Media Law and Ethics

Journalism is probably one of the most dangerous careers in the Philippines, it is currently . Seventy-one journalists have been killed since 1992, most due to political motives. The most gruesome was in 2009, where 58 people (33 of them journalists) were killed in a southern Philippine province called Maguindanao, it came to be known as the Ampatuan massacre.


Being an aspiring journalist hoping to make a positive difference in an impoverished South East Asian nation, I am and always will go by the saying "There is no story worth dying for". Most of the media workers that have been killed were commentators and columnists, bashing certain politicians and policies who happen to govern with an iron fist. I always believe to put the welfare of yourself and the persons closest to you first rather than commodities (I consider news a commodity) that you can live without.


In a different context, I believe in the Hypodermic Needle theory. The audience is always passive and they ingest the information you give, influencing their actions. In my opinion, the media reflects a countries literacy and the kind of entertainment that people prefer. Communication and information is a commodity, however the media is also responsible for what they show. To me, the media should provide information, news and entertainment that the people NEED to know, not the things that they want. The mindset of the public stagnates if they're fed with information that they do not need.

The word cloud represent my beliefs and the current situation in the Philippines pretty well. The media is a business selling commodities in the form of information and entertainment. Although it only shows what I should do and believe in and the things that I must observe.

How is social media being used to create a more open government and facilitate policy discussions?

Politicians and political organizations are taking advantage of social networking sites to promulgate their cause. How?
By using the services of Facebook, Twitter and other websites through advertising and by persuading online groups and users to join their cause.

These pages are designed to accommodate users from around the globe and it enables them to participate in discussions.
In a lot of cases, Public relations officers or the government official is running and personally answering the questions and actively participating in the conversations.
A certain feature of mediums like these is that the person running the page is able to delete the comments or ban the user from posting or even visiting the page.

Structure of information

Gone are the days when you had to go to the post office, wait for the long lines to recede and send your mail. Letter-writing (by hand) is a long-lost art. Using of tape and film in photography and video is also fast disappearing. Advertisers are now abandoning newspapers and magazines, which by way is pin prick to the heart of the industry.

The Internet (particularly its branch, the Social Media) is a double-edged sword. It brings cheaper and more efficient ways of sending and receiving information, making the use of traditional ways of disseminating it obsolete.
Advertisers may now use social media as an advantage to promote their products. Less and less people are looking at newspaper and magazine ads and using out-of-home media is rather unpopular these days. It is a big blow to the information and visual sectors.

Political institutions these days now even have their own websites and Facebook pages. It totally shatters the walls that make politicians hard to reach. Certain political institutions may now be contacted via the internet. They are now more open, more informative (since you can now read their aims, goals and programs in their websites) and more accessible.

Facts about social media (1st Question)

With the rise of the "Information highway", people no longer need to spend an entire day looking for bits of information encased in leather or paperback pieces of paper in gigantic buildings. As well as in communications, people no longer need to wait sleeplessly for snail mail to arrive, nor do they need to pay high international rates to communicate with people halfway across the globe.
The internet has changed the face of communication, information dissemination and advertising. One of its branches, social media, definitely made everything a thousand times easier. So, what is it?

Social media refers to mobile and internet-based mediums that turn communication, advertising and information promulgation to possess an interactive interface. This form of media may be accessed using Personal computers, mobile phones and tablets. It may refer to news websites, multimedia file sharing and yes, social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace.

Things that make it unique are:
-Its speed - It just takes a click or a push of a button to receive or send a message/data/information across.
-Its convenience - it is a lot more easier to use and it can be accessed anywhere that has electricity, personal computers and an internet connection. It also requires little education to use.
-Its cost - practically, using social media is cheap. You no longer have to pay for some services (only a few) that cost a lot in the real world.