ABSTRACT
Journalists in the Philippines were among the direct witnesses in a “drug war” waged by President Rodrigo Duterte. This chapter shows that journalists’ exposure to a critical incident, like Duterte’s violent anti-drug campaign, is a moment in which extraordinary circumstances cut journalists off from the ordinariness to which they are accustomed. It explores the relationship between auto-analysis and “critical incident” in journalism. Auto-analysis that is constitutive of critical incident transforms journalism, despite the disruptions of established norms and guidelines. The work produced by journalists and photojournalists on the drug campaign was recognized by their peers and has been analyzed by scholars. The drug killings qualify as critical incident. The nature of the killings, which are unprecedented but often carried with unrestricted presence by the media, led to significant introspection among the journalists that regularly followed the drug story as reporters and photojournalists.
