The Walking Dead

or close to it. Aside from trying to catch up with academic duties, there are administrative and personal obligations that have to be fulfilled. In between trying to make sense of the overwhelming workload, one texts, shoots off emails, manages FB profiles and tries to organize lessons on a laptop. And still I feel like nothing gets done.

Or maybe we want too much done.

The fine line that separates home and work has blurred so that one continues to plod through office backlog while in bed as new items fill email inboxes. There's a compulsion to check, and then we never stop checking. The to-do list becomes irrelevant, because it doesn't seem to ever "empty." As one task gets crossed off the list, another is added. Updating the list itself becomes a huge task.

My only measure now of how much work I've been doing is volume of laundry and the thickness of the dust gathering on my window. It reminds me that I'm home and that aside from living on the Web, I also live in the physical world. Too bad the it's only on the Web that people don't mind so much if I smell or not.

FLASH REPORT!

This just in: a tweet from Maria Ressa about an article from the Harvard Business Review, which also talks about the work-life balance in the internet age. :)

The Syllabus Link

Hello Comm 150 Students!

You may download the syllabus HERE.

Please let me know if there are any broken hyperlinks in the document. See you next week!

DTC

A Jewel of a Book

I nearly knocked over a National Bookstore book shelf a few days ago in my hysteria at seeing a copy of a book I've been salivating over for the last two years. Urs Gasser and John Palfrey's Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives, is, to my mind, one of the seminal works about the online lives of today's younger generation.

Gasser and Palfrey say that kids born after 1980 are considered the Digital Natives, those born knowing nothing but the digital world. The implications of these are huge, as they have to deal with issues previous generations didn't even have to think about, including privacy, access to information, even the changing nature of how we simply consume media and information.

It's an exciting foray into scenarios that typify life in the next decade. Everything from shifting to malleable identities, the creation and collaboration online, a public sphere where everyone can finally participate. However it rightly deals with the issue of the information and digital divide, including how some nations are proposing legislation to keep certain websites blocked, and the information filtered. Other issues deal with the issue of political economy, and how those with more money and education naturally have more access.

I'm still reading it, and I've a ways to go but I anticipate an enlightening read. I'm excited to find out about their recommendations regarding new media literacies and how people like me can join the campaign.

I think we all need to be part of the campaign.

The internet and the web will be around for a long time, and may evolve into a whole new organism before long. We all need to learn how to navigate it now, with the kids, so that we may teach the future generations how to do it better.

Salud should shut up

If it weren't for her mobile phone, presence of mind and courage, we would not have proof of how blatantly some of our public officials s*** on the dignity and human rights of our OFWs.

May I just remind you, Mr. Salud, that our OFWs provide 13% of our GDP. That's nearly $17.40 BILLION that our OFWs earn for this ungrateful country of corrupt, plagiarizing, imbecilic public servants. They're the ones keeping this country, well, a country.

We don't provide jobs for them then we disrespect them? How would Salud and his ilk feel if they were made to watch other people's children, clean toilets that aren't theirs, and suffer emotional, verbal, sexual and physical abuse from their employers...who can't even communicate with them?

I'd like to see him try. No, I'd like to see him live as an OFW for a year and then suffer the same thing he did to Tenorio. The difference is, he won't be able to leave his employer.

If that won't happen will someone just chuck him out of the airplane the next time he flies? kthxbai.

The Ultimate YouTube playlist

They are redefining our visual culture!

YouTube's Play Biennial video fest is showcasing, once again, innovative, groundbreaking ideas in online video. The awarding and event will be streamed live today at 8am from the Guggenheim Museum.

This project is mindblowing on so many levels!

First, there's the concept of creating the even itself: submissions and views from literally, all over the world. Practically no restrictions in the topics, styles, technology, language, treatment of the videos allows a free flow of ideas and creativity. The partnership with the Guggenheim Museum, where, according to the YouTube channel on the Play Biennial says, video is now exhibited alongside paintings and sculpture. It's a celebration of technology and the unleashing of ideas; an open dam of creativity and expression. Most of all it is one of the signposts of a changing media culture. It's redefining how a generation of human beings are maximizing the tools to learn from each other, collaborate and subvert the superstructures that used to dictate how we were supposed to see the world.

