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The Compass: Media Front: Media Front: Philippines

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Maria Ressa - Journalist and CEO of Rappler

04/09/2019 GMT

Media Front: Philippines

Media Front

BBC World Service - The Compass, Media Front, Media Front: Philippines

How journalists in the Philippines are fighting back against challenges to press freedom

How journalists in the Philippines are fighting back against challenges to press freedom.

It has been three years since Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte won a landslide victory off the back of a promise to wipe out drug abuse. Since then thousands of people have been killed in his so called "war on drugs" and the president stands accused of personally spearheading an attack against critical voices in the media. 

Former international correspondent Andrea Catherwood takes us to the frontline of the battle for press freedom in the country. She goes behind the scenes at Rappler, one of the countries most popular online news sites, to meet CEO Maria Ressa, who faces a lengthy prison term if convicted under libel law, in a case she claims is politically motivated. Ed Lingao, a television news anchorman and one of the most well known faces in the Philippines, shares his experience of being accused of being part of a plot to bring down the president. And with the country's biggest television network ABS-CBN awaiting congressional approval and presidential sign-off of its franchise renewal, press freedom advocate Melinda de Jesus considers the impact of President Duterte’s public spat with the media giant. 
 
Andrea is joined by Columbia Journalism School’s Emily Bell and Richard Heydarian, Filipino political analyst and author of The Rise of Duterte: A Populist Revolt of Elite Democracy. Together they examine the allegations against the administration and the media and find out how journalists in the Philippines are adapting to the challenges and fighting back.

Producer: Emily Williams
Executive producer: Will Yates

(Photo: Filipina journalist Maria Ressa, CEO of online news outfit Rappler, participates in a protest by press and media groups calling for press freedom in Manila, Philippines. Credit: Getty Images)

The Compass: Media Front

Andrea Catherwood examines the big global issues facing journalism and the media in 2019.

Former International Correspondent for CNBC and ITN Andrea Catherwood presents a major series of four programmes examining the big global issues facing journalism and the media in 2019.

Journalism around the world is under pressure like never before. Hostility to the mainstream media is increasing, with established outlets losing credibility and legitimacy across the globe. Meanwhile, digital disruptors and purveyors of fake news are deliberately trying to undermine democratic processes. 
Whatever is going on, it's clear that worldwide media is changing rapidly. Television, traditional press and advertising face daunting challenges internationally as new habits of consumption threaten the very business model on which they’re based. 
In this series Media Front will investigate and debate the new world which media and journalism has to work in, and the intersections that threaten to derail them.

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