Tiffany Geluz

Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo has conquered headlines since his win on August 3 and 4 which brought pride to the country. While it is the work of journalists to cover stories from his competition, success story, and celebration as recognition for his achievement, the media went beyond in their coverage ultimately diverting the spotlight from his triumph to his personal life.


Aside from the rise of stories that highlight his journey and hard work that brought him his win, many were interested in the support system that kept him going and motivated him along the way. Every accomplishment is encouraged with support from peers, and usually family. This is exactly what many media outlets coverage did as they angled their stories on the personal life of Yulo and his relationship with his mother Angelica Yulo due to the curiosity of netizens from a social media post of his mother. 

Tracking back the series of events, it started on August 5, a day after Carlos bagged his medal, wherein Angelica revealed that they were not on good terms in an exclusive interview with 102.7 Star FM Manila. The following day, a TikTok video was posted by Carlos wherein he disclosed the issues regarding his mother’s use of his funds. A press conference was then held on August 7 wherein she apologized and explained that “rapid” questions were being thrown by the media which hindered her from thinking clearly. 

These stories undoubtedly piqued the interest of netizens, especially with the strong culture of family ties of Filipinos. The unexpected reaction of his mother and the relatability of the situation garnered a readership of articles that provoked and stirred sentiments and attention. The spike in readership was certainly beneficial for the media companies that covered the story as it increased their profitability because of the expansion of their audience. While financial support is necessary to keep outlets alive, certain deliberation must still be taken into consideration, especially the impact it may have on the personal lives of those they cover.

Considering how those parties publicized their feelings and responses by exposing them on social media for the whole world to see and even going so far as to hold a press conference, the media cannot be entirely blamed for writing about them. The stakeholders chose to publicize their personal matters which opened the opportunity for the media to cover. 

This type of coverage isn't new in the field of media as many personal matters in showbiz such as Sarah Geronimo and her mother’s dispute because of her wedding. However, the timing being concurrent with his win diverted the attention of the country from celebrating his achievement to arguing family values. A response advising Carlos to love his mother was made by Manny Pacquiao’s mother, Dionisia Pacquiao, which is just one of the comments that has sprouted from the sensualization of their familial issue.

Despite both news and entertainment following factual and true stories, their purposes differ as news aims to inform the public of important and pressing issues that would impact the lives of the public and would further assist them in creating informed decisions. On the other hand, entertainment is primarily made for enjoyment and amusement. Clearly, Yulo’s familial drama was just for entertainment as it did not significantly impact the lives of other people who are not part of the issue. 

There are instances where these two may overlap as a news story may be framed in an entertaining way while stories of entertainment may be featured the same way news is done. This is where the lines between entertainment and news blur as information may always be delivered for both purposes, but should it be? 

Despite the availability of doing so, is it really necessary to turn entertainment into news stories? Transforming entertainment issues at a certain importance to news features may help readers realize a deeper significance of common drama to its connection with society and culture. However, turning it into a narrative news story creates a sense of importance for drama.

With Yulo gaining fame and popularity because of his win, his life was gazed the same way celebrities are observed. His familial drama certainly garnered attention and interest, but covering it through the use of news made a sense of importance to his familial issue. The audience and reach of such news outlets quickly spread the entertainment issue and added more attention and emphasis to the story. 

With Yulo’s familial drama, we witnessed the subtle form of sensationalization through the use of news platforms that further publicize the issue. Headlines may not have been exaggerated, but the utilization of platforms exaggerated the issue by bringing it to a bigger audience. These platforms amplified the issue in reaching more people and surfacing in more places that would not always be reached by entertainment platforms. The power of outlets along with the striking issue resulted in the perfect equation in raising readership and viewership for whatever purpose imposed. 

The utilization of platforms was not the only indicator of sensitization of Yulo’s familial drama as many photos and video clips were overused and shared to give the sense of stronger appeal to emotion. The reports regarding this may have been plain narratives of the issue when read alone, but the addition of photos of his family crying and hugging created a sense of sympathy for the story that kept the audience talking and sharing the articles that they read to further attract more readers. 

May the flames and collateral damage caused by this sensualization serve not just a lesson on responsible use of appropriate platforms especially in the expression of personal matters, but a reminder and reevaluation in delivering news, highlighting, and stressing certain issues. With viewership supporting the operation and expenses of media outlets, every chance to increase it will be taken as additional resources would help the media fulfill their duties even if it sometimes ends in sensationalization. Despite being rampant in showbiz, familial issues like Yulo’s do not need to be given as much attention. Sensationalism will never be beneficial for anyone outside the media as it will always bring unwanted and diverted attention. Regardless of the intent of those involved in the story when they choose to publicize their story, media practitioners will always have the power to choose what they emphasize and how it will be highlighted.