GMA News and Public Affairs

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GMA News and Public Affairs
Country	Philippines
Company	GMA Network
Key people	Marissa Flores Jessica Soho Malou Mangahas
Motto	Serbisyong Totoo(True Service)
Website	GMA News Website INQ7.net Website

GMA News and Public Affairs is the news and public affairs division of Philippine broadcast network GMA Network. It is currently headed by Marissa Flores. It produces programs for all the GMA Network stations in the Philippines and GMA Pinoy TV. GMA News and Public Affairs is headquartered at the GMA Network Center in Quezon City, Philippines. The news division was commended by the House of Representatives in 2003 for its work in News and Public Affairs. It has also won numerous awards for its work.

GMA News and Public Affairs' slogan is "Serbisyong Totoo" (True Service). It is one of the longest running slogan used for news broadcast promotion.^{[citation needed]} In 2006, the news division also used an accompanying slogan, "Just News," used for its promotional campaign. It provides videos of its news programs through INQ7.net and GMANews.tv , its official website. The GMA News website is headed by Malou Mangahas, the former Editor-in-Chief of the Manila Times.

[edit] History

[edit] News division

The GMA News division traces its origin from the Republic Broadcasting System, established by Robert Stewart. Programming of its radio station, DZBB depended on mostly on news reports. The station covered the eruption of Mt. Hibok-Hibok in 1951, and the election and untimely death of former President Ramon Magsaysay. While RBS Channel 7 was established in 1961, it was in 1970s that GMA became one of the most-watched television news source in the country. In 1983, Channel 7 was the first to break the news of Ninoy Aquino's death, and later would be the only television station to broadcast his funeral. The channel also became the first station to broadcast the Ramos-Enrile break-away that led to the People Power Revolt.

In 1998, GMA teamed up with the Philippine Daily Inquirer to air the election special, Decision '98, and later, Eleksyon 2001 and Eleksyon 2004. Its flagship newscast, Saksi, won the 1999 Asian Television Awards and 2002 New York Festival awards for Best Newscast. In 2006, GMA News was praised by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for its news coverage, and said that it is the reason for the network's high ratings. In the 2006 SWS Media Trust survey, GMA News garnered 60% of public trust, second only to rival ABS-CBN with 68%. But a similar Pulse Asia survey shows that GMA News is the more credible in the country and to key demographics. [1]

GMA News became a pioneer in local television news in many ways. GMA was one of the pioneers of women in broadcast journalism. Tina Monzon-Palma was one of the first women co-anchors when she first presented News at Seven, one of the most-watched news programs in the 1970s. Helen Vela was the first woman to anchor news in Tagalog, and Mel Tiangco was the first late-night solo anchor. GMA was the first to broadcast an hourly news program, which is known today as the GMA Flash Report, and the first station to use a ticker for breaking news and traffic information. GMA News was also the first to use Electronic News Gathering Vans in the country. In 2004, it regularly began to use Satellite News Gathering facilities to reach more remote areas. It also covered important events, such as the 1995 World Youth Day, 2003 World Meeting of Families, and 2000 Today.

[edit] Public Affairs division

The Public Affairs department was established in 1987 when Tina Monzon-Palma, then head of GMA News saw that a 30 minute newscast is not enough to inform the people what is happening to the newly established government after the historic People Power Revolution. The department started with just five people, and held office inside the cameramen's locker room.^[1]

The first network-produced weekly public affairs program was Weekend With Velez, later renamed Velez This Week hosted by Jose Mari Velez. After that, the show was joined with other public affairs shows such as Firing Line with Teddy Benigno, Viewpoint with Dong Puno, Straight from the Shoulder hosted by Louie Beltran and The Probe Team of Che-Che Lazaro.^[2]

The department garnered several honors from local and foreign award-giving bodies, including two gold medals in the New York Festivals and the George Foster Peabody award, one of the most distinguished awards in broadcast news. They received the Peabody Award when network was commended on their documentaries Batang Alipin of Jay Taruc, Kamao and Kidneys for Sale of Jessica Soho in 1999. The network is currently the only recipient of the award in the Philippines.

Recently, a documentary entitled 20: Dalawampung Taon ng GMA Public Affairs (20: Twenty Years of GMA Public Affairs) aired in celebration of the department's 20th anniversary.

As of 2007, the department is producing 16 programs for the network.

[edit] News and Public Affairs personalities

[edit] Newscasters