Press Release
December 16, 2011

INNOVATION AS AN EQUALIZER IN MEDIA

Senator Edgardo J. Angara urged the media to innovate or perish in this age of rapid ICT advancements.

Speaking at the recent Communications Expo 2011, organized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Angara said those who refuse to budge will be swept aside by the storm of innovation.

"Those who neglect nontraditional media will lose their share and even go out of business. Online and mobile are only growing stronger in terms of reach," Angara noted.

Angara, Chair of the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology and Engineering (COMSTE), said the rise of social networking is providing people not only access to information, but a voice in media.

"The Internet is perhaps the greatest democracy in history. Now, anyone who is remotely familiar with Facebook and Twitter knows they are catalysts for anything, from the next fad, to, in some cases, significant political events," he explained.

"How many of our countrymen managed to find their relatives or send out calls for help during typhoon Ondoy by using Facebook? Quite a lot it seems.

He continued, "Last year, when a speechwriter in the presidential delegation to a conference in Vietnam used Twitter to tell her boss that the 'Wine sucks', it immediately became a political and social concern. Imagine that!

"Changes in the quality of data and information exchange is giving the audience unmitigated control in what to watch and what they want others to watch.

"What does this mean? It means that media is no longer a one-way street. True, in the past those 'Letters to the Editor' spaces afforded a chosen few to voice out their opinions. But in terms of selection, scope and exposure, were these spaces really democratic enough or still subject to indirect editorial processes?" he asked.

"This is where 'media empowerment' really makes a difference. The audience is no longer passive. You can no longer channel them, you cannot even stop them from commenting," he said.

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