On Press Freedom, News Coverage, and Its Effects on Readers
On Press Freedom, News Coverage, and Its Effects on Readers
I recently saw a discussion where someone mentioned how the Philippines's level of press freedom lets our media freely report on whatever they want. As a side effect, a lot of the negative news can easily make their way abroad and give foreigners lasting impressions on the country. There is also the appearance that PH is singled-out on many issues, as if we're the only country with these problems.
Foreign media can come and report on topics like teenage pregnancy or child prostitution, and they can't do that in some of the neighboring countries with lesser press freedom.
There are similarities on the Florida Man phenomenon when it comes to that, partially because of its relatively open FOI laws... or at least in the past.
With that in mind, to me, it explains why a lot of countries do not like freedom of the press—they fear, not without reason, na yung news coverage sa kanila would border on the slanderous. On the flip side (heh), parang chad wojak yung dating sa Pilipinas kasi they're adamant on the press freedom despite all the slander.
Big con lang sa press freedom and yung focus sa Pilipinas sa issues na mukhang tayo lang ang may mga ganung problema (as mentioned in the earlier paragraphs). Ayun, nafufuel yung self-hate. I was once a card-carrying self-loathing Filipino who uncritically believed whatever bad news I see. It took me spending a few years outside of the country to change my perspective. The overseas experience phenomenon is a thing sa Australia. Malaking tulong sa mga Pilipino yan (bukod sa pagiging OFW) para maground sa realidad yung tingin ng mga tao sa Pilipinas. Madaming problema sa Pilipinas, pero hindi tayo nag-iisa sa ganun. There's a way to improve things.
A lot of the self-hate and despair is because of that apparent helplessness and futility. Nagiging echo chamber kasi puro local "familiarity breeds contempt" perspectives lang ang available eh, to add to the rose-colored glasses view towards almost any foreign country.
Thoughts?
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I used to put some r/PH guys in their place whenever they'd mention na "OnLy In ThE PeLePeNs". Like sa atin lang daw may nag-iiwan ng pinagkainan sa restos sa ibang bansa CAYGO (not completely true, sa Australia at San Diego napapagalitan pa nga ako kasi mawawalan daw sila trabaho if I do it). Or tayo lang daw nagra-rate ng mga Shopee sellers ng 1 for being slow with their delivery (dami kaya ganun sa Amazon and other shopping sites). Pati mga lubak at terrible road conditions common din sa mga first world countries.
Pero nakakasawa na rin mag-correct kasi next week may bago na naman thread about it wherein the same gripes are mentioned again and upvoted.
Sabi ko nga sa random daily thread, nagpapasalamat pa rin ako kasi our country doesn't have school shootings, walang spree killings, walang mga cartel or drug-related violence (mga pulis pa mismo pasimuno ng mga kaguluhan dyan), maganda yung familial ties natin (for the most part), medical care isn't eye-gougingly expensive, abot kaya ang cost of living, internet is relatively fast and affordable, our weather is just right, madaming paid holidays at pinapayagan mag-suspend kasi mainit, I could go on and on.
internet is relatively fast and affordable
Words I never thought would go together when pertaining to the Philippines lol. Not that I'm complaining, it has no downside.
Using the internet in Australia was quite the eye-opener. I thought I was back in 2005 with how slow it was (I believe it was Telstra that my tita was using at their house) and then you get a lot of dead spots with mobile.
Kind of makes you wonder if the ZTE deal wasn't rife with corruption.
I got my first 5G-capable phone noong Dec 2023, right before I visited PH from a sizeable city sa US. Mas nauna ko pang maranasan ang 5G sa Manila kesa dun sa local area ko.
2016 ata kami nagpakabit ng fiber from Converge for 1500 na 150mbps ata. That's more than enough for most use cases and relatively cheap. Fast forward a couple of years later and pati yung ibang telco may fiber na mura na rin at mas mabilis. Kaya di ko gets why they're hyping Starlink unless nasa Benguet ka, lol. Or these complaints about our internet speed. Yes, if ikaw si Juan Cruz sa Purok 2 it's out of your budget - but so is 90% of everything. But generally speaking, our internet isn't the shitshow as it was from 2005.