PCS | OVER- ENTERTAINED, UNDER- INFORMED: ARE WE POLITICALLY LITERATE?
The Philippines Communication Society (PCS)
in partnership with TVUP
invites you to
the sixth of a series of webinars of the
National Forum on Communication and Democracy
Philippine Elections 2022
Webinar #6 Over-entertained, under-informed: Are we politically literate?
January 12, 2022 (Wednesday)
12:00 n.n. – 2:00 p.m.
Resource Speakers:
Dr. Jean S. Encinas Franco
Professor, Department of Political Science,
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy,
University of the Philippines Diliman
Vergel Santos
Trustee and Former Chairman,
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
Moderator:
Kara David
Journalist, GMA News
Opening Remarks:
Ma. Margarita Alvina-Acosta, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Faculty, Department of Communication,
Miriam College
Synthesis:
Assoc. Prof. Julienne Thesa Y. Baldo-Cubelo, Ph.D.
Communication Research Department
College of Mass Communication, UP Diliman
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Over-entertained, under-informed:
Are we politically literate?
Campaign jingles, song and dance, celebrity endorsers—these are all too familiar to the Filipino voter. It seems that entertainment is becoming nearly synonymous to electoral campaigning. But with the thicket of election posters mixed with showbiz buzz and candidates’ catchy songs to woo the crowds, are Filipinos politically literate enough to tell popularity and credibility apart?
Voters who are “politically literate,” said Dr. Dante Velasco, chairman of the PCS webinar series, must be able to separate the chaff and the grain, winnow the trivial or flippant from the substantial and serious. Only then can our voters make wise decisions on issues raised during this election season.
Velasco urges media not to lose sight of their role in delivering useful information, even as they use some forms of entertainment to deliver it. He adds: “Voters should also be media literate, and they should be able steer clear of trivialities that go with a surfeit of entertainment in media. There is nothing wrong with ‘infotainment’ — meant to grab and hold public attention — so long as media don’t forget their real purpose.”
“Over-entertained, under-informed: Are we politically literate?” will be the sixth webinar under the National Forum on Communication and Democracy: Philippine Elections 2022 series, organized by the Philippines Communication Society (PCS) in cooperation with the University of the Philippines’ Internet TV Network, TVUP .
