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Frequently Asked Questions


1. What is MOM?

The “Media Ownership Monitor” (MOM) has been developed as a mapping tool in order to create a publicly available, continuously updated database that lists owners of all relevant mass media outlets (press, radio, television sectors and online media).

MOM aims to shed light on the risks to media pluralism caused by media ownership concentration for more information: Methodology. In order to grasp the national characteristics and detect risk-enhancing or risk-reducing factors for media concentration, MOM also qualitatively assesses the market conditions and legal environment.

2. Who is behind MOM?

MOM has been proposed and launched by Reporter ohne Grenzen e. V. – the German section of the international human rights organization Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), that aims to defend freedom of the press and the right to inform and be informed anywhere in the world.

In 2019, the project was spun-off to the Global Media Registry (GMR), an independent, non-for profit social enterprise registered under German law.

In each country, GMR cooperates with a local partner organization. In the Philippines, GMR worked with VERA Files. The project is funded by the German Embassy, Manila. 

3. Where can I download this report?

The website affords a PDF download containing all website content. The PDF is automatically generated and thus updated on a daily base. It exists for all website languages. In order to generate the PDF, scroll down to the website footer, choose your preferred language and “Download complete website as PDF”.

4. Why is transparency of media ownership important?

Media pluralism is a key aspect of democratic societies as free, independent, and diverse media reflect divergent viewpoints and allow criticism of people in power. Risks to diversity of ideas are caused by media market concentration, when only a few players exert dominant influence on public opinion and raise entrance barriers for other players and perspectives (media ownership concentration). The biggest obstacle to fight it is lack of transparency of media ownership: How can people evaluate the reliability of information, if they don´t know who provides it? How can journalists work properly, if they don´t know who controls the company they work for? And how can media authorities address excessive media concentration, if they don´t know who is behind the media´s steering wheel?

MOM thus aims to create transparency and to answer the question “who eventually controls media content?” in order to raise public awareness, to create a fact base for advocacy to hold political and economic players accountable for the existing conditions.

As we consider ownership transparency as a crucial precondition to enforce media pluralism, we document the openness of media companies/outlets to provide information on their ownership structure. Considering their answers, we distinguish different levels of transparency – which is indicated for each media outlet and media company on their profile.

Media owner’s motivation to remain hidden or even actively disguise their investments can vary from legitimate to illegal and be rooted in personal, legal or business-related reasons – or a mix thereof, in extreme cases even including criminal offenses like tax evasion or breaches of anti-trust laws.

Some of those reasons include the following:

  • In several countries, media ownership is restricted by law in order to avoid concentration. So, if one individual wants to extend his or her media empire beyond these limits, proxy owners and/or shell companies registered abroad, even off-shore, are frequently being used.
  • Sometimes, media owners receive personal threats or face other dangers either originating from governments or competing businesses and therefore decide to remain unknown to protect themselves.
  • In many cases, media ownership is intertwined with undue political and / or economic interests, even more so if individuals involved hold public office and do not want to disclose such a conflict of interests.
  • In rare cases, the disguise of media ownership happens unintentionally because over time and through mergers and acquisitions, corporate structures became so complex that the original beneficial owner is difficult to identify.
  • Last but not least, there are ‘normal’ – i. e. non-media-related reasons for owners to hide, such as tax avoidance.

5. What kind of concentration regulation does MOM suggest?

MOM doesn’t make normative statements – it doesn’t suggest how to regulate media ownership. Which form of media concentration regulation can work, depends on the country context, the existing legal and market conditions, the ownership landscape.

MOM provides a transparency tool to enforce a democratic discussion on that issue as well as good governance: decisions are likely to be of higher quality and to better reflect the needs and wishes of the people if they have access to adequate information and broad consultations, with views and opinions freely shared.

6. How is data collected and validated?

Official data from government and media companies and/or sources with a high level of reliability and trust were used. All sources used are listed in the profiles, while data and documents are uploaded in the Library

The Phlippine MOM team purchased audience data from Nielsen (Philippines), a reputable multinational audience measurement, data and analytics firm, to identify the top television, radio, print, and online outlets. 

The researchers also used the Digital News Report (DNR) 2023 for the Philippine media landscape of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism as secondary audience data source to add special interest media outlets that did not figure in Nielsen’s measurement. The survey results on the top media sources from the DNR helped to complete the list of top performing outlets per media category.

Meanwhile, information to complete ownership structures, and on shareholders and financial statements of media companies and individual owners were purchased from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other documents were directly sourced from the official corporate websites of several media outlets, while those of publicly-listed media companies were obtained from public disclosures to the Philippine Stock Exchange website.  

