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Social Role
The other end of the spectrum is Media's Social Role. This includes the role of establishing Pop Culture, the task of building a nation, and entertainment.
Popular Culture is established when media programs become ingrained into local culture. Hence, when the "Ang Dating Doon" program of GMA 7 became phenomenally popular, expressions such as "Alien!" and "Raise the Roof!" (corruptions of "Amen" and "Praise the Lord") found their way into the daily vocabulary of its patrons. Likewise, the Voltes V theme was also popularized, kindling the audiences' interest in the anime (Japanese cartoon program). This may be interpreted as some crafty commercial tactics of GMA. It is to be remembered that during Martial Law, the Voltes V series was banned from television as the analysts of the Marcos regime believed it to have seditious or rebellious qualities that purportedly affect the psychology of its patrons. Hence, fearing rebellion at a time when student activism was already rampant, the state deemed it most logical to remove all violent, rebellious programs from the air.
Apparently resulting from the "Ang Dating Doon" fever, the Voltes V mania has resurrected, and, curiously, the move to ban the airing of the series has resurfaced. It is alarming to many that such drive for control, which the country has supposedly already rid itself, still has germinated through the nation's authorities. This speaks of the omnipresence of authoritarian tendencies in the government.
The geographical makeup of the Philippines illustrates its factionalized society. Being an archipelago of more than seven thousand islands, the Filipinos are a multi-cultural, multi-linguistic, geographically scattered nation. For this reason, media's role of building a common culture becomes problematic, as cultural unity is hard to establish in a nation broken up by ethno-linguistic and geographical differences. However, Philippine Media has endeavored to bring issues into the grassroots in its efforts to weave a more-or-less common culture via information. The key to oneness is information, and it is this that media strives to relay among the people, uniting them in their opinions on the different issues in the Philippines: the death penalty law, the Echegaray execution, the VFA ratification, etc.
One of the major functions of the media is entertainment. This is where the Filipinos are more engrossed. Philippine politics has morphed from a contest of the best and brightest into a stage of personality and fanfare as Philippine society is "more seduced by celebrity and fanfaronnade than the qualities of leadership" (Benigno, 1998). Not only is the element of "entertainment" felt in political reporting but likewise in the news. It is not uncommon to find front page stories touching on showbiz personalities. One example is the Philippine Daliy Inquirer headline, "Kris: I want to redeem myself as a daughter" on the breakup of former presidential daughter-actress Kris Aquino and actor Philip Salvador. A Sunday Inquirer article is titled: "Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim Tough-and Single" with the caption "is the Manila mayor looking for a wife to play first lady, and will he use his gestapo ways to restore peace and order if elected?" tackling on the prospects of getting a future First Lady. (Later he will be linked to former President Corazon Aquino.) These are accounts of sensationalism-the entertainment factor-on Philippine media, seeking to attract the consumer-audiences by causing news reportage to morph into entertainment.
Conclusion
Although the Philippine Press is deemed the "freest in Asia," it still bears the legacies of its authoritarian past. Hence, even if it lives the democratic promise of "freedom of the press," it is still under a semblance of control (and manipulation) by the government. The libertarian mask of the present Media system in the Philippines bears faint trimmings of the Authoritarian flair.
This Authoritarian streak stems from the element of control on the media, and the concept of State supremacy so eagerly protected by the government. The licensing of media operations and the existence of guilds to regulate the different media are the other manifestations of authoritarian regulation. To draw more clearly the existence of these principles (Libertarian and Authoritarian), one may assess how each role is carried out.
Political Role
Disseminating information: the Philippines is mainly libertarian in the dissemination of information, although there is a streak of authoritarian regulation when it comes to 'sensitive' information that tend to violate anti-sedition and anti-subversion laws. These laws mandate that no information scathing to national security shall find its way to the media.
Creating and Reflecting Opinion: the Media is libertarian on the large part, successfully mobilizing public opinion generated out of its reportage. However, the question arises whether or not this mobility factor stems from the natural libertarian process (i.e., without the interference of the state). Editorials and other rebellious material are allowed publication/broadcast so long as they do not infringe on the anti-sedition and anti-subversion laws.
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