Media Introduction The media, although not recognized as a political entity, serves as one of the factors that steer

the course of politics in the Philippines. Media is a very wide field, thus it is necessary to clarify that two types of media will be discussed in this paper: news media and to a lesser extent, the new media.

Before dissecting the Philippine media and its impact on society, one has to identify the roles that it plays. While one would immediately jump to the presumption that media is merely concerned with the delivery of news & facilitating communication, it would be more correct to say that Philippine media plays a tripartite role in society: political, social and economic. i Its political role is comprised of dissemination of information, creating and reflecting opinion, and being a watchdog. In being a watchdog protecting public interest and fiscalizing the three branches of government, the media is sometimes dubbed as the fourth branch of government or the Fourth Estate. As such, the media has to be adversarial in nature.ii It has to fearlessly report the excesses of government, the abuses or malpractices of its officials and of public funds.iii As adversarial as the media is, it is also a good friend almost a necessary one, for the success of politicians on campaigns for a national position. Its social role consists of the establishment of popular culture, nation-building and entertainment.iv The media serves as a channel of communication; facilitating the exchange of ideas and views in the process and ultimately, influencing public opinion. Finally, the medias economic role lies in the large number of jobs that it provides. As a disseminator of information, it also affects the economic status of the country in that it encourages or discourages would-be foreign investors from conducting business in the Philippines.

Agendas & Change The agenda of the media is somewhat implied in its name. It is the plural form of the word medium which means something that intervenes through which a force acts. Applied in the context of this paper, the agenda of the media is to gather, synthesize and transmit information to the public. In doing so, it also focuses on issues which it feels are nationally relevant or worthy of public attention ultimately influencing public opinion and striving for social change and/or national progress. Methods The methods of the media can be enumerated in the same way that the different types of media can be enumerated. Generally, there is print media (newspapers or tabloids) and broadcast media (television and radio). But the public has better access to television and radio, given its wider mileage and affordability. The new media is the collective name given to the fast-emerging and constantly changing technologies that facilitate the exchange of information. These include cellphones and the Internet, which are both being utilized by broadcast media companies to supplement their existing lines of communication and to create a more interactive scenario for delivering news. With the help of the new media, the traditional sender-recipient set-up is gradually phased out in favour of a two-way flow of communication between the media companies and the public. With the added method of the new media (or technology), media companies are able to improve their existing methods to better cater to public needs. How Effective is Philippine Media? The effectiveness of the media is difficult to quantify, thus the best way to illustrate it would be through the citation of certain events in Philippine history. The media was at the forefront of the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986. It broadcasted the desperate cry of then-Defense Secretary Enrile for more vigilantes, barricades and food for their defection from Marcos regime. For four days, people were glued to their

radios tuned in to the defiance of Juan Ponce Enrile and Gen. Fidel V. Ramos. Even the words of Jaime Cardinal Sin were aired through the radio, encouraging the masses to offer flowers and other goods to soldiers in full battle gear mounted on their military vehicles.v Media information and direction rallied groups to crisis points, effectively preventing bloodshed and the eventual removal of Marcos from Malacaang. In the 2nd People Power Revolution, it has been said that Joseph Estrada was removed from office by a coup d text.vi More than a million residents of Manila converged to EDSA within an hour of the first text message volley that said, Go 2 EDSA, wear blck.vii In the second People Power Revolution, the new media was in the spotlight. Clearly, the media was the key to the mobilization and unification of the masses for the removal of Joseph Estrada from the presidency. The Philippine media is indeed one with much mileage and influence. It has the power to stir the publics opinions; to encourage them to rise against an oppressor as seen in the mobilization of the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986. But as far as sustainable or longterm social change goes, the Philippine media has not been effective. There have been already two (or three, depending on ones political views) media-driven People Power movements within the past few decades, but that is as far as media influence towards social change and national progress has gone. There has been no change in political mindset in the Philippines, with elections still remaining as contests of popularity and charisma. The new medias importance in political change, in general, has been exaggerated. Even with new sources of information, Filipinos still act on more substantive and often pre-established grounds.viii Challenges The Philippine mass media faces several challenges directed at its ability to be consistently objective and consequently its credibility, and its privilege of public trust. These include politicization; commercialization; survival; choosing between citizens and journalistic duties; competition; sensationalism; negativity; and corruption.

