Rice in the news: content analysis of rice stories published in selected national broadsheets

This study was conducted to analyze rice stories published from 2000 to 2004 in national broadsheets. The kind of stories that were published in each newspaper vary in terms of emphasis/focus but the subjects are limited to three-technology, rice supply and demand, and policy. The top subjects covered by MB are rice program (28 percent), technology (24 percent), and rice supply (22 percent). For BW, however, rice supply and demand top the subjects covered with about 36 percent stories published. This is followed by technology (21 percent) and policy (19 percent). In the PDI, most rice stories tackled rice supply and demand (30 percent) followed by technology (23 percent) and anomalies (13 percent). Unlike the rest of the newspapers, only PDI covered anomalies to a bigger extent. Of the 1,472 rice technology stories published from 2000 to 2004, the focus of most is on varieties (76 percent) followed by biotechnology (7 percent) and crop management (5 percent). Most of the stories on technology were published in the MB (30 percent). The same newspaper published the most number of stories on policy (29 percent) and events (29 percent). Likewise, most of the news stories (75 percent) were positive while only 16 percent were negative. Nevertheless, more effort should be done to make rice more visible in the broadsheets as this will not only provide more information but also clarify misconceptions and even address negative publicities. Although rice biotechnology is vehemently opposed by some organizations, there were only a few negative stories about rice biotechnology. But even with this encouraging result, PhilRice should continue publishing rice biotechnology stories to sustain what has been started. As PhilRice continues to develop genetically modified rice, it is important to gain public support through various media including print. Results of this study will serve as guide for information officers and writers in determining the kind of stories that they should send to each of the broadsheets. Results shows that broadsheets have specific preferences on the subjects/topics that they publish.