Daguyen, Shaira May K. 12-St.

Agnes

TRENDS, NETWORKS, AND CRITICAL THINKING IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Activity #3

ESSAY: In not less than 15 sentences, answer and express your ideas on these questions:

How does the presence of a free press serve as an important element of democracy? How is free press
practiced in the Philippines? Do you think we have a genuine free press in the Philippines? Why did you
say so?

For this 2020’s current time, it is a trend to the societies in receiving more falsehood and biased
information which is treacherous. Press freedom is significant as it serves masses to give an authority to
state or report in the mass media about the truth, and opinions. Through free speech, this helps citizens
to make the right decisions based on their views and knowledge to the government through voting. Free
Press is practiced in the Philippines either through print media-newspaper, and broadcast news-radio
and television. The people who serve the masses are those disc jockeys (DJs) for the radio, and journalist
for those who collect facts, write, and to report. This is share out with the mass media to be informed
starting from the international news, national news, and down to the local news update. Press freedom
is open for our country but there is always a limitation in expressing. A free press is now open but
people still need to know the ethics of journalism which are it must be unbiased, protecting is immoral
and the distributing of information must be factual.

I think we have a 50% genuine free press and 50% not genuine in our country. Tulfo Brothers
are one of the examples of genuinely free press for me as they really serve the Filipinos by undertaking
public complaints. They are also excellent as they addressing public issues and helping the people. Yes, I
can say that some reporters voice the truth but there are little things that they don’t tell us because they
want to protect someone or something maybe they are also include or they are just afraid since their life
is in danger. Over the years, Filipino Journalists are always free to say even if it’s annoying. There are
some cases when a journalist is assigned in political issues others life is at risk as they received death
threats. This results in a high case of murdering the journalist starting from the historical incident in the
Philippines which is the Maguindanao Massacre down to the reign of our recent president. This
massacre tackles the killing of a hundred Filipino journalists as free press articulates the truth which is
uncared for because other politicians don’t want to reveal their secrecy. It will bring shame to them and
assassination is their own way to stop exposing the fact to the mass. As for democracy, and protection,
in the year 2018, a new law was released for us to have a national press freedom day and this is signed
by President Rodrigo Duterte.