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It’s National Press Freedom Day, but print and radio are dying

It’s National Press Freedom Day, but print and radio are dying

by Gaby Agbulos

TODAY, on August 30th, we celebrate National Press Freedom Day. 

This working holiday, officially declared by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2022, was created in honor of Marcelo H. del Pilar, who many consider to be the Father of Philippine Journalism. 

In his time, he would write under the name “Plaridel,” and was seen as one of the leaders of the Reform Movement alongside Jose Rizal and Graciano Lopez Jaena. He was a co-founder of “Diaryong Tagalog,” the first-ever Philippine bilingual newspaper, with text in both Filipino and Spanish.

Later on, he would become a part of “La Solidaridad,” and would go on to be extremely vocal regarding the injustices within the country, such as pointing out the mistreatment of the Spanish friars toward the Filipino people. 

Many such writers in the Philippines would follow in his footsteps, wielding their pens as their weapons against the corruption, lies, and tyranny that run rampant in the country today, even if it may cost them their lives. 

A dangerous time to speak the truth

According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW), over 200 journalists have been killed in the Philippines since 1986, and only a few of these cases resulted in arrests. Even fewer of those reported were actually prosecuted. 

These, however, are only the ones that have been reported; who knows how many deaths have gone unseen, done in the dead of night without a single soul to witness it? 

Just last year, for example, we witnessed the death of radio journalist Juan Jumalon, whom the HRW reports was shot in his home during a live broadcast of his Sunday morning show on 94.7 Gold FM. His death marked the fourth killing of a journalist since the start of the Marcos administration. 

As of 2023, the Philippines is still considered to be one of the worst countries for journalists to live in. As reported by Philippine Star Global, 2023 marks the 16th consecutive year in which the Philippines remains on the list of countries where those who kill journalists go unpunished.

They add that, as per the Global Impunity Index of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the Philippines is ranked eighth on the Global Impunity Index. 

Aside from this, there are many other issues in the field of journalism, with blackmail, censorship, low pay, and death threats being only a few of them. 

Despite these daily struggles, however, seldom are the efforts of our journalists rewarded. 

The current state of journalism 

As per Media Landscapes, only 22% of Filipino respondents get their news from newspapers, as the majority of the population prefers to watch news online instead of reading it.

We all remember how shocked we were to hear that CNN Philippines, one of the more popular news sources in the country, was shutting down, as their losses had exceeded PHP 5 billion since they started operations in 2015.

Before this, Sky Cable signed off as well.

This only goes to show the current state of the media industry today, particularly with legacy media.

More than this, as we have the height of technology at our fingertips, able to do whatever we want with a simple swipe of our smartphones, it’s almost impossible for news businesses to compete. 

Aside from the fact that the information we get on social media applications is accessible, it’s free too, unlike newspapers or news sites that you have to pay for just to access. 

More and more people are getting their news by scrolling on TikTok or X instead of actively seeking it out which, albeit, becomes a large factor in the spread of misinformation spreading in the country today. But we’ll talk about that for another time.

The same goes for advertisers, who would once flock to newspapers and radio to discuss their products and services. Now, though, there are so many platforms for advertisements, with many of them either being cheaper or free, which is something not many compete with.

Adobo Magazine also notes that, in 2021, a steep drop in radio ratings from the past four years was seen in Metro Manila. They also report that there has been a steady decline in people accessing radio broadcasts through traditional physical radio sets. 

Many, particularly in Metro Cebu, have shifted from AM to FM programming when it comes to News and Entertainment stories, likely related to the fact that fewer and fewer people are using traditional physical radio sets. This has, thus, led to a decline in Metro Cebu’s access to the AM band for news.

It can be noted, though, that there is still a large amount of Filipinos who listen to the radio and, as such, read the newspaper, or head to official news websites to get information. However, there’s no denying that these numbers have declined since the rise of social media. 

In all honesty, it seems impossible to deal with a problem such as this. How can one compete, after all, with so many new avenues for information that don’t require any monetary investment to be accessed?

Even as news and radio journalists attempt to adapt to the times, such as with magazines shifting their copies from physical to digital, or bringing their radio shows online via Facebook Live, many seem perfectly fine with just getting updates from whatever pops up on their feed. 

There is, thus, a responsibility for us Filipinos to be more aware of the things that are happening around us – of the risks these people are taking to give us the information we deserve as citizens of this nation.  

As much as different news platforms try to get with the times, the choice to consume them still falls upon us.

In 2019, the market research company IPSOS stated that there is a global epidemic of fake news, with 86% of online global citizens having been exposed to it. In the Philippines, a survey conducted by Pulse Asia revealed that 86% of Filipino adults view the proliferation of fake news to be a problem in the country.

This report also stated that 90% of the country’s adult population has either read, heard, and / or watched fake news, with social media leading as the number one source, and television trailing right behind it. 

The Social Weather Stations also reported that 51% of Filipinos have a hard time spotting fake news in the media, particularly on television, radio, or social media. 

So let’s say you’re getting all your information from TikTok, an app rampantly known to spread propaganda for certain political ideals, and you’re not fact-checking any of the information you come across on your For You Page. How sure are you then that everything you’ve learned is a hundred percent true?

Now more than ever, there is a need to place trust and support in our journalists, particularly those who fight tooth and nail every day to be able to deliver us the truth. 

Whether their stories may be published on a digital or physical medium, or whether they be spoken live on the radio, there is a need to seek the truth – the whole truth – and not just stick to whatever comes easy.

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