Metro Manila, Philippines – The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), one of the country’s longest-running media watchdogs, will shut down at the end of September after 37 years, citing difficulty securing enough funding to sustain its operations.
“CMFR regrets to announce that it is closing its operations, effective September 30, 2026,” the organization said in a statement Friday, Sept. 18.
“The decision ends 37 years of media development work. Established in 1989, CMFR has maintained its mission over periods of widely differing political environments and the diverse challenges they presented,” it added.
CMFR said its work had been sustained by funding from Philippine and international sources, but added that changes in the funding environment had made it increasingly difficult to raise the resources needed to continue.
The organization thanked its past and present staff, journalists and news organizations, embassies, schools, students and civil society groups that supported its work.
CMFR was established in 1989, three years after the People Power Revolution ended the Marcos dictatorship, as a private, non-stock and non-profit organization focused on strengthening the press as a pillar of democracy.
Veteran journalist Melinda Quintos de Jesus helped establish the organization and has served as its executive director. CMFR said De Jesus developed its core programs on media monitoring and press freedom protection.
Over nearly four decades, CMFR monitored the performance of Philippine news organizations, documented attacks and threats against journalists, conducted journalism training and advocated press freedom and media ethics.
In its 2026 State of Media Freedom report, CMFR said it had recorded 239 attacks and threats against journalists from July 1, 2022 to April 30, 2026, including 107 cases of intimidation. It warned that physical attacks, online harassment and disinformation continued to put pressure on Philippine journalism.
CMFR on CNN Philippines, NewsWatch Plus
CMFR had also closely followed the contraction and transformation of the television news industry.
When CNN Philippines shut down in January 2024 because of financial losses, De Jesus described the closure as a loss to an already shrinking news space.
“Losing CNN (Philippines) is a little bit more darkness in terms of… how are we going to proceed? Where is journalism going to go if we’re in a small part of public exchange?” she added.
CMFR later chronicled the emergence of NewsWatch Plus, which was formed with journalists who previously worked for CNN Philippines and launched as a digital-focused news organization in July 2024.
The watchdog highlighted NewsWatch Plus’ acquisition of rights to preserve and republish CNN Philippines’ archive, describing how the former network’s content would live on through the new organization.
CMFR also continued to monitor NewsWatch Plus alongside the country’s major television news organizations.
But the organization did not spare the new organization from broader scrutiny. In a 2025 assessment of the changing free-TV landscape, it said new blocktimers such as NewsWatch Plus and Bilyonaryo News Channel expanded available content but also raised concerns about maintaining clear boundaries between journalism and business or political interests.
