University of Tsukuba
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Spiraling Down into Corruption: The Case of Philippine Broadcast Media(腐敗への螺旋的下降ーフィリピンの放送メディアの事例）
Engel Lou Perucho Villareal
Master’s Program in International Public Policy(Student Number 200920141)

Scholarly literature as well as reports from national agencies and internationalorganizations all agree that the broadcast media is a powerful institution that has importantroles in varied areas of concern ranging from good governance, economic and humandevelopment, and even human security. These studies point to having a broadcast media
institution that operates in an environment of freedom and independence, enjoying economic
sustainability, an institution that enjoys the confidence of the public, having a wide reach, andhaving technically and professionally sound workforce, as what would bring about thesepromised positive outcomes. Philippine broadcast media has arguably achieved such as
status, or at least very close to such as status, but has not been perceived as having mademajor strides in many of the aforementioned areas of concern.
Studies point to corruption as what impedes the broadcast media institution fromperforming these roles. Therefore, addressing this problem should be seen as a necessary step
towards making the institution more responsive in areas that contribute to the people’s socialand economic well-being. However, very few studies focus on corruption within the
broadcast media in particular, and even fewer studies focus on broadcast media institutions indeveloping countries, which may have different inner workings compared to that of their
Western counterparts. This research fills this gap by contributing to the understanding of how
corruption works within Philippine broadcast media, how forces and actors endogenous andexogenous to the institution contribute to the perpetuation and persistence of corruption, aswell as its effects.
The primary methodologies employed in this research were interviews and surveys,
complemented by secondary sources that include jurisprudence and official reports,
newspaper and magazine articles, audio-visual materials such as documentaries and recorded
television programs, and internet sources including blogs.
This research made use of the concept of dyadic alliances, augmented by the conceptof downward spirals of corruption in analyzing corruption in the Philippine broadcast media.
Dyadic alliances as described by Carl H. Landé are flexible, informal, personal relationships
between two individuals for mutual gain. These relationships are characterized by being easy
to form, compatible with existing formal structures and institutional relationships, having theability to cut across occupational and class lines, and having particularistic rewards andbenefits. Downward spirals of corruption, on the other hand, can be seen as conditions thatreinforce dyadic alliances of a deviant nature, facilitating and perpetuating deviant behavior

(including corruption) until they become norms. Niki den Nieuwenboer and Muel Kaptein
identified three spirals that cause and perpetuate corruption in organizations – the spiral ofdivergent norms, the spiral of pressures, and the spiral of opportunity.
The spiral of divergent norms suggests a process wherein a group’s norms departfrom outside norms, the results of which are rationalizations. Through this process, thecollective norms and behavior deteriorate over time, and reinforces norms within theorganization, that are seen as legitimate and positive, even when the group’s members are infact already engaging in corruption. The spiral of pressures explains that self-perpetuating
increase in organizational pressures (individual or organizational) could lead to an equallyperpetuating increase in corruption. The last spiral, the spiral of opportunity, meanwhile,points to factors that encourage corrupt practices. This spiral also relates to the institution’s(team leaders, managers professional guilds, and broadcast industry associations) capability
to deter corruption, and/or penalize individuals who engage in it.
The study was able to identity factors that contribute to these downward corruption
spirals within the broadcast media. These include: (1) personalistic relationships andclientelistic structures that characterize many developing countries such as the Philippines;(2) the Philippine broadcast media being an institution comprised of different media
traditions, some of which have values and norms that are open to unethical practices; (3)economic pressures (on the part of the individual to keep his source of income, andsustainability on the part of media organizations); (4) weakness of institutions to provide a
credible deterrent to corruption (media corruption for instance is perceived more as an ethicaland not a criminal concern even by media watchdogs); and (5) Filipino values such apakikisama (camaraderie) and utang-na-loob (indebtedness), which makes whistleblowing,
naming and shaming perpetuators and institutionalization of measures aimed at curbing
corruption within broadcast media organizations difficult.
The study was also able to analyze the role of owners and upper-level media
professionals in perpetuating and cultivating corruption within the institution. The researchfound that owners and upper-level media practitioners and media personalities continue toappropriate the institution to further their political and business interests, but have done somore discretely than in the past. Dyadic alliances and exchange relationships, allow theinstitution to be usurped, most especially during political crises and electoral exercises bypowerful political interests. Business interest, meanwhile, continue to have a stranglehold on
media through its control of advertisements, outright ownership of media organizations orboth. Corruption in this level need further research because of what this study perceives asincentives and opportunities for collusion between these upper-level actors in media, andpolitical and business interests. Some of these arrangements are even seen as legitimate
business transactions, notwithstanding the ethical, if not criminal, implications of the use
media to manipulate, distort, or hide information that may have bearings on important
decisions that the public make, and such breach of public trust may have contributed tocorrupt regimes holding on to power in the past.
Studies on corruption in Philippine broadcast media also focus on the corrupt act itself
such as bribery and extortion, neglecting the need to check the early symptoms of suchcorrupt practices. These studies neglect these early symptoms’ contribution to theacculturation or conditioning of media practitioners to unethical or even illegal practices.
Deviant practices such as influence peddling, petty corruption, nepotism, cheating, andmoonlighting, in one way or another, could lead to even more corruption if left unchecked.

Such apparently negligible practices also contribute to the perpetuation of corrupt practices
that already exist within the institution.
This study approached corruption as a process, an act that is not done once, but apractice that is done with regularity, which in time becomes standard practice or a norm.
Corrupt practices also incrementally become worse, as some form of positive outcome, suchas an increase in advertising revenue or income, good relationship with news sources, “ingroup” acceptance, prestige, and influence, may be positively related to doing corrupt
practices – another area that would welcome further research.
The findings in this study appear to paint a pessimistic picture of the prospects of thePhilippine broadcast media to fully perform its positive roles and contribute to the Filipino
people’s social and economic well-being, as the institution seems to be weighed down withproblems of corruption and capture. Nevertheless, there are developments that are being done,or have been initiated to establish what would be "reverse spirals." The study was also able toshow that there are journalism groups and media watchdogs that have been working to instill
positive journalistic values amongst broadcast media practitioners that they train. These
groups and organizations have also adopted more comprehensive ethics codes or revised theircodes to incorporate provisions that address concerns on ethics and corruption. The effects ofthese relatively new developments on the broadcast media institution may not be felt
immediately, but this is a start. However, these steps need monitoring, to ensure that such
steps toward reform do not go to waste. It is also important to point out that the the fruits ofthese necessary, welcome developments depend largely on its effective and strict execution,
which point us to another important area that needs to be emphasized – implementation.