The weekend is normally a light day for journalists.
But on Saturday, July 22, the House of Representatives and the Senate conducted a joint session to decide the fate of Martial Law in Mindanao. The unexpected event forced a select number of news organizations to go to work in the most unusual of circumstances.
While CNN Philippines, DZMM TeleRadyo and the ABS-CBN News Channel were able to allocate several hours’ worth of coverage, the same cannot be said for GMA News TV and PTV-4. Neither network came out prepared for this special event, and remained in true weekend mode with regular programming and a minimalist workforce.
As for News5, they opted to air the joint session online instead of traditional media. Finally, on the AM radio side, only DZBB, DZMM and DZXL covered this special occasion.
It is possible that the lack of participation of a few networks is due to their intensive preparations leading up to Monday’s SONA. After all, the latter event is by far the most important as far as they are concerned.
Still, Saturday’s joint session is just as important, because the decision regarding Martial Law could either make or break Mindanao. Too bad only a few networks were serious enough to comprehend.
From the Tube 
Do you expect PTV to cover the ongoing joint session? They’re still the Presidential Mouthpiece — not a Congressional one, 43 years and counting. Although, the PCOO does a livestream in the social media but they are infiltrated by the ka-DDS group.
But I am alarmed with News TV come Monday. They missed two consecutive SONAs. GNTV, don’t get a third or YOU’RE FIRED! Better rename their channel. GNTV die-hard defenders, beware.
PTV may be the so-called ‘government station’, but that bias defeats their overall purpose. Unfair to state the fact but they’re no C-Span, VOA or the U.S. PBS unless Martin Andanar changes the way PTV (and the Philippines’ PBS) is being perceived.
As for GNTV, I’ll give it a slim 10% chance at this point. Nothing says mediocrity more than that network.
Some good news though, GMA News TV will cover the SONA after two years of absence. Coverage begins at 3:10 p.m. tomorrow. I’m reasonably assured it might be a separate feed.
Better that but best if in simulcasts like ABS-CBN and S+A!
They’re actually looking to emulate ABS’ method of separate multiplatform coverage (Channel 2, ANC, DZMM) even though both Channel 7 and Channel 11 are on free TV.
How about DZRH? Althrough inanounce na po ang coverage ng SONA sa Brigada….
Unfortunately, they did so inconsistently. When I tuned in to 666, they were playing a radio drama instead of airing the joint session. However, DZRH TV did air the session, albeit in the same inconsistent fashion as its radio counterpart.
Of course inuuna pa rin ang blocktimers at yung TV shopping na pinagmamayabang nung isang opisyal ng PTV na nagpapasuweldo sa kanila
That alone is unbecoming of a government station na supposedly balanced dapat ang scope. I wonder when will RTVM branch out on their own to create a TV channel na ala-C-Span or VOA. At this point PTV’s priorities are too confusing.
Speaking of priorities, PTV will formally launch Salaam TV in their digital subchannel today — one of the fulfilled promises of the President in last year’s SONA.
Unfortunately, only one subchannel is left as they have a 1seg channel. My hunch is that that the last subchannel would be like C-Span but it will be more on the histories and coverages of the Presidency.
It’s unfortunate that Congress is being left out here. They do stream their sessions on YouTube but they still require TV and radio presence to reach out to a bigger audience. Too bad PTV is more of a ‘President’s channel’ than a government one, and it showed yesterday.