In Crispin’s C. Maslog’s ” The Philippine Communication Today: Profile and Challenges proclaimed that changes in communication in the country had never been changed over the past years.Mass media personnel may change but the system remains and flows the same up to the recent time.
It seems that democracy doesn’t matters.Communication before is a moment of silence for journalism because to speak out is really a life-threatening particularly to martyr people because martial law under Ferdinand Marcos government overpowered their rights and freedom. Benigno Aquino Jr. gave hope and inspiration to recover the triviality amid his country that paved the way of being in a critical condition for mass media people.
In 1986, EDSA revolution struggled to come up with the most clamored “freedom”of people. Since then, they claimed the democracy but communication remains undeveloped as in the past years’ profile.
Giving way back to the record of the press from Metropolitan and the community, illustrated the discrepancy upon spreading out of magazines and newspapers. According to the survey from urban Filipino readers, the credibility of the press is the strength of the Philippine newspaper because their priority is finding information and getting updates although they prefer broadcast from television and radio rather than newspaper. Credibility depends upon the performance to get the most highly rated press.
Journalism develops socialization.However, people had doubts when it turn to honesty of the press because of the tumult happened during martial law. To fill this gap in rural media, the Catholic National Office of the Mass Media, NOMM, for brevity launched the rural mimeo press and the blackboard newspaper.
Ang Bandilyo of Malaybalay Bukidnon is the more famous mimeo newspaper which was supplemented by Diocesan radio station DXBB. This project ended in 1976 and ran out of the fund in Dec. 31, 1988.
The Moalboal Times in Moalboal, Cebu is the forerunner newspaper. It was edited by Fr. Francisco Silva.News was written in the blackboard and have permeated among community people.
In 1977, Hatid Kabatiran sa Barangay was a similar project launched by the National Media Production Center, NMPC.This project failed in trying to establish both aforementioned projects in Rosario and Balayan Batangas. The new program was initiated called Community Organization Program or the COP, a barangay-based who organized groups for drama and theater, speaker’s bureaus and libraries.
Komiks were also became a medium in rural areas.However, there is very little information and values for society’s development and learning. The broadcast media such as radio and television stations are truly becoming the country’s mass medium .The owner of the medium is higher than in urban areas. The cinema is also become part of change in socialization.
Nowadays,various agencies and offices are being used intended for government information service such as Office of the Press Secretary,OPS,(Ministry of Public Information before),Philippine Information Agency,PIA( National Media Production Center before and is now placed under OPS and Philippine News Agency.
There are various changes in communication such as realization as it is the missing link in rural areas, the improvement of provisions in the Philippine Constitution, offering of more communication courses covering not only for good deeds of government but for the upward flow of new communication techniques and training programs.
Of course challenges were subsequently emerged upon these changes and developments that the Philippine communicators shall balance the flow of information in rural and urban areas,develop more oriented-language for the mass , comply to the society needs, to become free of criticisms and the final challenge is to make the mass media be the instrument to speak the voice of people.
mywella 