Status : Verified
| Personal Name | Laurence Cagatan Bacia; Gnoiel Edelweiss Quintos Nazal |
|---|---|
| Resource Title | A protracted war of words: how media reported on key events concerning the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army from 2017 to 2026 |
| Date Issued | 30 May 2026 |
| Abstract | The armed struggle of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) remains a polarizing discursive battleground. This study examines how the state-owned Philippine News Agency (PNA), mainstream GMA News Online, alternative news site Bulatlat, and the revolutionary paper, Ang Bayan, frame the state’s counterinsurgency narrative across five key events: the 2017 termination of peace talks, creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC), passing of the Anti-Terrorism Act, death of CPP founder Jose Maria Sison, and the 2026 aerial strafing in Mindoro and Chantal Anicoche’s release. Charmaz’s (2006) Constructivist Grounded Theory and Fairclough’s (1995) Critical Discourse Analysis are utilized to deconstruct linguistic choices, social actors, and the narrative positioning against Shaw’s (2012) Human Rights Journalism (HRJ) framework to examine whether media acknowledge the revolution’s structural roots. Findings show that media ownership dictates ideological alignment. Moreover, findings reveal that media ownership has heavy influence over an outlet’s ideological alignment. PNA acts as an uncritical government mouthpiece lacking HRJ principles, while GMA News Online exhibits superficial “bothsidesism,” relying on elite sources and reducing the conflict to rhetorical sparring. Meanwhile, Bulatlat creates a counter-hegemonic space with high HRJ adherence, focusing on the lived realities of marginalized sectors. Ang Bayan decenters state narrative for ideological mobilization. This research advocates for a structural shift in Philippine journalism. Newsrooms must dismantle capital-centric and source-dependent routines that fail to contextualize the structural roots of why people take up arms. Journalism should fulfill its public service mandate by challenging oppressive and homogenous elite narratives. It must recenter the lived realities of communities and interrogate the systemic inequalities |
| Degree Course | BA Journalism |
| Language | English |
| Keyword | Constructivist Grounded Theory, Critical Discourse Analysis, Human Rights Journalism, CPP-NPA, Counterinsurgency; Constructivist Grounded Theory; Critical Discourse Analysis; Human Rights Journalism; CPP-NPA; Counterinsurgency |
| Material Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
Preliminary Pages
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Category : F - Regular work, i.e., it has no patentable invention or creation, the author does not wish for personal publication, there is no confidential information.
Access Permission : Open Access