Soulprints - Amyline Quien Ching

When Youth and Media Collide

An invisible government…
We live and breathe media.
From the newspaper articles that we devour alongside our breakfast to the television shows that we argue about over coffee, media has become a staple that we just cannot do without. And in this age of information when being the last to get the latest on dit is akin to scoring way below mean average in a Binet-Simon Intelligence test, one just cannot be blamed if indigestion ensues.

An unharnessed force…
Despite its invisibility, media has succeeded in making their presence felt. The same cannot be said of the majority of Filipino youths, who despite their talents and their capabilities, still remain in the sidelines.
“The youth can do a lot for the country. The problem is, so many youth nowadays do not believe that they can make a difference while some do not care at all. Apathy, I’m afraid is prevalent. We have a voice and we certainly have a say on the current national issues. We should not let it go unheard,” says Porciuncula.

A collision of power…
If media, in fact, wields such enormous power and the youth, when mobilized, can institute change in the country, why can’t both be utilized to build a nation and spark a moral and national revolution? Can these two potent forces work together?
Such is the question posed during the 2005 Universitas Youth Conference in UP Diliman. With the theme “Media and the youth for rebuilding the nation, the conference aimed to encourage these two sectors to come together and collaborate. Among those who lent their expertise are Luis Alejandro, president and COO of ABS-CBN; Eric Canoy, President of the Radio Mindanao Network; Marvin Tort, managing editor of Businessworld; Dr. Eugenia Duran-Apostol, award-winning journalist; and Laurice Guillen, head of the Film Development Council of the Philippines.
According to student convenor Angelo Porciuncula, an incoming Molecular Biology and Biotechnology senior, the influence of today’s media on the youth is a topic that should be discussed. Young people are the “biggest consumers of media” and it is but essential that they understand the effect of what they read, see and hear. Not everything should be taken at face value.
“The youth are very vulnerable for we are at the last stage of the “food chain” so to speak. There is a need to make young people understand that not everything they see should be copied or adapted. Media also has to be monitored. They have to be responsible for the power they wield,” he espouses.
Perhaps, former MTRCB Chair Manuel Morato could not have created a better term when he called today’s media the country’s invisible government. With its breadth of influence and reach, its (un)tarnished reputation for fairness and its reverent-next-to-godliness image, it can make and unmake the actual government with a single swoosh of the pen. From reporters of facts, media practitioners have become shapers of public opinion. The industry has in fact become the cul-de-sac from which Filipinos and the whole of the world base their perception of current issues and their reactions to them.
“Media dictates on us if we let it. It is more privileged than any or all of us put together. No laws can be passed to abridge press freedom. But is media accountable to the people?” Morato unflinchingly put in a speech he delivered in 1989. Media, he believes can be harnessed to attain its potential for national development if only the industry would “wake up from its imposed moral stupor.”

Forming a dialogue
Though he admits that there are a lot of things that media should correct, Businessworld managing editor Marvin Tort believes that for the wheels of change to turn, the public should also do their part by acting as watchdogs.
“Media also needs to be told that it needs to correct itself, otherwise how would they know? If you do not agree with something that a paper has written, react! Write a letter to the editor. Say your piece. Do not keep it locked up inside,” Tort urges.
Citing the example of Jun Jun, a student participant who reacted on the caption of a photo that featured children with guns, Tort continued, “The fact that you feel so strongly about it, how do you feel knowing that you have done nothing about it. It can be frustrating but it is not hopeless. Lahat tayo, we will be affected by something that we read or see, but the question is what do we do about it? Media can only go as far as correcting itself and exercising responsibility. Unfortunately, may nakalusot. So, who’s guarding the guardians? That should be you! The youth should be there to correct, to question. If the media organization is responsible enough, it will listen. It should listen.”
It all comes down to public discourse. Writing letters to the editor is not a waste of time. In fact, in Australia, what people considered as insignificant letters managed to save an FM station from being closed by the government. If most of the youth would write about something that stir them, their combined voices will make media organizations or any organization for that matter, including the government, stand up and take notice.
“It’s a dialogue, a two-way communication. I guess, this is one of the things that I learned from the conference. Media should exercise accountability. There should be limits. Young people should, in turn, take it upon themselves to voice out their opinions, to let media organizations know what they think. Each of us has a responsibility towards society, towards the country. We should do our share,” Porciuncula remarks.
Doreen de Leon, first year Economics students in UP Diliman, however believes that young people care. This can be seen from the number of participants who attended the conference and the questions that they have raised.
“The youth, although seemingly apathetic, is actually participative and concerned about the welfare of the country. Relevant questions were raised and it made me realized a lot of things,” she relates.

Partners in development

Media, according to student-participants from Naga City, can do a lot for youth-spearheaded projects.
“Ang maganda talaga ay magtulungan tayo para sa ikabubuti ng bansa. Media has a responsibility to provide the right information, to uplift the values of the youth through the articles that they write and the shows that they produce. Malaki ang magagawa nito sa ating bansa pero siyempre kailangan din nila ang tulong natin,” second year Political Science student Allen Reandanga.
Faculty convenor Oliver Tuazon agrees saying that there is really no use attacking the media. “We seek to form a partnership with them because we know that media can make a lot of difference in youth development.”
And as mentioned by Jesus Estanislao, Chairman and CEO of the Institute for Solidarity in Asia, the antidotes of selfishness and sinfulness lies in solidarity. If people work together, if all sectors of the country, from the government to the youth groups, make a collective effort to rebuild the nation, we can make it happen.

posted by Amyline Quien Ching @ 11:20 PM