6 - The Philippine Press

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The inclusion of the press in this book may help to better understand some aspects of the political crisis in the Philippines. Basically, it is a crisis of governance, resulting from flawed and failed leadership. The questions of legitimacy and credibility hound the Arroyo administration with consequent loss of public confidence and trust. In this situation, the press has played a role.

The press is a political institution, providing for the public exchange of ideas as well as disseminating news about issues, developments and events. How well or how poorly the press performs these tasks affects the public's ability to understand public affairs and to be engaged in the pursuit of solutions. The press is, therefore, as much part of the problem as, hopefully, it is part of the solution.

Whatever the form of government, the press is always involved in governance and public affairs. In controlled political systems, the press serves as a handmaid of government, a vehicle to transmit official information or propaganda. Such a press assists government to achieve what it sets out to do. It is expected to accept editorial guidance from government so that it can aid and facilitate public acceptance of policy decisions and official programmes.

In political systems based on greater freedom and autonomy, the press plays a different kind of role. The press defines and performs its duty as it sees fit. With varying degrees of independence from owners, the press operates as a private sector endeavour or enterprise. The libertarian model prescribes this freedom from government interference on the premise that the press will uphold public, rather than partisan, interests. To fulfil this mandate, the press must also exercise social responsibility and possess competence and integrity. With these values, the journalists are supposed to provide news and commentary that are truthful and relevant, so as to enable public debate. Because it reports on public affairs and public figures, the press acts as the “watchdog” of those in power. This places it in an adversarial relationship with government.