Ethical Issues Raised Over ABS-CBN Partnership With Prime Media

A veteran journalist questioned the recently announced partnership between ABS-CBN and Prime Media Holdings Inc. as the struggle for the Kapamilya network to keep its businesses afloat continues after losing its franchise during the previous administration.

Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) trustee Vergel Santos said this latest move from the broadcast media giant raises serious ethical concerns in journalism, considering the business and political ties of Prime Media to incumbent House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

“It is obvious enough that this alliance is struck precisely to further mutual interests. One gains political power and the other gains media power,” Santos said in a virtual interview with “The Big Story,” which aired on One News last Wednesday, May 24.

With this development, Santos said the public can expect news stories from the network to be friendly not only towards the Romualdezes, but the people in power, in general. He noted that this is a problem that has plagued other media organizations as well.

“There is no need to test whether ABS-CBN would be able to withstand, you know, the demands of its majority owners when it comes to the treatment of the news… I mean, if it were to stick religiously with basic media ethics, it should not be in partnership at all with a political power,” he said.

Earlier this week, ABS-CBN announced that it is entering into a joint venture with Prime Media “for the purpose of developing, producing and financing content, programs and shows for distribution by other broadcast networks, channels or platforms, locally and internationally.”

Prime Media, which has a congressional franchise, will have a controlling stake of 51 percent in the joint venture, while ABS-CBN will have a stake of 49 percent.

The partnership was announced after ABS-CBN confirmed that it is ceasing the operations of TeleRadyo by June 30, citing financial losses.

Political interests, media

Under our current laws, Santos said no politician is prohibited from owning a media company, among other business interests. And even if such provision does exist, the CMFR official noted it is easy to skirt around it anyway through the articles of incorporation of a particular company.

“Evidence is rife that people in political power themselves own media companies. Even those in the local governments, there are politicians who own newspapers, radio and television stations. This is an ethical issue,” Santos said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Nevertheless, the veteran journalist believes there are Filipinos who are smart enough to discern which news stories are slanted to serve a particular agenda. “Makikita at makikita ng tao ‘yan dahil (People are definitely gonna notice that because) the proof of the pudding is in the eating,” he said.

“Observe how news is being presented in a news organization. You will see that. I myself, when I was working as an editor back in the day, somehow I could quickly detect where a story aligns itself once I saw the copy… It’s tough to conceal,” Santos said.

Last year, ABS-CBN tried to brokered a similar partnership agreement with Media Quest Holdings, the company that owns TV5 Network and Cignal. But the deal broke down after earning loud criticisms from the same set of lawmakers who voted against renewing the franchise of the Kapamilya network.

When the broadcast media giant struck the same deal with Prime Media, there were no complaints from the ruling power all of a sudden, which Santos finds no longer surprising. He observed that this option has always been part of the discussions early on.

“I think there have already been talks about it from the start because I don’t see any serious objections from the ruling power. But there will be criticisms from the opponents of the ruling power, especially now that, as I’ve said, there seems to be a very serious realignment of forces within the ruling power,” Santos said.

This “realignment of forces” refers to the alliance of Romualdez and his cousin, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and the coalition of Vice President Sara Duterte and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who recently lost her senior deputy speaker role in the House of Representatives.

“Remember that what the ABS-CBN lacked before, which made them lose their franchise is political power. It happened to have fallen out of favor with the ruling power at the time. So, now they are partnering with the ruling power itself,” Santos said.

“This means ABS-CBN is clearly betting on the one who is in power right now… They are probably hoping that one day, they will wake up and they are getting their franchise back. You’ll never know,” the CMFR official added.