Type Daily newspaper Founder(s) Carson Taylor | Format Broadsheet | |
Owner(s) Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation Publisher Atty. Hermogenes P. Pobre President Atty. Hermogenes P. Pobre | ||
The Manila Bulletin (PSE: MB), (also known as the Bulletin and previously known as the Manila Daily Bulletin from 1906 to September 23, 1972 and the Bulletin Today from November 22, 1972 to March 10, 1986) is the Philippines' largest broadsheet newspaper by circulation, followed by the Philippine Daily Inquirer. It bills itself as "The Nation's Leading Newspaper", which is its official slogan.
Contents
History
Founded in 1900 as a shipping journal, it is the second-oldest Philippine newspaper, second only to The Manila Times.
The newspaper was originally owned by a Swiss expatriate named Hans Menzi. Its name was changed from Bulletin Today on March 12, 1986.
On occasion the editorial policy of the Manila Bulletin has met objection from civil authorities. During World War II the newspaper's editor, Roy Anthony Cutaran Bennett, was imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese for his statements opposing the militarist expansion of the Japanese Empire. The Manila Bulletin survived the martial law era of President Ferdinand Marcos as a propaganda tool.
The newspaper was owned by Filipino-Chinese business mogul Emilio Yap, who, aside from the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation (the paper's controlling company), also owned and chaired the Manila Hotel, Centro Escolar University, Philtrust Bank and Euro-Med Laboratories. The company has been listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange since 1990, and had revenues of approximately US$45 million in 2004. Besides its flagship it publishes two other daily tabloids, Tempo and Balita, as well as nine magazines such as the Philippine Panorama, Bannawag, Liwayway, Bisaya and a host of other journals in English, Tagalog, Cebuano and other Philippine languages. It also publishes a number of lifestyle magazines such as Wedding Essentials, Style Weekend, GARAGE Magazine, Agriculture Magazine, Digital Gen, Going Places and Animal Scene.
The newspaper is regarded by many for being pro-administration regardless of who is in power and also for its optimistic and non-sensational journalism. Unlike other papers, Bulletin editorials used to almost always focus on honoring government agencies and officials, high-profile persons such as the President of the Philippines, and events by private and public institutions, and rarely touched the topics about political issues. Only shortly after the death of Chairman Emilio Yap did the newspaper decide to allow discussion of political and current events in its editorial pages. The editorial is also featured in its sister papers Tempo (in English) and Balita (in Tagalog). To further enhance its image as a newspaper which presents positive news articles, the Bulletin recently introduced a new marketing tagline, "There's good news here". In 2015, they adopted the marketing tagline "Be Fully Informed" which is still being used throughout 2016. In addition it maintains the oldest news website in the Philippines.
On December 22, 2007, survey results by Nielsen Media Research's Nielsen Media Index Study (Enhanced Wave 2), covering the whole year of 2007, showed that the Philippine Daily Inquirer (the parent company of INQUIRER.net) was the choice of 53% "of those who said they had read a broadsheet", with 1.3 million readers. The Manila Bulletin came second with 47% (1.17 million readers), while the Philippine Star was third with 42% (1.05 million readers). Nielsen survey also showed that the Sunday Inquirer Magazine led in its category, with 39% readership, Panorama came in second with 35%, and Starweek was third with 12%.
Latest Q2 2016 Nielsen Consumer and Media View results put Manila Bulletin, with 48% share of the total Broadsheet market, as the most read Broadsheet in the Philippines. Philippine Daily Inquirer comes in second at 38%, followed by Philippine Star at 14%. Manila Bulletin also had the most number of loyal readers with 42% of its readers not reading any other broadsheet title.
Controversy
On June 5, 2008, a Filipino blogger sued the Bulletin for copyright infringement. The photo blogger had discovered that photos that he had taken and posted online had been used by the Manila Bulletin in the "Travel & Tourism" section of its March 21, 2007 issue. Apparently, the photographs had been altered and used by the newspaper without the original photographer's consent and without attribution or compensation. A month later, the newspaper filed a counter-suit against the blogger claiming "exemplary and moral damages". The Manila Bulletin claimed that its use (and alteration, creating derivative works) of the photographs constituted fair use.