Media and the Philippine Politics (A Review Essay)

READINGS:

Coronel, S. S. (2001). The Media, The Market and Democracy: The Case of the Philippines. Javnost – The Public, 8(2), 109 – 126. doi: 10.1080/13183222.2001.11008774

Ramota, C. M. L. (2013). Ang Internet Bilang Espasyong Pulitikal sa Pilipinas: Pakikilahok, Pamamahala, at Protesta sa Cyberspace / Internet as a Political Space in the Philippines: Participation, Governance, and Protest in the Cyberspace, 93 – 113.

INTRODUCTION

The Philippine press has always played a vital role in shaping the national consciousness. Shaped by a turbulent history of colonial regimes and political revolts, newspapers and broadcasts have always been the centre of political activity – carrying the major ideas that, in the past, have moulded historic movements and kick-started global campaigns. The turn of the 21st century witnessed a seismic shift in alternative media, the invention of the Internet has allowed a free and accessible platform for people all over the world to connect and communicate with one another. Citizens today are welcoming a new age of technology; one that has provided citizens with a contentious and transformative space for free discussion.

In the year 2008, Universal McCann named the Philippines the “social networking capital of the world”. According to studies, 83% of Filipino respondents claimed they had their own social media accounts or frequently visited popular networking sites. At present, Filipinos still lead the rest of the world world when it comes to social media presence; avid use of sites such as Facebook and Twitter had branded the Philippines as the “trending capital” of the world, with hashtags on local personalities and state issues reaching its international scale.

In an age of state-sponsored misinformation and the prevalence of online bot armies, the demand for truth has only heightened to an unprecedented degree. The Internet has played a wide and significant role in the realm of mass movements (Ramota, 2013); it continues to be be a space for ordinary people to start political conversations and advocate for global change. As this new platform continues to expand and insert itself into the community, traditional “gatekeepers” of information will lose their ability to control what reaches the ordinary person.

Today’s political climate calls for a change in traditional media; there is a need for the Filipino people to be aware and rouse the numbers for policy change. In its review of two studies on democratic media, this paper aims to fully detail the role media has played in historical events, and the need for alternative sources of information as the country shifts to the future.

A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE READINGS

The Philippine media is home to a tradition of anti-colonial press. Characterised by centuries of successive colonization, the press has always been a major player in the political setting. During the Spanish colonial regime, heavy censorship was imposed on all forms of media, restricting the platforms protestors used to criticize the government. The first anti-colonial newspapers were distributed in the 1880s, aimed at influencing Spanish policy and rousing numbers to revolt against the government. La Solidaridad, the most famous of these, was smuggled inside the country avidly read by revolutionaries (Coronel, 2001).

When the American troops invaded the country, the military published their own newspapers – imposing strict military censorship and libel and sedition laws. The Japanese occupation, meanwhile, lobbied for the suspension of these publications in favor of state-sponsored propaganda. During the Marcos dictatorship, Ferdinand Marcos, who assumed the presidency in 1965, demanded the closure of all newspapers and broadcasting stations in line with his declaration of martial law. Throughout his administration, newspapers – and all forms of broadcasted media – remained under strict government supervision and were closely monitored by the military.

The 1980s, however, saw a surge in nationalism, with daring reporters testing the government’s tolerance by publishing critical articles. The assassination of Marcos’s chief critic, Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., resulted in street protests, anti-government demonstrations, and the exposure of the administration’s abuse. Opposition newspapers were printed, challenging the dominance of the “crony press” – a movement which helped mobilise support for Corazon C. Aquino, Marcos’s opposition in the campaign for a second term as president.

The re-establishment of democracy ushered a keen interest in uncensored news and talk shows where people were permitted to speak freely – major TV networks such as ABS-CBN signalled a change in the way the public received information. Coronel (2001) illustrates how the mass media transitioned from a weapon of political protest to a market-conscious industry concerned with gaining profit – what Gleeck (1967) calls “the conversion of Filipino journals of opinion run by politicians into newspapers run as business enterprises.” Newspapering became not only publications focused on political agenda but a profitable business, expanding a market for a few ambitious Filipino elite spurred largely by a desire to profit.

Nowadays, however, media is dominated by the demand for faster and more efficient ways to receive information. Wiith the turn of the 21st century came the introduction of the Internet provides the ideal space for political discourse. Because of its unique characteristics as a public medium and communication space, These alternative platforms provide the opportunity to discuss certain issues ignored by conventional media. As written by Kahn and Keller, “The Internet makes the idea of a dynamic network of ongoing debate, dialogue and commentary come alive both online and offline and so emphasize the interpretation and dissemination of alternative information to a heightened degree.”

The Internet has made the concept of developing global mass movements – singular actions in different territories – possible. Ramota (2013) explores the use of the Internet as a public space for political discussion, claiming that the Internet is capable of being an effective instrument towards initiative reform. The dawn of social networking sites and personal blogs have allowed the ordinary citizen to broadcast their advocacies while still being able to communicate with others from anywhere around the world.

