Media democracies make debut

Philippine Daily Inquirer
Manila, Tuesday 28 September 2010

Last week, journalists, politicians and academics said in a conference in Bali, Indonesia, that the new media, and particularly the social networking sites, are changing the face and conduct of political communication. The newer interactive media serve to facilitate, in the words of Prof Peter Dahlgreen of Lund University of Sweden, “the communicative links between citizens and the power holders of society”.

An example of the growing strength of the social networking sites was shown in the Philippine election case study. It was shown that social networking sites were used in moving and monitoring the entire electoral process, from the campaigning to the casting of the ballots to watching over the election results. The social networking sites, in this way, helped ensure a cleaner and less violent election.

The first politician to recognise the power of the social media was, of course, Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate for US president. In the beginning, he was the underdog, and the New York Times reported that he wondered if social networking, with its tremendous communication capabilities and aggressive data base development, might help him beat the overwhelming odds he was facing.

By cobbling together social networking applications, the Obama campaign group created a strong force to raise money, organize locally, fight smear campaigns and get out the vote. The group raised a record-breaking $600 million and created all kinds of media clips that were viewed millions of times.

In the Philippines, candidates used the Internet in the 2010 elections. A study by Universal McCann in 2008 showed that 83% of the Filipinos surveyed were members of a social network. A UP Institute of Mass Communication study revealed that for people aged 16 to 25 years old, Facebook has become an almost daily ritual, used for personal information and as a source of news. Other studies by Yahoo-Nielsen, Friendster and Multiply showed that Filipinos make heavy use of social networking sites.

Because they knew of the people’s penchant for social networking, all the presidential candidates set up Facebook and Twitter accounts. Among those who had numerous fans were Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino III, Liberal Party candidate, with more than 100,000 on his Noynoy Aquino for President page; Joseph Estrada, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, 48,434; Manny Villar, Nacionalista Party, 1,309,504 fans; and Gilberto Teodoro, Lakas Kampi CMD, 339,947.

Their pages contained their biographies, list of websites, platforms, Q&A portions, YouTube videos and discussion pages. Senatorial candidates as well as candidates for local offices also made use of social networking sites.

Some presidential candidates used social networking sites for virtual “mitings de avance", the last campaign rally before election day.

Election coverage was provided not just by the mainstream media but by citizens’ groups and bloggers such as #juan vote, Blogwatch and 100araw. And so 10 May 2010 marked two firsts for the Philippines: the first nationwide automated elections and the first social media coverage mounted by citizens.

The social networking sites provided a cheaper and quicker way of disseminating the campaign material of candidates. It was a paperless and therefore environment-friendly process. The virtual mitings de avance’ were less expensive than the old, traditional mitings. The new media served as a good complement to the first automated polls held in the Philippines. In many cases, social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook were the means by which people learned of election results.

And the work of those manning the social networking sites does not stop there. For instance, the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) is providing legal assistance to those denouncing cheating in the elections.

With the coming of the new media, and particularly the social networking sites, politics and political campaigns will never be the same again. And this will be all to the good. Some observers even say that modern democracies are becoming, with the use of the social networking sites, 'media democracies' where the rules of the political game more and more are being set by the media.

Asia News Network