Up close: ABS-CBN’s New York Festivals 2012 bets

By Andrew Jonathan S. Bagaoisan

(UPDATED April 18) Adversity, struggle, triumph, and a desire for change.

These are the real-life stories of ordinary Filipinos–as told by the country’s TV news organizations–that earned nods this year from the reputable New York Festivals (NYF) International Television and Film Awards.

Sixteen entries from the Philippines were picked for the competition shortlist along with hundreds of finalists from more than 30 countries.

They include documentaries on conditions faced by the poor, TV specials that relived the country’s historical moments, profiles of unique lives, and programs that searched for solutions to the nation’s woes.

Five entries from ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs were recognized this year.

They vied for the competition’s Gold, Silver, and Bronze World Medal trophies, which were awarded on April 17  in Las Vegas (the morning of April 18 Manila time). During the ceremony, one debut entry (Krusada, see below) snagged a medal.

Leading the pack is prime-time newscast TV Patrol‘s broadcast during the onslaught of tropical storm Juaning on July 26, 2011, which is nominated for the best newscast.

Remembrance: A year back at the massacre site

(Shot by Anjo Bagaoisan)

AMPATUAN, MAGUINDANAO–The morning heat stung on the faces of the throng trekking the leveled dirt road across this remote hill.

Many came by the truckloads from other towns and were likely dropped off at the dirt road’s entrance, a left turn from the national highway. There police officers filtered the vehicles that came in.

For every truck that passed through, dozens scrambled to hitchhike and save the long, hot, and arduous walk hundreds of others made.

The sight was unlikely in this area before. Few dared come here by themselves, a thing explained by the heavy security presence.

(Shot by Anjo Bagaoisan)

Yet we still asked as our van rolled up and down and further inward, why would many, especially locals, brave the weather and the hanging danger?

The sheer number of people and the prominence of the event somehow assured us that nothing grave would catch us.

As the shed built over the site drew near, we saw a few thatched huts scattered along rather-tended greenery. Whether anyone lived in them, we weren’t sure.

If there were, could they have witnessed the gruesome end of 58 people diverted here exactly a year before? And if they had, were they silenced forcefully, or worse, permanently?

(Shot by Anjo Bagaoisan)

We came here a year ago, when the nation’s memory centered for one day on a southern sitio named Masalay and on the worst political crime of recent history done here.

This year, journalists, locals, and families of the slain again converged on this area to remember. The place has undergone a makeover, and the country has seen game-changing events of its own.

Yet like the circumstances of the first year, those commemorating two years since the Ampatuan massacre have only seen the slow pace of justice.

Ground shots, top shots

Live from Isabela, Day 2

CAUAYAN CITY, ISABELA–A call from Manila woke us up to a clear sky and a cool breeze. A relief from the darkness.

The provincial capitol was surrounded by open fields, baring a panorama of the devastation we came to the night before.

We had dozed off at our car seats. For the long haul of that night, five hours of shuteye wasn’t enough. But it was probably the sleep of the dead.

Instant cup noodles was only what my teammates could buy for dinner at 10 p.m. I rarely ate them, yet the hot La Paz Batchoy soup gladly filled a stomach that hadn’t eaten a meal since 9 in the morning.

No, Jeff Canoy and I did not take one grain of the lugaw Sagip Kapamilya fed the locals.

Jeff and his team “forced” a Jollibee store in Cauayan to serve Chickenjoy just when they were about to close. They had driven 30 minutes to the city, where a hotel and electricity awaited. The manager saw them and insisted letting them in.

The Manila news desk wanted Jeff back in Ilagan by morning and reporting live for Umagang Kay Ganda‘s 6 a.m. newscast.

Common for election and out-of-town disaster coverages: you and your material will likely go on the air for breakfast, lunch, merienda, dinner, and the midnight snack.

August to August: A first year of firsts

The yellow flowers kept coming.

August 1, 2010 was no ordinary Sunday. For one, duty called. Work that day also reminded me how pregnant with remembrance it was.

A year ago was my first day as a professional. That August 1 too, marked the first post to my WordPress blog. And that August 1 was the day that changed the course of this country’s history.

It began with Tita Cory.

The nation was in vigil for her as I was applying for a job. When I got in, they told us we would start on August 1 or when death claimed the former President, whichever came first.

Both came on the same day and became the topic of that hastily written first entry.