SIMILARITIES

In their studies of the media and its relation to democracy, both Coronel (2001) and Ramota (2013) agree on its vast potential in the election and impeachment of government officials. During the national elections of 2007 and 2010, candidates were able to make use of social media coverage to further expand their campaigns. Ramota (2013) recounts that, in the senatorial elections of 2007, politicians made attempts to broaden their exposure through online platforms – creating personal websites, completing Wikipedia profiles, sending spam e-mails and text messages. Candidates that lacked the funds for conventional TV ads leaned towards Internet chat sessions and Youtube uploads instead. Dr. Emmanuel Yujuico, who studied the activities of 2010 presidential candidates Noynoy Aquino, Dick Gordon, Jamby Madrigal, Gibo Teodoro and Manny Villar, reports that during the campaign season, political campaigns dominated social media sites Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube. Voters are also able to download election paraphernalia and contact parties through instant, direct, and private messaging.

On January 16, 2001, senators decided against incriminating Philippine President Joseph Estrada, who had been accused of accepting millions in payoffs from unlawful businesses. Within the hour hundreds had flocked to the streets, demanding Estrada’s resignation, while thousands more gathered on the Edsa Highway – infamous for the 1986 people power revolt that toppled the Marcos dictatorship. Traditional media documented the event, they could not keep up with the SMS speed of information. According to Chandrasekaran (2000), people turned to sending text messages to mobilise numbers, spread latest news, and raise awareness. Coronel (2007) recounts how the e-mail and the Web were also weapons of protest, linking protestors in the provinces, the capital, and overseas.

The Internet can be used not only to show support, but to verify participation and credibility of candidates as well as evaluate controversies. The number of election-related websites and blog articles heightened, providing masses with profiles of the candidates, their party platforms and coalitions, as well as previous track records. Even NGOs became involved with updating posts on electoral violations, media biases, and campaign budgets.

As the decade passed, the concept of “e-government” was also introduced; the use of information and communications technology (ICT) towards more systematic government transactions. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) describes it as a way to ensure the accountability, transparency, honesty and effectivity of the government, particularly in the process of decision making. According to Palatino, 294 of the 324 national government agencies have an Internet presence.

DIFFERENCES

Coronel (2001) maps the history of media all the way to the Spanish colonisation, tracing its impact even in the institutions we have today. While Coronel’s study recounts the role of the media in the past, Ramota (2013) attempts to predict the future, focusing on the presence of the media in a new age of technology and globalization. Ramota (2013) marks 1994 as an influential year for the Filipino masses; after the collapse of the Marcos dictatorship, the public began using the Internet not only for recreational purposes but as a space intended for democratic discussion.

Only a few years after the introduction of the Internet, the country was named the “Friendster Capital of the World”. According to David Jones, vice president of Friendster’s Global Marketing, Filipinos made up 39% of the site’s total visitors in 2008. In the same year, 13.2 million visitors were reported to have come from the Philippines.

The Internet also gives both individuals and groups power by allowing them to be involved with the global community, the World Wide Web, where they could be active participants instead of ordinary and passive receivers. Aside from spreading information, the Internet encourages debate in the form of platforms such as listservs, newsgroups, mailing lists, discussion boards, chat rooms, blogs and other programs.

Blogs are still relatively new as an online platform. They sprung to popularity in the later part of the millennium’s first decade and continues to be a popular choice of broadcasting opinions. Ramota (2013) writes that blogs are a common choice because of certain characteristics that set them apart from other media: (1) timely and relevant entries, categorized in reverse chronological order; (2) hyperlinks to access documents, websites and other blogs; (3) archival capacity, even older entries can be studied; (4) networking capacity or being able to permanently link other blogs and websites; (5) voice, based on both personal vlogs and “authorial platforms”; and (6) ease of syndication in the usage of RSS or XML technology. (Blood, Drezner and Gill).

The interactive aspect of the Internet allows wide communication compared to traditional and mainstream media, which are often biased. In theory, freedom of speech is encouraged: the democratic element being that anyone, no matter what language or technical ability, is able to mention their own beliefs and become involved in political discussions.

While Coronel (2001) discusses the freedom of speech that characterizes the relevance of social media, Ramota (2013) tackles the government’s attempts to regulate it. On September 12, 2012, former President Noynoy Aquino moved to pass Republic Act 10175, also known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act. The act granted the Department of Justice the ability to censor “dangerous web content”, shut down any computer system, and accuse any digital citizen of libel for their activities online. In a press release, Senator Edgardo J. Angara assured that the Cybercrime only served to keep cyberspace safe.

The regulation of the Internet angered many Filipinos, claiming that such was an invasion of privacy and only served to appease the “restrictive mindset” of the current regime. The University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication expressed their concern over the move, claiming that, under this new act, research works – which may be seen as controversial or offensive to some parties as they often investigate prominent individuals – may be affected and taken down.

CONCLUSION

Both Coronel (2001) and Ramota (2013) share many sentiments towards the potential of the Internet as a political avenue for ordinary citizens to engage in discussions. The country is entering a new age of technology; as a result, the way citizens exchange information needs to be updated to be relevant in contemporary times. Platforms such as blogs, video uploads, and social media sites allow anyone to share their advocacies to the world; this type of political freedom must be taken care of and respected. No longer do citizens have to keep silent about the issues that circulate the country; alternative forms of media offer them a platform to raise awareness on political issues and be informed with the movements of the government.