Many Filipinos keen on role of independent press, keeping politicians in check — survey | PhilStar philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — The furor over the 70-11 vote by the House committee on legislative franchises on July 10 to deny the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN broadcast network mirrors a recent survey result showing a majority of Filipinos giving importance to independent journalism and keeping politicians in check.

The 2020 Digital News Report (DNR), an annual project of Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, showed that 65% of Filipinos value independent media and 63% want politicians who lie to or mislead the public to be called out by reporting their inaccurate and dubious statements.