I was assigned this August 1 to Manila Memorial Park, where Tita Cory lay.

Much has happened since that historic wake and funeral: a set of fierce typhoons; a campaign and election of firsts and surprises; and to top it all, the rise to power of a President who would not have been there had that August 1 not happened.

This blog recorded it all.

PROBE nation

“This instrument can teach, it can illuminate, yes, and it can even inspire. But, it can only do so to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.”

–journalism luminary Edward R. Murrow on television, 1958

Today, not many TV shows here aim for that potential. And the best and eldest of them has just pulled the plug, after 24 years of teaching, illuminating, inspiring, and giving currency to one word: Probing.

It was first a spark in the dark, conceived in the uncharted information void after EDSA 1.

The Probe Team has since outlived the competitors it set off, produced many of the industry’s best people, recorded history, and stayed true to its brand of hard-hitting yet ethical journalism.

Probe pioneered the news magazine in the Philippines when TV public affairs consisted mostly of studio talk.

First popularized by CBS’s 60 Minutes, the format meant sections (or segments) of topics varying from the serious to the light.

One just need look at today’s most-watched current affairs shows to see Probe’s influence, like weekend magazines Failon Ngayon, Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho, and Rated K.

Inaugural patrol

TV technical people are the unsung heroes of coverage–”first in and last out.” I heard that tag not from anyone in the industry, but from a teacher I met in one of our early-morning features.

While confined to Metro Manila, the many live points of one TV station covering the biggest event of 6 years have to share the same limited reserved space with other stations and other media.

A big deference, of course, to broadcast–them with their OB (outside broadcast) vans, satellites, microwave dishes, scaffolds, lights, cameras, cables, computers, PAs, and staff.

And for an event scheduled for 10 a.m., our live teams were in place at the Quirino Grandstand, Malacañan Palace, Times Street, and Quezon Memorial Circle as early as midnight of June 30–President Benigno Aquino III’s inaugural day.

This inauguration marks my first entry to the presidential palace. Our team spent the previous day waiting to park, getting permits, and then drawing lots with reps from Channels 4, 5, and 7 for setup space.

Each reporter was only allowed to report within those blue borders.

You don’t easily set up in Malacañan. You go through layers of coordination with the Presidential Security Group (PSG) and Radio-Television Malacañang (RTVM). A third of that is done from the office, a third via phone, and a third on-site.

Only one live camera per network reporter is allowed inside the Malacañan driveway. All the stations’ vans need to hook up to RTVM, the sole team with cameras inside.

Anyone who watched the President’s historic walk up the Palace staircase live saw the same shot, regardless of the channel.

Virtual wars (or Leveled up election coverage)

Live from Maguindanao Day 19
4 days after Halalan 2010

SHARIFF AGUAK, MAGUINDANAO–When they monitored how the 2007 polls were covered, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility wrote: “For their efforts alone, the three TV stations –ABC 5, ABS-CBN 2, and GMA 7 — took election coverage to a new level. They made the coverage of the 2010 elections something to look forward to.”

And indeed, the TV networks did not disappoint.

In May 2010, they fused hi-tech form and relevant substance to mark the first time many Filipinos used machines to count their votes.

It’s not just the much ballyhooed “Star Wars”-like effects that have captured viewers and reignited debates among Kapamilya and Kapuso fans. More notable was the increased focus on context, issues, voter education, and citizen empowerment.

After all, the 2010 polls have been called a crossroads in Philippine politics, held at the twilight of a long and controversial presidency, with the youngest, more socially conscious, and most technologically-connected populace participating.

Tech coups

Viewers on election day raved about the ABS-CBN Halalan war room suggestive of NASA. GMA 7, like ABS, boasted heavy partnerships and widespread deployments, and a revitalized channel, TV5, showed how it could compete with the two.

Unlike the cellphone-ruled 2001 and 2007 elections, 2010 was the first one dominated by online social media.

Tips, complaints, jokes, and comments on Twitter and Facebook filled airtime. ABS-CBN led the surge with its multi-platform “Boto Mo Ipatrol Mo” campaign.

Plus, the networks gave audiences a visual treat.

Each had touch screens showing everything from candidate profiles to citizen journalists’ reports to 3D diagrams of the election process and results.

The coup was augmented reality. The term refers to blending realistic computer-generated images with news presentation, thus “augmenting” the viewing experience–not unlike movie special effects.