Social Media Against Western Media's Cliche Portrayal of the Philippines

Thanks to the Internet, Western media no longer have the monopoly in spreading information in accordance with their biased outlook or cliche impression of places and events. Take for example the case of the Philippines, where President Duterte is undertaking a no non-sense war against illegal drugs and criminality.

The Western media especially in the US are so used to portraying the Philippines as a third world country, so much so that during the country's flooding earlier this month, an influencial television news network opted to show video footage of the floods in a remote village tens of miles away east of Metro Manila, that featured a collection of shanties at a rag tag sparsely populated site instead of relevantly showing the vibrant metropolis where 12 million people were affected by the heavy rains and flood water. Then this was followed by the coverage of President Duterte's war on crimes and drugs, where the same news outfit showed pictures and videos of hapless fatalities and prisons overcrowded with apprehended suspects, that easily insinuated irregularities and mismanagement under the 2-month old government. The expressed objective of the government campaign and comprehensive plans to mitigate existing and ensuing problems, however, were never touched for a balanced reporting.

Such cliche approach of media in the West is now detested by most Filipinos. The way most of them (media) kept unreported crucial information and events in the Philippines during Marcos' time hurt the trust on them of the people that suffered tremendously under Martial Law. The media in the West were almost too late, like the US leadership then, to realize the true picture and sentiment in the Philippines before the EDSA People Power revolt broke out.

If not for social media, the world would never know now the other side of how the western media are portraying events in the Philippines. Filipinos are mostly social media active that despite of the much derided poor internet service in the country, the more than 90% of the populace who trust their President do their share to balance the created image. While human right advocates are now bashing  Duterte for the fate of criminal suspects, the Philippine social media is abuzz with support for the President and his government.

To sum it all, the West could truly paint a picture of the world as it sees fit before the advent of internet. These days, the wireless world like social media is an indispensable participant in creating and disseminating information to seek the truth.