This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 6, March 11-17, 2007
Vantage Point
Beyond the TV Ads BY
LUIS V. TEODORO Today the key question when
it comes to the media's role in a democracy is how the less moneyed but possibly
brighter and more principled can access the electorate to offset the inherent
advantage of those whose war chests run into the billions. While there were initial
efforts to make the coverage of the campaign meaningful, eventually the coverage
regressed into the usual videos of candidates' out- of- town sorties. There was
a preponderance of reports on who was leading whom in the surveys (otherwise
known as the horse race). Television news also devoted entire segments to the
doings of celebrity or celebrity-associated candidates (among them Manuel "Mar"
Roxas, whose TV ads advantage was augmented by repeated coverage of his
"relationship" with a TV anchor). © 2007 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
Television is generally acknowledged to have the longest reach of all
the media today, with audience access estimated at 96 percent of all Filipinos
nationwide.
Much has thus been said about TV's being the political battleground in the
campaign for this year's elections
Business Mirror
Posted by Bulatlat
TELEVISION is generally acknowledged to have the longest reach of all the media
today, with audience access estimated at 96 percent of all Filipinos nationwide.
Much has thus been said about TV's being the political battleground in the
campaign for this year's elections. The candidates' media gurus know this if
they know nothing else. Thus the political ads that television-especially the
two major networks ABS-CBN and GMA-7-is attracting even at this early stage,
which should translate into hefty increases (by as much as 10 percent) in their
revenues for this year.
The key word is "revenues," which at the candidates' end means "expenses." The
extensive reach of television means TV ads aren't cheap. A 30-second ad during
prime time, for example, can cost as much as P250,000 ($5,149.86 at an exchange
rate of $1=P48.454). A TV ad campaign can thus run to nearly a hundred million
per station.
Most of the candidates this year have turned to the Internet and to podcasts in
an effort to cut costs and to "even the playing field". But the Internet suffers
from limited access, despite the falling prices of PCs and laptops and the drop
in the cost of connections to the Web. Romantics and optimists will tell you
there's the proliferation of Internet cafes, but it's doubtful if most of their
customers are lining up to access Noynoy Aquino's latest podcast or Ping
Lacson's website.
Television not only has the reach. It also has the captive audience that's glued
to that popular soap during prime time into which a political ad can be inserted
with little risk of anyone's turning the set off. If television is thus the
field of combat where who gets to sit in the Senate floor or in gallery will be
decided, those who intend to do battle in it better come prepared with the huge
budgets required.
While it's all very nice to point out how well-done some of the early-bird
politicians' ads are, which of them are ineffective, and which can stand some
tweaking, the real bottom line is the impact of this contest on us poor folk who
will have to live with such consequences as Cesar Montano's or Richard Gomez's
making it to the Senate.
If what the elections this year and in the coming years will be decided by who
has the most ads or the most effective ones, it means the golden rule of
politics all over again-who has the gold rules. Who has the means will prevail,
given the cost not only of airing TV ads but also of producing them.
What about those who don't have the resources but who may have the brains to
actually craft the laws this country needs? If it's going to be a battle of the
ads alone, they won't, or will hardly, count. Ergo, this year as in years past,
it will be money politics all over again that will be in the winners' circle.
Not only can fair, relevant and accurate media coverage enable those who can't
afford to pay hundreds of millions for ads gain the name recognition Philippine
politics puts a premium on. Even more importantly can they inform voters about
their plans and programs through thoughtful media coverage.
In 2004, a Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility monitor of media coverage
of the campaign and elections that year found that media, particularly TV,
coverage was less than thoughtful.
The focus on the two main "contenders" for the presidency was to the exclusion
of such candidates as Raul Roco. (The rare times in which Roco was covered
almost exclusively had to do with his illness and departure for the United
States.)
There was no coverage of the crucial party-list elections except in those
instances when these groups were accused of being communist fronts. Except for
Mar Roxas, there was very little coverage of other candidates for senator, and
zero on what the advocacies of the candidates were--or if they had any at all.
Mostly the "issues" covered had nothing to do with platforms or programs, and
everything to do with such scandals as an ex-wife's accusation that a candidate
had not been providing child support.
Given the quality of the 2004 coverage, it's safe to say that, except when they
were shaped by fraud, the results were at least partly the doing of the media.
The shift from print to TV ads during the campaign was already pronounced even
before 2004. But that is not as important as how television-and the other
media-will cover the elections this year.
The two major networks launched with much fanfare their commitment to sustained
coverage of the campaign and elections this year. Let's hope they mean "better,"
and that, in exchange for the increased revenues they'll be making this year,
they will provide the public information beyond what the ads provide.
Published in Business Mirror/Posted by Bulatlat