Finalist: National Book Award for Journalism (1998)
MEDIA CORRUPTION is not an easy subject for jorunalistic investigation. In this unprecedented work, Chay Florentino-Hofileña looks at the history of media corruption in the Philippines, probes corrupt practices in the 1990s, and discovers how a free press can be bought.
This study shows that compared to the past, media corruption in the post-Marcos era is costlier, more pervasive, and even more systemic. It is also disturbingly sophisticated, and in some cases, even institutionalized. The organized way in which corruption takes place—through a network of jorunalists reporting to other journalists or to professional public relations or PR people—makes it seem almost like the operation of a criminal syndicate, a mafia of corrupt practitioners.
News for Sale takes a close look at journalistic corruption during the 1998 presidential elections. Its findings are shocking, but it also shows what efforts are being taken to address the problem.
© 1998, 147 pages, ISBN 971-8686-20-7
The book is available at the PCIJ office. For more information, email pcij@pcij.org or call (+632) 4319204.