Politicization is brought about first by the elites ownership of both broadcast and print media companies. Just as the livelihoods of the masses are controlled by an elite few, the popular communications in the Philippines are almost entirely in the hands of that same class.ix While elite ownership in itself is not an evil, this adds to the concentration of power to the elite class, as well as the prioritization of private interest over public interest. For the media, this means that it becomes a medium not for dissemination of information, but the protection of elite interest. Second, the Philippine media is being utilized as a propaganda mechanism to the extent that coordination with the media and purchasing power (or lack thereof) can make or break a candidates success in the elections. This is backed up by the meteoric rise in campaign expenses in 2004, especially for national positions.x Ideally, mass media exists for a public purpose it is proclaimed in the masthead or a wall of a broadcast station, whether public, semi-public or private. But under the private ownership of businessmen, they are really nothing by business enterprises.xi Again, media companies being owned by businessmen per se is not a bad thing, but the primary goal of any businessman is to make profit. The trouble lies in the task of striking a balance between objectivity and profit (or ratings). In an already inequitable society, oligarchic ownership of the media only promotes this inequity.xii But money does not flow into the pockets of the media as the stories and numbers may suggest. Commercialization is also a product of the news medias efforts to survive. The press as an industry is not as robust as it looks; many of the newspapers are struggling to survive, some even denying death even as it clearly looms over their heads. In a country with pandemic poverty, it can be said that newspapers are a luxury, considering that it is meant to be a daily purchase. They are forced to operate in spite of huge losses, hoping to attract the attention of advertisers. Unfortunately, this leads to newspapers resorting to such survival tricks at the expense of professional values.xiii The advertising industry has the media in a sort of chokehold, with its payments accounting for 70 to 80 percent of newspaper incomes.xiv It becomes a source of temptation as

well as a source of restraint for the media. Some consumerist-concerned articles are blocked from publication because of possible negative reactions from affected advertisers. It is strange that while the media is bound by the advertising industry, the media itself is in a way, an advertising institution especially during the election season. A good example of this is the radio networks practice of offering service packages to candidates to increase their media visibility by the day, for a hefty price of course. Setting aside the challenge of commercialization, the Philippine media is also plagued by the difficulty of maintaining objectivity for another reason that is, because media members are also members of the population that they are reporting about. It seems that this complication arises from the conflicting functions of surveillance and agenda-setting. It cannot accomplish the function of true or pure surveillance if in the end its purposes are that of selective or focused public attention on what the media feels are important issues. To some extent, the sentiments of a journalist regarding an issue of national relevance may also affect the mood or leaning of his/her story on the same. The human element can only be minimized at most, but never eliminated. Indeed - even if it wills, the media cannot elevate itself to a height of neutrality or objectivity so that it will merely tell stories as they are.xv The supremacy of ones citizenship duties puts the average reporter in a difficult spot, especially those in the middle of sensitive or tense situations. Will he/she protect sensitive information or disclose everything that he knows regardless of its potentially dangerous consequences? A very good concretization of this was the role of the media in the Manila hostage crisis sometime in 2010. The hostage taker, Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, was able to watch the scene unfold outside of the bus through the convenience of the onboard television. As a result, the SWAT teams element of surprise was eliminated, even enraging Mendoza upon seeing his brother taken into custody by the police. This left eight Hong Kong nationals dead and the Philippines on the travel advisory lists of other countries. Davao City council committee on tourism head Councilor Alryan Alejandre admitted that the presence of the media in the crisis area added to the hype.xvi The public wanted to know what was happening by the minute, especially because foreigners lives were at stake, but in medias fulfilment of its

duty, it compromised the situation. The Association of the Broadcasters of the Philippines president Herman Basbano said, Nobody from the media can just put to halt their coverage especially if the incident is transpiring right before them, or even if it is something that will be damaging to the image of the country.xvii It raises the question as to whether there should be a media blackout when it comes to such critical situations but that would be a lengthy debate beyond the parameters of this paper. In such a competitive environment, mass media companies also face the challenge of striking a balance between finding ways to gain or maintain their share of the market and staying true to the purpose of journalism. What makes news sellable? It has to be timely, of wide interest, contain new information, contain stories of the extraordinary, and have the element of conflict.xviii The last criterion, conflict, is the one that can be best illustrated for the purposes of this paper. Conflict goes well with journalisms narrative impulse, and its presence translates to newsworthy stories. This bias for conflict distorts news into a rivalry among proponents; every story becomes a matter of who wins and who loses.xix Moreover, news is sold not through the accuracy, depth or integrity of its content, but by gossip, rumour, speculation and some coffee shop conversation being passed off as fact or educated opinion.xx Thus news today is, for the most part, predictably negative while the occasional good news comes across as a surprise, if included at all. Competition thus gives birth to sensationalism of this, media has been accused for a long time already. The media blows some issues out of proportion, or presents the news in such a way as to incite the publics imagination even before hearing/reading the full story, or maintains a bias for bad news in general. Bad news, to which the public has become accustomed to; and good news, the out-ofnorm, demonstrates the sensitivity of the Philippine mass medias influence on public opinion and thinking. Philippine media has often been criticized for imbalanced reports that put emphasis on the negative over the positive news.xxi One will notice that bad news is a staple of television and radio broadcasts and newspaper headlines. Such negativity has become such a regular part of the news that special segments are given to good news, such as the story of the good taxi

