Crystallising the official narrative: News discourses about the killings from the Philippine government’s campaign against illegal drugs

News media’s construction of crime and drugs can shape and change public perceptions and influence popular acceptance of policy and state responses. In this way, media, through selection of sources and framing of narratives, act as important agents of social control, either independently or indirect...

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Main Authors: Soriano, Cheryll Ruth R., David, Clarissa C., Atun, Jenna Mae
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Published: Animo Repository 2019
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Online Access:https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/1781
https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/faculty_research/article/2780/type/native/viewcontent
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Institution: De La Salle University
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spelling oai:animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph:faculty_research-27802021-07-26T00:53:24Z Crystallising the official narrative: News discourses about the killings from the Philippine government’s campaign against illegal drugs Soriano, Cheryll Ruth R. David, Clarissa C. Atun, Jenna Mae News media’s construction of crime and drugs can shape and change public perceptions and influence popular acceptance of policy and state responses. In this way, media, through selection of sources and framing of narratives, act as important agents of social control, either independently or indirectly by state actors. This article examines how the Philippine government’s anti-drug campaign, and the thousands of deaths resulting from them, has been depicted by the media to the public. We conducted a discourse analysis of television news stories to extract dominant frames and narratives, finding a pattern of over-privileging of State authority as a source, resulting in a monolithic message of justifying the killing of suspects. Furthermore, the ‘event-focused’ slant, which dominates the character of reports by media, inevitably solidifies the narrative that the deaths are a necessary consequence of a national public safety campaign. By relying almost exclusively on this narrative, to the exclusion of alternative frames, the media amplifies and crystallises the state’s narrative. As we critically examine how drugs, drug use and the zero-tolerance policy are positioned through discourse in news texts, the article raises important implications to the ethics and role of journalism in politics and provides explanations relating to crime-reporting norms, values and media organisation realities in the country. © The Author(s) 2019. 2019-01-01T08:00:00Z text text/html https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/1781 https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/faculty_research/article/2780/type/native/viewcontent Faculty Research Work Animo Repository Drug abuse—Philippines--Prevention Communication in drug abuse prevention--Philippines Extrajudicial executions--Philippines Drugs of abuse--Philippines Social Influence and Political Communication
institution De La Salle University
building De La Salle University Library
continent Asia
country Philippines
Philippines
content_provider De La Salle University Library
collection DLSU Institutional Repository
topic Drug abuse—Philippines--Prevention
Communication in drug abuse prevention--Philippines
Extrajudicial executions--Philippines
Drugs of abuse--Philippines
Social Influence and Political Communication
spellingShingle Drug abuse—Philippines--Prevention
Communication in drug abuse prevention--Philippines
Extrajudicial executions--Philippines
Drugs of abuse--Philippines
Social Influence and Political Communication
Soriano, Cheryll Ruth R.
David, Clarissa C.
Atun, Jenna Mae
Crystallising the official narrative: News discourses about the killings from the Philippine government’s campaign against illegal drugs
description News media’s construction of crime and drugs can shape and change public perceptions and influence popular acceptance of policy and state responses. In this way, media, through selection of sources and framing of narratives, act as important agents of social control, either independently or indirectly by state actors. This article examines how the Philippine government’s anti-drug campaign, and the thousands of deaths resulting from them, has been depicted by the media to the public. We conducted a discourse analysis of television news stories to extract dominant frames and narratives, finding a pattern of over-privileging of State authority as a source, resulting in a monolithic message of justifying the killing of suspects. Furthermore, the ‘event-focused’ slant, which dominates the character of reports by media, inevitably solidifies the narrative that the deaths are a necessary consequence of a national public safety campaign. By relying almost exclusively on this narrative, to the exclusion of alternative frames, the media amplifies and crystallises the state’s narrative. As we critically examine how drugs, drug use and the zero-tolerance policy are positioned through discourse in news texts, the article raises important implications to the ethics and role of journalism in politics and provides explanations relating to crime-reporting norms, values and media organisation realities in the country. © The Author(s) 2019.
format text
author Soriano, Cheryll Ruth R.
David, Clarissa C.
Atun, Jenna Mae
author_facet Soriano, Cheryll Ruth R.
David, Clarissa C.
Atun, Jenna Mae
author_sort Soriano, Cheryll Ruth R.
title Crystallising the official narrative: News discourses about the killings from the Philippine government’s campaign against illegal drugs
title_short Crystallising the official narrative: News discourses about the killings from the Philippine government’s campaign against illegal drugs
title_full Crystallising the official narrative: News discourses about the killings from the Philippine government’s campaign against illegal drugs
title_fullStr Crystallising the official narrative: News discourses about the killings from the Philippine government’s campaign against illegal drugs
title_full_unstemmed Crystallising the official narrative: News discourses about the killings from the Philippine government’s campaign against illegal drugs
title_sort crystallising the official narrative: news discourses about the killings from the philippine government’s campaign against illegal drugs
publisher Animo Repository
publishDate 2019
url https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/1781
https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/faculty_research/article/2780/type/native/viewcontent
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