When not publicly available, information was directly requested from media companies, government agencies and research institutes. Only the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation and ABS-CBN Corporation agreed to be interviewed by the research team. 

However, the research team was not able to identify all of the ultimate beneficial owners of media companies due to the SEC’s policy that restricts public access to beneficial ownership declaration (BOD) forms submitted by companies. 

“We want to note that Section 3 of SEC Memorandum Circular No. 15, Series of 2019, specifically provides that the Beneficial Ownership Declaration page of the GIS shall not be uploaded to the Commission’s publicly accessible electronic database and shall be made accessible in a timely manner to competent authorities for law enforcement and other lawful purposes,” the SEC Anti-Money Laundering Division said in a Dec. 12, 2023 email response to the team. 

“This is to protect the rights of the people whose personal and sensitive personal information is stated on the BOD page, if any, adhering to the Data Privacy Act.” 

In order to guarantee objective evaluation and verify the data, the MOM Team worked with an advisory group who shared insights on the selection of the top media outlets and suggested ways to improve the research process. It was composed of five specialists with substantial knowledge and experience in the fields of media and communication. 

The following are the members of the advisory board: 

  1. Yvonne Chua, associate professor at University of the Philippines (Diliman)-College of Communication. She is the author of the DNR 2023 report. 

  2. Ariel Sebellino - executive director, Philippine Press Institute.

  3. Luz Rimban - journalism professor and executive director of Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo De Manila University. 

  4. Jeremiah M. Opiniano - journalism/communication professor and director of University of Santo Tomas’ Research Center for Social Sciences and Education. 

  5. Elizabeth L. Enriquez - professor emeritus of broadcasting at University of the Philippines (Diliman)-College of Mass Communication. 

7. How is "most relevant media" defined?

The main question asked was: which media outlets influence the opinion-forming process?

In order to scan all relevant media, all traditional media categories (print, radio, television and online) were included.

The outlets were selected based on the following criteria:

  • Audience reach as measured by MOM focused mostly on media with the highest reach, measured by audience share and/or claimed media consumption. The basis for selection of top performing outlets per media sector were audience research data purchased from Nielsen (Philippines) through its Media Landscape Report for Quarter 2, 2023, as well as the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s Digital News Report for 2023. 
  • News worthiness and opinion content. The study focuses on general information with a national focus. As such, media with specific thematic focus (music, sports), social networks, search engines and advertisement were excluded.

Based on these criteria, the team identified the top 10 outlets for television, 11 for radio, 14 for print, and 11 for online as part of the research samples for a total of 46 media outlets. Shedding light on these most relevant media outlets indicated tendencies in media concentration. More media outlets were and will be added -- if they prove to be relevant in terms of their owner or of their influence on public opinion (read more on question No. 8 “How are the Media Outlets selected?”).

8. How are the media outlets selected?

The top 10 television stations were primarily selected based on their nationwide audience reach from Nielsen’s Philippine National Television Audience Measurement for the second quarter of 2023, which utilized electronic monitoring devices to gauge viewership. Out of the top 10 TV stations measured by Nielsen, only six (GMA, TV5, GTV, A2Z, Kapamilya Channel and One PH) fit in the criteria for the MOM project. The MOM team, in consultation with the advisory group, decided to add four more outlets based on the survey results of the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report (DNR) 2023 that are viewed as relevant in the TV market: CNN Philippines, PTV-4, Net 25, and UNTV. 

The top 11 radio stations were selected based on Nielsen's Mega Manila Radio Audience Measurement for AM stations (Quarter 2, 2023). The MOM team decided to prioritize AM stations for the research sample because their programming is mostly focused on news and public affairs unlike FM stations, which most broadcast music or entertainment-oriented shows. However, one in the top 10 AM radio stations (the Iglesia ni Cristo-owned DZEM 954) in the Nielsen data was excluded for not fitting the criteria. To complete the list, DWPM Radyo 630 and 92.3 True FM (Radyo5) were considered as special interest outlets.  

DWPM Radyo 630, a new player in the radio market that launched in June 2023, is co-owned by the former leading broadcaster ABS-CBN Corporation. Meanwhile, 92.3 True FM (Radyo5) was added for being one of the rare stations in the FM bandwidth that mainly produce news-centric programs.  

