Bookshop

Cockfight, Horserace, Boxing Match:
Why Elections are Covered as Sport

Media coverage of elections, in the Philippines and elsewhere, has been criticized for its superficiality. Critics have noted the propensity of the media, particularly television, to focus on personalities rather than issues and platforms. The media, it has been said, are consumed by the horserace or cockfight aspect of the campaign. Journalists cover elections as sport: Their reporting focuses on who’s leading and who’s losing out.

The Rulemakers

This book tells the story of the Philippine legislature by examining the men and women who make up that body. It looks at their demographic characteristics (age, gender, education, profession), their assets and sources of wealth, and also their family lineage.

The PCIJ Guide to Government

This book is intended to be a road map. a manual, a guidebook to those who wish to understand how various branches and agencies of government work. Understanding government is key for any citizen who has to deal with the state and its various instrumentalities — whether it is to obtain information, to assert his/her rights, to demand accountability, or simply to satisfy his/her curiosity.

Investigating Corruption:
A Do-It-Yourself Guide

The book is part of a series of manuals that the PCIJ has been publishing since 1995, is a how-to manual that instructs those interested in corruption—whether they are journalists, activists, government officials, academics, researchers, or plain concerned citizens—how to probe various forms of malfeasance.

Investigating Corruption is a user-friendly manual that is based largely on the experiences of PCIJ journalists. Among others, it gives tips on investigating officials, including checking their assets, lifestyles, and behavior. A special section in the book describes how the PCIJ uncovered former President Estrada’s millions and mansions.

Memory of Dances

This is the story of the Tagbanua of Coron, Palawan, the Bugkalot and Igorot of Nueva Vizcaya, and the Manobo of Mount Apo. All of them are impoversihed peoples ranged against forces much more powerful than they — mining in Nueva Vizcaya, mass tourism in Palawan, a geothermal plant on Mount Apo. In all these places, the viability of indigenous communities is being challenged by business entities and government agencies, by the ever-increasing intrusion of the market and the state.

The Right to Know: Access to Information in Southeast Asia

PUBLISHED jointly by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa), this book examines the state of the media in these countries and the obstacles faced by journalists and citizens who wish to obtain access to public records.

The book includes the findings of a cross-country survey that ranked the countries according to their openness. The Philippines and Thailand rank as the most transparent countries in Southeast Asia. Cambodia is third, although citizens rarely attempt to obtain information from the government, which they think is authoritarian and inaccessible Moreover, the information infrastructure is in shambles after the ravages of the Khmer Rouge.

Drugs, Death and Disease:
Reporting on AIDS in Southeast Asia

THE MEDIA tend to sensationalize AIDS, often focusing on the more scandalous aspects of the private lives of those with HIV/AIDS victims, without shedding light on the complexity of the contagion. Often, those with the disease are portrayed as the culprits behind the spread of the disease, thus contributing to the social ostracism that people with AIDS suffer. Sometimes, reporters even get it wrong, propagating wrong notions about the disease and contributing to the public’s misinformation about HIV/AIDS.

Even when journalists get it right and take a more holistic view, they have tended to look at the epidemic in a one-dimensional way: as a public health problem, or as an issue related to the sex industry, drug use or military prostitution. AIDS is all of these, but also more than all of these. To succeed in the battle against AIDS, the epidemic must be viewed in a multidimensional way, as a phenomenon rooted in society and tightly linked to social ills.

Investigating Local Governments:
A Manual for Reporters

THIS MANUAL attempts to provide journalists with a local governance roadmap that would guide them in their day-to-day coverage of the news. But it is useful to others as well -officials, researchers, activists and ordinary citizens who wish to know more about governance at the local level.

This book begins with a scrutiny of the community press and its unique features and problems. It then dissects how local governments work (or are supposed to work) and includes helpful hints on how journalists can make sense of what is going on at the local level. In a simple but exhaustive discussion on local fiscal administration, one of the chapters shows how reporters and citizens can follow the money trail in their pursuit of wrongdoing. Another chapter focuses on the basic services that have been devolved to local government units, and points out the kinds of leads and sources a reporter can use to explain all these to the average reader.

Special Interest Books

Pipol Power Uli! (2001)

The Ultimate Textbook: An I Book (2000)

Joke ni Erap: A Jokebook to Support Serious Journalism (1999)

Investigating Estrada

Finalist: National Book Award for Journalism (2000)

THE PHILIPPINE Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) began its research on President Joseph Estrada’s wealth in the first quarter of 2000. The direction of our research was determined by what could be documented. Thus, one track of our investigation focused on the acquisition of real estate and the construction of houses. The second track focused on the formation of corporations by members of President Estrada’s various families.

« Older Entries | Newer Entries »

In the 15 years since its founding, the PCIJ, has published more than a dozen books and produced several full-length documentaries, many of which have won major awards and citations, including five National Book Awards and a Catholic Mass Media Award.

For more information on our books, email pcij@pcij.org or call (+632) 4319204.

Categories