ArticleAuthors: Edson C. Tandoc Jr.; Marko M. Skoric (2010)
In 1961, Daniel Boorstin introduced the concept of ‘pseudo-events’, or false realities, which he said had been flooding the American press. Four decades later, testing his concept on the Philippine press, this study finds that his observation still holds true. This exploratory study, using content analysis of 2330 news articles and a survey of 100 journalists, also suggests the existence of the ‘pseudo-events paradox’. The study finds that while journalists perceive that there are more spontaneous events in their work, and that these have better chances of being published, published news articles about pseudo-events actually outnumber those based on spontaneous events. It is argued that the news sources have taken advantage of the institutional constraints in news gathering, creatin... 
