MANILA, Philippines — Perhaps peeved by the daily barrage of media criticisms, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Thursday appealed to broadcasters to “be kinder” to her in her remaining seven months in office.

Ms Arroyo reminded the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) that she had always attended its fellowships, and said that no other President “has been as close to this organization as me.”

“So I hope you will not begrudge me for wishing that the broadcast media will be kinder to me during the rest of my term as President,” she said in her speech at the KBP management conference in Tagaytay City.

While some broadcast institutions and personalities have been critical of her, Ms Arroyo said that the KBP “has been supportive” as an organization.

“KBP, as an organization, is the voice of moderation, reason and professionalism. Years ago, you developed a code of standards and business practices. That is a good start for a self-regulating industry,” she said.

The administration, hounded by a string of corruption scandals since Ms Arroyo took office in January 2001, has come under constant scrutiny from the media.

Ms Arroyo also reminded the broadcast media to exercise objectivity and impartiality in reporting news, mindful of its implications on the country.

She said that the Philippines has always been “one of the freest media environment in the world” except during the martial law period. The difference between then and now is the speed “in which news travels,” she said.

“This competitive news that utilizes so many fantastic technologies has the upside that we must seize. But there’s also a downside. The downside is the huge temptation to get a story out quickly, rather than spending time to get facts right, and this can lead to innuendo and rumor presented as fact,” she said.

She said she wished the industry “well” in exercising its self-regulatory function which has become “more compelling with the growth of technology.”