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The Philippine media landscape is riddled with inconsistencies. However, it is also part of a global trend of technological disruptions bringing about changes in the media economy, profession, and consumption (Estella & Löffelholz, n.d.). Filipinos have been also one of the top users of social media amounting to an average usage of 4.06 hours a day (Philippines: Daily Time Spent Using Online Media by Activity 2021, 2022). From this, it can be inferred how the lives of Filipinos are affected and influenced by the media.
Photo from Carter (2017)
Media enslavement has been prevalent in today’s status quo. As I observed, one of the things that became essential to the creation of people’s reality is the media. Nowadays, as early as one year old, people are indulged with the media. Various shows or cartoons like Cocomelon, Tom and Jerry, Spongebob, and the likes have been influential in socializing the children and creating their realities. One may learn values, behaviors, and attributes from these media contents that may also influence their identity as individuals. As stated by Croteau and Hoynes (2019), media support cultural ideals and deviant beliefs which are often influenced by ideologies or systems of ideals. As a kid, I was able to engage myself in various tv shows and one of them was ‘Wansapanatym’. I can say that this tv show has greatly influenced my views and behavior since it showcases various Filipino values like respecting the elders, giving importance to family, doing traditional practices, such as doing ‘mano’ and saying ‘po’ and ‘opo. From this, it is evident how the media is powerful in shaping people’s lives, especially their perception and stance. Thus, the power that the media hold also requires responsible use for it not to be used against other people.
Photo from (Gavilan, 2018)
“ He who controls the media controls the minds of the public.”
-Avram Noam Chomsky
From the quote of Noam Chomsky, it is evident how the media is powerful in controlling the masses.This also shows how the usage of media is crucial in alleviating inequality and oppression. In the political scene of the Philippines, the media plays a vital role in influencing the masses. Controlling the social media posts created advantage to those perpetuating information that are in favor of them. Considering the upcoming 2022 elections, it is evident how different presidential aspirants use various platforms to heed their calls, actions, and platforms. However, other candidates use the media to spread propaganda that revises history and reforms their family names. In this case, it is evident that people in control of the media tries to resocialize the people from their misshapen reality. Thus, creating clamor and division among people.
Moreover, it is also evident from the experience of the Philippines, how control of media creates power and inequality. During Martial Law, press freedom in the country has been challenged which has affected the lives of the journalists and other press workers. Ferdinand Marcos Sr. had used his power to control the media through silencing opposing media companies like ABS-CBN in order for him to filter information that will not highlight the harassment, corruption, and violations happening during his term. The case was also the same when the ABS-CBN was not given franchise to operate and Maria Ressa’s conviction during Duterte’s administration. Both administrations had perpetuated inequality through silencing and controlling the media.
Media is indeed a powerful tool in controlling the lives and minds of the people. This can be the strongest tool that one may use to fight inequality, but this can also be used to create oppression and marginalization. Hence, it is on the hands of the people to use and maximize the media for the benefit of all.
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Am I credible?
As I was scrolling through Tiktok, I came across contents that I found alarming. These contents were full of biases. However, it engages numerous people believing in the said ‘credibility’ of these news organizations. It can also be observed how people use social media to spread and reach a wider audience, in this case, Tiktok was used to spread disinformation through having spliced videos and edited ones. From these kinds of contents, it can be observed how media is a powerful tool to influence the behavior of the people.
As stated by Shoemaker & Reese (2014), the diffusion of media content over the Internet has changed both media organizations and their content. This made new news organizations easier and quickly reach audiences and receive the contents or information that they wanted to portray. Moreover, this has also provided benefits for other media organizations, like ABS-CBN to continue their services through online platforms.The integration of traditional and new media platforms also became problematic due to questions on credibility. Furthermore, this type of "native" social media news may receive a large number of clicks and eyes, but it alters the character of the material because it is meant to be clicked on and shared rapidly before rival information appears on users' screens (Croteau & Hoynes, 2019).
In the Philippines, new news organizations found in social media and traditional platforms have been also providing information based on their biases. As mentioned by Shoemaker & Reese (2014), when a media institution is privately owned, it can pursue the interests of the owner and engage in activity that would be deemed improper or hazardous for a business. From this, disinformation may emerge to promote personal agenda and interests. In the case of SMNI news and NET25 news, it is evident that their contents are prone to biases that are in favor of their allies. As observed in the current elections, it has been used to positively brand Bongbong Marcos while negatively branding his challenger Leni Robredo. Owners of media enterprises have direct control over media goods and may thus wield political power by pushing views that benefit their businesses (Croteau & Hoynes, 2019).
Thus, it can also be observed how media organizations were controlled by the government. The contents that are being published in some of these news organizations may also be influenced by the control of the government. In the case of ABS-CBN and Rappler, it has been challenged by the government through silencing them since these organizations have been producing contents that are opposing the administration. These organizations have also been accused of being biased and not fair in reporting. Hence, it is challenging to trust various news organizations, however, through analyzing their biases and acknowledging the social reality, it can be noted that we can choose and weigh their reports fairly.
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In between Media Censorship
In my previous blog posts, it is evident how media, censorship and control intertwined with each other. It can also be observed how people control the media and how the media controls people. However, it can be observed that in the Philippines, the government has been also controlling the media, not only through censorship of contents, but through silencing them.
As stated by Shoemaker & Reese (2014) because of media routines, reporters rely on government and corporate leaders for media material, both of which have strategic news making advantages over people and citizen organizations. As observed, having information from the government entails pressure when creating news. It is not only because of having news that would influence the truth, but also because of the possibility of hitting the ego of the government. Having the power to instill what is perceived to be true, the government has also the power to limit the actions of people in the news organizations.
Media products are the consequence of a social production process that takes place inside an institutional framework (Croteau & Hoynes, 2019). In this case, the contents and products produced by the media are being influenced by the political environment. In the case of ABS-CBN and Rappler, their content has been the target of censorship by the government. Considering that these media organizations have been known critics of the Duterte administration, they have also experienced state censorship in various ways. Maria Ressa, the CEO of Rappler, has been filed with various charges which are believed to be State-linked and politically motivated. This can be observed on how Duterte opposed Maria Ressa’s participation in the Nobel Prize Award (New Libel Complaint Against Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa in the Philippines, 2021).
On the other hand, the case of ABS-CBN was more suppressive. It can be remembered that on May 5, 2020, the TV network was not granted the renewal of their franchise. As noted, President Duterte has had a long-running conflict with ABS-CBN, which irritated him during the 2016 presidential race by refusing to air his campaign advertising (ABS-CBN: Philippines' Biggest Broadcaster Forced off Air, 2020). Moreover, ABS-CBN has been also known for being critique of the government, especially on their drug war. In fact, on several occasions, Duterte has threatened to veto the network's franchise renewal, implying that the owners should sell the firm to end the deadlock. At the same time, he demanded that the subject be decided by his hand-picked leaders in Congress (Regencia, 2020).
From these scenarios, it can be inferred that censorship of media contents has been forwarded into greater matters. The Duterte administration has shown how the power of the government can influence and trigger the media to create contents that are favorable to them. Also, it can be observed how the administration tried to influence the mediatization process. As defined by Cushion (2019), mediatization refers to the systematic influence of the media on various aspects of society. Through influencing this process, the administration was able to change the mediated reality of the people through limiting the platform of their critics.