The top 14 newspapers were selected based on their nationwide audience share according to Nielsen’s Consumer and Media View (CMV) for Quarter 2, 2023. The survey firm’s CMV is based on claimed media habits of its 10,067 respondents and not on daily circulation of newspapers, which is why the tabloid Balita still appeared among top dailies despite stopping its print edition in 2021. 

The team also based its list of top 11 online news websites on Nielsen's CMV and Reuters’ DNR 2023. Because Nielsen only came up with a list of top 7 news websites (GMA News, ABS-CBN News, Philippine Star, inquirer.net, Manila Bulletin and Rappler) due to statistical thresholds not met by other websites; five more news websites (CNNPhilippines.com, news.tv5.com.ph, smninewschannel.com, Manila Times Online and dzrh.com.ph) were added based on the DNR. 

9. Why the Philippines?

The Philippines ranked 132 out in 180 countries in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporter without Borders, which ranks nations on indicators such as media independence, self-censorship, rule of law, transparency, and abuses.

This result points at the problems that the Philippines are facing related to press freedom, which includes a problematic relation to media pluralism, media independence and transparency. At the time of the MOM Philippines 2016, the Philippines 138 out of 180 countries in the RSF Index. Since the previous edition, significant changes such as ABS-CBN being denied its franchise renewal, the election of a new president, and a notable shift to online news consumption have impacted the media ecosystem. 

It highlights the need to reevaluate the risk of media ownership concentration in the Philippines.

Moreover, with an experienced civil society organization like Vera files, running the project for the second time, a successful implementation of MOM Philippines 2023 was made possible. 

10. Does the MOM only exist for the Philippines?

MOM was developed as a generic methodology that can be universally applied – and potentially will be. Notwithstanding that media concentration trends are observable worldwide; implementation and analysis will first take place in developing countries. MOM has been implemented in around 20 countries over the course of three years. All country projects can be found on the global website.

11. What are the limitations of the study?

  • Economic data: Market concentration based on market share could not be calculated for online and radio since financial statements were not always outlet specific or outlets are not always registered, i.e. had general revenues from other businesses.
  • Official audience measurement data is not publicly available; it is being sold by research companies, and the data provided is conflicted and contested by some media owners and experts.
  • Some investigations, particularly into the diverse local markets as well as into more hidden ownership structures would require more time and resources.
  • Public spending / advertising for media is not transparent. It is impossible to identify public funds spent on media, because they are not always clearly labelled as advertising.

12. Who do we target?

The data base 

  • allows each citizen to get informed on the media system in general;
  • creates a fact base for civil society’s advocacy efforts to further promote public consciousness on media ownership and concentration;
  • serves as a point of reference for consulting competition authorities or governmental bodies when establishing suitable regulatory measures to safeguard media pluralism.

13. What happens next?

The database is a snapshot of the current situation, contextualized by historical facts. We aim at updating the website, depending on the situation. New country editions are being added frequently.

14. Are there similar projects?

The Media Ownership Monitor is mainly inspired by two similar projects. Especially the indicators for a later ranking rely heavily on the EU-funded Media Pluralism Monitor of the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) at the European University Institute (EUI, Florence). Moreover, Media Pedia, an ownership database developed by investigative journalists in Macedonia served as inspiration for the Media Ownership Monitor. An overview over other similar projects can be found in the table below. 

ORGANIZATION

DESCRIPTION

Acess Info 

A Spanish NGO that works in the field of media ownership transparency in several European countries.

Article 19

An NGO which works in the field of press freedom. It implements media concentration projects.

Deutsche Welle

The Media Freedom Navigator of Deutsche Welle provides an overview of different media freedom indices.

European Audiovisual Observatory

A database of television and audiovisual services in Europe.

European Journalism Center

 

The Website provides a summary and analysis of the state of the media in Europe and neighbouring countries.

 

European University Institute in Florence

The Media Pluralism Monitor assesses risks for media pluralism in the EU Member States.

IFEX

The network provides information of the state of the media in many countries.

IREX

The Media Sustainability Index (MSI) provides analyses of the conditions for independent media in 80 countries.

mediaUk

The Website provides information about media ownership in Great Britain.

Pew Research Center

The organisation publishes an interactive database about media in the United States.

SEENPM

Monitors media ownership and the impact on media pluralism in southeastern Europe and EU member states.

The Columbia Institute for Tele-Information at Columbia Business School

A research that works with authors from 30 countries in the world about media concentration using a common methodology.

The Institute for Media and Communication Policy

A database of international corporations of the world´s biggest media.

UNESCO

Media Development Indicators - A framework for assessing media development.

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