Content Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of the Pork Barrel Scam: Implications to Eradicating Corruption

The Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel as it is popularly known has long been debated as the source of much corruption in the country. Many stories about the abuses of government officials with this fund have circulated the media over the years. One such case is the pork barrel scam of 2013, when an expose revealed that up to P10B of public funds was plundered by several officials through bogus NGOs. To learn more about this issue, this thesis examined the news coverage of two leading national broadsheets, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and The Manila Times. Using the agenda-setting theory, framing theory, gatekeeping theory, the limited effects theory and the social responsibility theory, the study aimed to know how the coverage of these newspapers affected the public’s attitude towards the state of corruption in the country and what it implies toward its eradication. Content analysis of 172 news articles revealed that both newspapers focused on the government and its actions about the scam in their news articles and that frames focusing on the social aspect of the issue was rarely utilized. A survey also showed that while the coverage of both papers are seen as a milestone in the fight against corruption in the country it didn’t offer push people to do much about it. Overall, what it implies for the eradication of corruption is that the newspaper reporting is limited in its influence in people’s decision making that would make them participate more in actions to fight against corruption in the country.