driver who returned a large amount of money left behind by a passenger. These provide rare glimpses of the good that can be accomplished, gradually correcting the widespread judgement of the Filipinos as thieves and crooks.xxii Unfortunately, the very institution that can give hope to the people can also be the institution that leads the public through a seemingly endless cycle of bad news and hopelessness.xxiii It might be proper to call this a trend of crisis journalism, for which the public appetite has acquired a taste for.xxiv The critical reader, viewer or listener would wonder is the Philippines really at rock bottom or is this just the message that the media is conveying? Corruption is not a glaringly obvious issue in the media, but an issue nonetheless. This is not to say that media is as dirty as the political arena; but the fact remains that there are some bad eggs in the industry some inherently evil, some only victims of economic circumstance. Examples of corruption in media are bribes, not necessarily monetary, in exchange for biased or increased coverage of a politicians actions. There is also a practice known as AC-DC, or attack-collect, defend-collect wherein at least two newspapers are hired simultaneously by a politician to attack and defend him thus making readers follow his story. All these take away from the medias reputation, without which their stories would not hold any water. Solutions The Philippine mass media faces many challenges presented by external factors as well as internal/intrinsic ones. Beginning with internal challenges, it might be most conducive for truly free journalism if there was a restructure of ownership of media companies. While it may seem like it is only the elite who have the funds to run these media companies, democratization in ownership might be the key to resolving problems relating to commercialization and competition. Moreover, there will have to be a consensus within the media as to the improvement of the quality of reportage. Companies will have to take the risk of losing some of its current share of the market if it is to raise the quality of its news.

Corruption is for the most part, an economic problem, only translating into problems for specialized fields. True, journalism is one of the noble professions. But in this day and age where money is hard to earn, a poorly-paid journalist cannot be expected to be totally adherent to journalisms code of ethics. There is a need for an improvement in the welfare of the members of media, not only in terms of their salaries, but also in their other rights as employees. Still, it has to be remembered that avoiding corruption is a matter of choice and a persons set of life principles for wealth has not proven to be a strong deterrent to corruption. Even the highly paid members of media are not necessarily less corrupt.xxv The medias dilemma might be one of the cases that may be largely solved by external changes, that is, structural changes from the inside and mindset changes in society. This can be said because the media is comprised of people who come from the society that they live/walk among and serve. Earnest journalism would be useless if the public maintains a permissive stance; allowing everything that happens under the sun for as long as they are not affected or even benefit from it. Philippine medias problems may only be solved if the society will change its mindset vigilance that is not selective; a desire for news in context to avoid shallow reporting; a trusting but scrutinizing eye to prevent sensationalism and perceived hopelessness; and a critical mind to not take every report or story hook, line and sinker. But like any other social change, this cannot be achieved overnight; weaning the public away from its diet of rumour and gossip and towards boring news and sober commentary is bound to take some time.xxvi Conclusion The Philippines takes pride in its media being called one of the freest in Asia, but upon closer inspection, this so-called freedom is only a facade. Commercialization, politicization, competition, negativity and sensationalism all hide behind the guise of press freedom and the medias role as the fourth branch of government. It aims to influence the public towards social change and national progress, but it has not been able to do so sustainably. The media is a social institution that knows the factors gradually gnawing at its credibility, but has grown comfortable in this less-than-ideal situation. For in this comfort zone, there is money, and therefore survival.

This is very reflective of the Philippine societys mindset. But like Philippine society, the media is not without hope. Old habits die hard, so the adage goes but if the medias members and Philippine society will only want to recognize and address the problems that it has grown comfortable with, Asias freest press can still live up to its reputation.

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