I suppose that when the Aquino administration finally bows out with a whimper a year and a half from now, press freedom advocates will look back on its track record and ask: How did the son of a supposed icon of democracy who was himself propelled to the presidency by media become such an enemy of the press? That Aquino is a product of media should be beyond dispute. Only a big-media conspiracy to foist upon the electorate a political nobody like Aquino solely on the basis of the death of his much-loved mother, after all, could catapult him to the presidency in so short a time. If the media outfits that decided Aquino should be the next President prior to the 2010 elections had not gone the whole nine yards for Cory’s only son, I am certain he would have lost—and lost horribly. But never was the power of the media to sell a candidate used as unsparingly as it was in the last presidential election —and never for such an ill-prepared, undeserving candidate, either. Of course, when Aquino assumed his high office, he showed that he was determined to remain there by vastly improving upon and continuing to harnessing the power of media—the government propaganda machine, which worked together with administration sympathizers in the mainstream media to keep him in Malacañang until today. If nothing else, Aquino and his handlers know how to use media (both traditional and online), not only to gain power but also to sustain itself through propaganda.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 23:45:30 +0000
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