the 3 rd news
story about the insufficient hazard duty pay, each of the outlets showed
an interview of Nurse Cristy Donguines who speaks for the self-
representation or the us group. In Frontline Pilipinas and 24 Oras, right
after the introductions from their anchor people Raffy Tulfo and Mel
Tiangco respectively, (with Saleema Refran, 24 Oras’s on-the-field-
reporter and her introduction), they began with the interviewee setting
up the situation for the story. Almost all the medical frontliners were
receiving unjust compensation for the risks they take when working, and
they were also outraged by the misallocated funds from the Department
of Health (DOH). By presenting the victim or, in this case, the party that
represents the self, the causal agent of the issue became salient—where
did the funds for the frontliners go?

On the other hand, TV Patrol provided a statement made by Cristy

Donguines, but it was shown at a much later time. This is inferred to be
a form of agenda-setting, given that the outlet in question emphasized
the them group – the government in this scenario, or more specifically
the DOH – as the causal agent rather than the missing funds.

Our 5th news story can also shed light on what info gets selected and
emphasized, all in the hopes of maximizing viewer retention and
manipulation. It covered the mass panic and stampede when fake news
spread which contained rumors about financial aid, among other things.
Frontline Pilipinas and 24 Oras, once again, showed more government
statements and interviews from representatives such as Chairman
Benhur Abalos and Secretary Francisco Duque III. Meanwhile, in TV
Patrol, they focused more on the people, the self-representation, in an
attempt to showcase the agony and the anguish of the us group. This is
another one of the four squares that demonstrates the mitigation of the
negative representation of us group.
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3. Representation of us and them. Lastly, to establish the ideological

themes, we will focus on a specific news story. In the 4 th news story, a
2GO-owned sea vessel had an infected crew due to sudden contact with
the COVID-19 virus. They were told by the Philippine Coast Guard
(PCG) to proceed in quarantine before they can go to shore. To break
away from the usual, all three outlets portrayed the company 2GO as the
other-representation instead of the government. The researchers reached
this conclusion because of the way they painted the said party. It seemed
that the TV Patrol, 24 Oras, and Frontline Pilipinas agreed to stress
2GO’s questionable decisions to handle the situation, and therefore
coincided with the first side of van Dijk’s square, emphasizing the
negative representation of them.

However, this does not automatically mean that the government is the
ingroup, or the self-representation. Although it was not clearly stated by
van Dijk, the researchers infer that the government, in this news story,
plays a different role compared to the other stories. It may be implied
that the outlets are purposefully emphasizing the positive representation
of the government. This may be due to the nature of the report itself, but
the utilized framing mechanisms from each news outlet suggest that this
was the angle they were pushing for the government. Hence, the
researchers deemed it necessary to conclude that the government
represented a neutral group in the 4th story.

The ideological themes that were gleaned from how these three outlets
frame their news are what the researchers assumed as the most interesting in
this discussion during the analysis of each news story. As van Dijk mentioned
in his research, ideologies may not affect the discourse, but they do show the
attitude of the writer or a reporter towards social issues and may voice their
opinion by finding specific angles and emphasizing certain information (van
Dijk 194).

The analysis shows that the most dominant framing mechanism, guided
by the content groups identified during analysis, is the moral evaluation frame.
This is because these news channels tend to focus on the impact of the events
to the masses. To solidify their stories, they conduct interviews with the public
and the government. The common emotion of the former is usually their
frustration toward the latter, while the government tries to alleviate the people’s
concerns on certain policies and events during the COVID-19 outbreak.
 16

However, TV Patrol stands out because of their problem identification.

As established earlier, their angle diverges from the other two news channels,
thereby presenting a different issue. Where Frontline Pilipinas and 24 Oras
focus with the Delta Variant, TV Patrol chooses to emphasize the resulting
policies ordered by the IATF, which then paints those policies in a negative
light.

Consequently, the identified ideological themes give more context in

terms of the self-representation and the other-representation, and that by
emphasizing or mitigating the negatives and the positives of one party or the
other, it accentuates the ideologies present in each news channel.
 17

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