Philippine media watchdog CMFR to close after 40 years due to funding woes

MANILA, Philippines – For nearly four decades, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) stood as a watchdog over the watchdogs of Philippine democracy. It will close on September 30, its executive director Melinda Quintos de Jesus said. The decision was not about the work, but about whether there were enough resources left to keep doing it. The CMFR board made the decision after confronting a funding environment that had become increasingly difficult, Quintos de Jesus said. For years, Philippine and international funders had financed the center’s work. But that support had become harder to secure, leaving the organization without the resources required to continue operating. The CMFR, for 37 years, had occupied a distinctive place in Philippine journalism. It had examined the conduct of the media even as it defended the press against those who sought to intimidate or silence it. It also documented attacks and threats against journalists and news organizations, promoted media ethics, honored excellence in journalism, trained reporters to cover women, children and minority groups, as well as disasters, elections, and periods of political and social crises. The closing of the center thus marks the disappearance of an institution whose work was, in part, to remember what happened to Philippine journalism – who was threatened, who was attacked, how the press responded, and what standards were expected of those who wielded its power. In announcing the decision, Quintos de Jesus thanked those who had supported CMFR’s undertakings. – with a report from Jairo Bolledo/Rappler.com