It's Your Choice

It's Your Choice
by April Jude Villanueva

Media is considered as one of the most glamorous profession. Given the chance that you will be part of the media industry, it can be your greatest advantage because of the influence that you can acquire from the different people in both Private and Government sectors of the country. But for me, that is just the bonus part of being a Media, because the greatest opportunity that you can acquire is having the power to deliver news to the public and earning their trust in a way that they will listen to what you are reporting and believe that it is accurate and true based from the news story you have gathered.
But in every good attributes that the media industry can offer, there are also flaws and defect. Specifically the fairness of every news story, the angle of the way it strike, and sometimes the pressure from the network owner and the different private sector.
As a Mass Communication student and future Media Practitioner, I know that I’m still not that fully equipped to the reality of the Industry that in the future I will be part of. After reading the article of Ms. Maria Ressa entitled We are Journalist first, I was able to reflect and realize how big is the importance of a person Ethical point of view and how it can altered our decisions as individual and as Mass Communicator.
In the article of Ms. Ressa, I really admired her statement "if we do our jobs well, all Filipinos will benefit because we will help build a better nation with more transparent processes.¨ I admire her by the way she defend ABS CBN in a professional manner. Especially that she has a high respect on every right of the Filipino people to know what is happening in our economy and making them understand according to their mind standard and that they deserve to know what are the stories in front and behind the camera. She also used her influence in a good way and for the benefit of the Filipino nation and that proves that she's a Good Communicator with good Ethics both Life and Work.
My article is entitled Its Your Choice, because I want to have my own stand in the importance of our choice and how it can cause bad nor good effects over the situation. As a part of audience we have a choice on how we will interpret the message and the news. Even if we don't like the Anchors or reporters we have the power on how we will understand the message of the News Story. That's a right that no TV Network can get from us.

Up and About for the Jungle World Around!!

Sherry Ann T. Devera

      Every time people would ask me, what course I am taking, though they were expecting it is nursing, (maybe because they were deceived on how I look) still, it was more surprising for them to learn that I am a mass communication student.

We Filipinos are known for the democracy we have shown and remarked not just in our country but in the world’s history. Mass media played a very significant role in becoming what we are right now, indeed, democracy combined with mass media are the most powerful force in our society nowadays.

As I enter college life, I was pleased by the uplifting reactions and positive feedback on the path I am taking. I was full of hope and idealistic on my future then. But that was before, eventually, with the everyday experiences, stories I heard, lessons I learned and the day to day realities I am encountering, my ideal world full of hope, integrity, and smooth sailing happiness turned out to be a jungle of interconnecting issues, problems, and huge challenges that you need to overcome to obtain what I’ve been aiming ever since.

I have learned that life is not that easy, that media industry nowadays are not the one I thought of, it’s not just about glitz and glamour, not about truth and justice, not about criminals sent to jailed, not about the IDOL-material of the politicians, but it’s all about the truth that lies beyond everyone’s eyes, it’s about business and survival of the fittest.

My professor once told us that after graduation, with the exposure for the real world, there can only be two ways we are leading to; first, to be just and fair, avoid a lot of temptations and inspired life by all the things we have learned inside our classroom, and the second one is to become of what we never thought we could be; the sad truth that most of the media practitioners nowadays are dwelling with, the money/anomaly track, the people that has been swallowed by the dark side of the media industry.

Now, is this also part of the democracy? This might  be really confusing, is mass media really friends with democracy? That the most powerful force composed by these two, really friends with us?

Then, my another professor said, these things, (the sad reality) is inevitable part of the industry, we just have to balance everything, since we all have to feed ourselves, but not let to be gulp down by these dark side that I was saying.

Having exposed in the real world realities and mature enough to realized what I had been tracking on these past years of my life, I can say that no matter what, I’ll still be hopeful not just for my tomorrow but for the future of the industry, I will chose to be one of those who will stand for what I knew was right, the first path that my professor told us, that’s where I’ll be. I know I might sound idealistic, but I know I will make it, if I can’t change it, I’ll avoid temptations that will doubt me as a REAL media practitioner. I’ll be part of the media people not just by title but also, I am by heart.

MASS MEDIA AS THE BACKBONE OF DEMOCRACY

by: Mabel Ann Ruedas

“DEMOCRACY - a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people; rule of the majority” ~ Merriam and Webster Dictionary

Mass Media is the backbone of democracy. It is considered such by the way media influences the society through its incessant dissemination of information about politics and politicians, especially here in the Philippines. The information propagated, being the basis of the people for their choice of votes particularly in the election period. Media serves as the overseer of the transgression and corruption by those who have power. And the media also identifies societal problems which are then given much deliberation for resolutions by the nation. And with these responsibilities of the media, it is therefore concluded that the media performs to a certain standard by which it highly follows the universal code of ethics.

I for one, in our present time, there is a growing concern that the mass media is not fulfilling its roles properly. Take for example during election time. Advertisements in television, radio and the newspapers are supposed to be contemplating on the good deeds and perfect qualifications of the politicians for the people to notice and vote for them. But in reality, instead of ideologies of the politicians that would help uplift our nation, the information being broadcasted to the society is more of about the personalities of the powerful and famous; and more about gossips, scandals, sex and violence. The news is more entertaining rather than informing. The media hunt for scandals in the private lives of politicians and their families, but ignore much more serious consequences of their policies. And what’s more bothering is that the people have come across and accepted the way the news is spread and eventually decide upon the future of the nation and its leader with the information that the media has fed them.

How can it be called democracy now when there’s already a third party involved in the decision of the majority, that being the media. It is sad to know how the mass media can influence the society with such great impact. That is why we mass communicators should know how to use the power within our capabilities that can make or break a person. It should not always be about bragging rights as to who scooped on the scandal of this and that and all about making money and profit out of the news we obtain. We should all be responsible enough to be better mass communicators of the future; truth centered and God-fearing, making the most out of our acquired information not only to make profit out of it but also to educate and inform