As I turn on the television, the first public figure I saw was the former president Ejercito “Erap” Estrada walking along the avenue of the Quezon City Memorial Circle. Confusion and amazement erupt in my body. And I just can not stop laughing. What the heck was that? Political figures now are a must-see in television? Then it came to me, personal life must be a factor in television today. But that ruins the law of having privacy. Media has broken its boundaries and the one who gets the benefit are those on your television screen.
Politicians are public figures who create the law and order in the society. They are unreachable. But as we often see in television, these public figures always under go scandals. According to Zafra’s article, politics is now just a passé because what you see in television, politician or not, is purely entertainment. Even the news now is being laughed at. Once I went on line and had a chat with my friends in the internet. The discussion we were having was about the rivalry of the Kapuso and Kapamilya networks. In Iloilo, the rivalry between these two networks is a big deal to the Ilonggos. “Kalaw-ay man na sa ila nga mga reporters man. Mayo pa sa piyak. Gwapo,” [It seems that the reporters of the network are ugly. The other network is much better. They are handsome] one of the chatters said about the GMA news team. When I ask them of the reason they are watching the local news, they could not gave me an answer: so insisted on the questioning. Other inquiries I made is of what information they get from the news, real data or the physical beauty of the reporters? “I would rather watch something that would feed the eye rather than the brain,” another of my groupies replied. I am dumb founded with what they answered to me. It made me realize of how feeble minded we are becoming into.
Media culture is now the people’s culture. Instead of us making our own realities, television sets us up with our everyday routine. In the past, we are awoken by the sounds of roosters chuckling all over but now a beep of the cell phone is what pushes out of bed. Politicians should be our role modes of persons in the society but it seems that their way to be noticed is to make fun of themselves by wearing the “in” thing in the moment just to be part of the flow of the society. From the politicians down to the commoner, their existence in television is now a must-see. The advantage of that though is we see the real in them but the line of privacy and publicity is gone. The existence of media has now been degraded into just capturing images that creates entertainment rather than information and education. So I ask you? Are you living your reality?
Politicians are public figures who create the law and order in the society. They are unreachable. But as we often see in television, these public figures always under go scandals. According to Zafra’s article, politics is now just a passé because what you see in television, politician or not, is purely entertainment. Even the news now is being laughed at. Once I went on line and had a chat with my friends in the internet. The discussion we were having was about the rivalry of the Kapuso and Kapamilya networks. In Iloilo, the rivalry between these two networks is a big deal to the Ilonggos. “Kalaw-ay man na sa ila nga mga reporters man. Mayo pa sa piyak. Gwapo,” [It seems that the reporters of the network are ugly. The other network is much better. They are handsome] one of the chatters said about the GMA news team. When I ask them of the reason they are watching the local news, they could not gave me an answer: so insisted on the questioning. Other inquiries I made is of what information they get from the news, real data or the physical beauty of the reporters? “I would rather watch something that would feed the eye rather than the brain,” another of my groupies replied. I am dumb founded with what they answered to me. It made me realize of how feeble minded we are becoming into.
Media culture is now the people’s culture. Instead of us making our own realities, television sets us up with our everyday routine. In the past, we are awoken by the sounds of roosters chuckling all over but now a beep of the cell phone is what pushes out of bed. Politicians should be our role modes of persons in the society but it seems that their way to be noticed is to make fun of themselves by wearing the “in” thing in the moment just to be part of the flow of the society. From the politicians down to the commoner, their existence in television is now a must-see. The advantage of that though is we see the real in them but the line of privacy and publicity is gone. The existence of media has now been degraded into just capturing images that creates entertainment rather than information and education. So I ask you? Are you living your reality?
