"The Philippines has been on the news for five long months now due to a noisy, media savvy group of kidnappers that had abducted foreign hostages in April. During that period, we witnessed the spokesperson of the Abu Sayyafjo in the league of world leaders and experts in gaining precious airtime on CNN live. Local reporters as well were free to visit the kidnappers' lair by foot and air their interviews with them day after day. This would have been unthinkable in Malaysia or Singapore or even maybe Indonesia. However, the Philippine military later imposed a news blackout on its operations on Jolo Island where the kidnappers had encamped. Journalists who had been allowed to deliver soundbites on kidnappers were now banned from delivering the civilians'stories about the devastation of their province by the military. How exactly should media act in such a tough situation? What judgments should it make that would serve public interest and adhere to the fundamentals of a functioning democracy? This paper seeks to answer these questions." (Abstract)