WHERE do journalists draw the line between reporting and content creation?
After backlash over the recent interviews by prominent broadcasters Korina Sanchez and Julius Babao with the Discayas, the wealthy couple that owns two of the government’s top flood-control contractors, journalism professors from UST stressed that standards and ethics should never be compromised.
The features, which aired ahead of the 2025 midterm polls, were criticized for glamorizing Cezarah Rowena “Sarah” Discaya and Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya II’s lavish lifestyle. In a Facebook post, Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto slammed the pre-election interviews, claiming the couple paid P10 million for airtime and calling it “shameful” and a violation of journalists’ code of ethics.
Though the camps of both Sanchez and Babao denied being paid, Asst. Prof. Christian Esguerra, recipient of the 2019 Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility’s award of distinction and the 2020 Marshall McLuhan Fellowship, argued that the pieces looked less like journalism and more like PR showcases.
“Unang-una, bakit mo iinterviewhin ‘yong mga Discaya bago mag-eleksyon? Obviously, gusto lang i-promote ‘yong mga sarili nila. No. 2, [h]indi puwedeng palusot na, ‘Ano lang naman ‘to, lifestyle interview,’” Esguerra said on his “Facts First” program on YouTube on Aug. 21.
Sotto questioned why prominent journalists would even entertain such offers.
“Bago tanggapin ng mga kilalang journalists ang alok para mag-interview ng contractor na pumapasok sa politika, hindi ba nila naisip na, ‘Uy teka, ba’t kaya handa ’to magbigay ng P10 million para lang magpa-interview sa akin?’” the mayor said.
Sotto made a qualification on the hefty sum, saying it’s “not an exact figure pero alam n’yo na (but you already get my drift).”
Sarah had challenged Sotto in the 2025 midterm elections, while her husband sought a congressional seat as a nominee for the Pinoy Ako party-list group. Both lost their bid to transition from contractors to politicians.
Babao’s interview with the Discayas aired in September 2024, just weeks before the filing of candidacies for the May 2025 polls. Titled “EXCLUSIVE! ATE SARAH AT KUYA CURLEE, DATING MAHIRAP NA NAGING BILYONARYO!”, it featured a tour of the couple’s mansion and a huge parking garage containing a fleet of 40 luxury cars.
In that feature, the Discayas said their wealth came from big-ticket projects with the Department of Public Works and Highways. Now under scrutiny are questionable flood control contracts with the Discayas’ firms, Alpha & Omega Gen. Contractor & Development Corp. and St. Timothy Construction, the second- and third-biggest recipients of such deals.
In January 2025, Sarah Discaya also appeared on Net25’s Korina Interviews in a profile called “A Victim of Bullying, Now a Politician” — which has since been taken down following Sotto’s post.
Esguerra, who teaches political reporting and journalism ethics at UST, emphasized the responsibility that comes with influence and drew a line between journalism and content creation.
“Kung ikaw, ang utak mo ay pang-content creator lang at gusto mo lang mag-monetize, … it doesn’t matter. Pero ikaw, journalist ka. Alam niyo what separates real journalists from any other profession,” he said. “By the very nature of this job, kailangan mo talagang buuin ‘yung credibility mo over time. And how do you build your credibility as a journalist? You build your credibility with a stable, steady, compelling, and solid body of work.
“Kapag nabiyayaan ka ng ganoong kalawak na impluwensya at ng ganoong plataporma, ayusin mo naman. Kung talagang mababaw ka, maglagay ka naman ng konting lalim ‘di ba? Dahil mabigat ‘yong laban. Huwag mo naman sayangin ‘yong plataporma na ‘yon.”
For Prof. Jeremaiah Opiniano, chair of the Department of Journalism, the incident highlights the blurred lines when journalists take on multiple roles.
“This case surrounding the Discayas presents the touchy subject of journalists earning from content creation while they remain professional journalists,” he told the Varsitarian. “That situation alone presents numerous grey areas.”
Opiniano warned that switching hats between reporter and content creator risks confusing the public about whether journalists are watchdogs, entertainers, or promoters.
“Whatever is the type of content they are doing (‘simple features,’ ‘hard news’, ‘infographics,’ podcasts), journalists [should] better be clear what persona they are showing. I think ‘journalists-and-content creators’ producing both journalistic content and ‘content creation’ may truly pose ethical dilemmas,” he said.
“This case should not present the journalist as showing one facade as a serious journalist and yet does content–carrying her or his journalistic ‘influence’ and ‘credibility’ as personal brands–to produce less-to-highly controversial material masqueraded as ‘content creation,’” he added.
Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and UST faculty member Manuel Mogato said the controversy reflects systemic problems.
“Hindi lang ito ethical issue. Malalim na isyu ito sa Philippine journalism. It’s a sad state of our journalists na mababa ang sweldo, harsh ang working conditions, and they’re not being respected by the politicians or business leaders,” Mogato said.
Sanchez’s camp responded to Sotto’s allegations, stressing that the veteran broadcaster, who once served as ABS-CBN chief reporter, does not produce “puff” or “vanity” stories.
“Their rags-to-riches life story is their story to tell. It was aired no more, no less. Should there have been anything untrue about what they claimed, it was and is up to the accuser to point this out,” Sanchez’s team said.
Babao, who anchored TV Patrol from 2003 to 2010 and Bandila from 2010 to 2020, said the Discaya interview was “not a news report” but a “lifestyle feature.”
“Ito ay lifestyle feature para sa channel ko na naglalabas ng mga inspiring success stories,” the Frontline Pilipinas news reader told PEP. “At the time and month in 2024 when the interview was made, it was a profile feature of a couple who rose from rags to riches because of their different business ventures.”
Asst. Prof. Felipe Salvosa II, president of the Journalism Studies Association of the Philippines, said journalists should not hide under the pretext of doing “lifestyle” interviews to justify any financial or commercial consideration.
“They have reduced ‘lifestyle’ to a convenient cover for paid fluff—sitting down with wealthy contractors in softball interviews that insult the public’s intelligence,” he said.
“This blurring erodes the public’s trust in journalism. It’s simply media malfeasance, and reinforces the idea that favorable media exposure has a price tag,” he added.
Standards, ethics
In a statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) reminded practitioners that abandoning ethics “erodes trust” in the profession.
“Difficult as it is, we cannot take pride in calling ourselves journalists without adhering to the basic standards and guiding principles of the profession,” the statement said.
For journalist Inday Espina-Varona, former Rappler Regions head, such interviews clearly cross the line.
“To do this at a time that clearly aids a very open ambition to capture the reins of local power stomps on everything we learned as journalists,” she said. “You do not need to be in investigative journalism mode to heed the basic standards of the profession.”
Opiniano said news organizations must establish clear guidelines for staff who want to do content creation alongside reporting.
“One possible response is having clear newsroom policy guidelines for their multimedia journalists on whether they will be allowed to be content creators or not. If they are allowed, what parameters can be set?” he said.
Journalists themselves, he added, must also recognize what is non-negotiable in their craft.
“Individual journalists, including freelancers and underpaid full-time journalists, may also need to keep themselves on their toes and determine where they stand,” Opiniano said.
“If they really want to be serious, independent journalists, there are really things that are non-negotiable. … If you are both journalist and content creator at the same time (broadcast or non-broadcast, even using legacy media), admittedly this journalist will have her/his credibility questioned.”
The government’s crackdown on questionable flood control projects came in the aftermath of massive flooding in Luzon and after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. raised the issue in his State of the Nation Address last month. Luis Angelo N. Palma