We are changing right before our eyes. And we're putting it all up on YouTube for others to see.

WOW!

How is this new media ecology changing you?

Check out the event page on YouTube. The omnibus plug alone is awesome!

A fitting tribute

Nothing captures the drama and spirit of an event like this as video does.

The rescue of the 33 Chilean miners trapped for two months in a mine in the Atacama desert was "made for television," said one kibitzer. I think it was made to be captured and shared on video at the very least, because I am not sure if there is any prime time news program that would air the full 14-minute or so video of each miner being brought to the surface.

On Philippine news, this would have been cut up to about 2 minutes, to augment the voice overs accompanying the newscast. Editorial judgment on which video images to use will be made, and I am willing to bet that only 3-5 of the faces of the 33 miners would be shown. Not that the newscast has any real choice: the nature and form of the news dictates it. The time limit, standards and requirements of video that will help "tell" the story, and the visual hook it needs to keep the audience watching necessitate sifting through the material, choosing and discarding the rest.

However, thanks to the web, we are able to see ALL of their faces. Here they are all identified, which, I think is the proper tribute to be paid to these men. This video was from the CNN website, and I'm glad they wrote in the names of the miners.

Still, it must be noted, the video was edited for brevity. In this instance it was edited precisely to show miners' names and faces. It's another question if there would be any venue or platform that will run the 33 hours (if it exists) of rescue video.

Globalization in Reverse: nothing comes close to chicken adobo

It's undeniable.

Pinoys, whether born in the Motherland or not will always have their brains and taste buds wired for the distinct taste of Filipino food. The flavors of home-cooked meals come at you from all directions, at once savory and sweet, hot and cool, pungent and sharply salty or sour.

However more than the food, I am attracted to this video for the way it globalizes the local -- glocalization, that business and political buzzword that has been used so liberally the past decade. Culturally it is used to define how new communication technologies are catapulting otherwise unknown aspects of a community onto the global stage. Sociologist Anthony Giddens defines it as "not just an 'out there' phenomenon, but an 'in-here' phenomenon" as well.

This video, by a Filipino living overseas named dvalix (according to his YouTube channel) must have created this video on a recent visit to Manila, to see family. Here I am particularly interested with how glocalization has permeated the everyday: using the catchy pop song "California Girls" by Katy Perry, he tries to organize his experience of the culture by focusing on food. Matching his created lyrics to the beat, and creating the particular video to illustrate his meaning, he uses the same device as Perry does in her song: singling out particular practices, activities, even manners of dressing and mundane, everyday experiences to heighten a particular Californian's identity.

Visuals of home-cooked meals and the set-up of the family table with plates stacked high, several cuts of scenes with big broods around a table, eating. Endless visuals of standard Filipino vayan, especially fried lumpia, pepper the music video. People in the act of eating and chewing, and in some instances holding up the food to their faces as if happily presenting it to the world and equating the foodstuff with their identity, seem to underscore just how important or how central food is to Filipino culture. He pays particular homage to the Filipinos' "national food," singing:

"you can travel the world, but nothing comes close to chicken adobo."

Sharing a meal, anywhere, has been considered a social event. dvalix however zooms in on how socialization with food in the Philippines takes them to the beach, where they eat pancit, or how one is sure to eat all the time because of the many parties a balikbayan is invited to. Panning shots of food set up in restaurants imply that family outings are anchored on food.

It is also family that seems to have defined for dvalix what good food is. Video of extended family gathered around the table, and close-ups of them savoring the bites of their food emphasize how lutong-bahay is a phenomenon that many overseas-born Filipinos find particularly quaint -- having no sense of the kasambahay who cooks for them on a daily basis. In one part of the video, he sings about how, when "mama tries to cook, everyone grabs [the food]." He implies how sinigang should be served ("be careful! Don't touch the bowl"), and lays down the proper pairing for "fried fresh fish" with the video showing the no-frills presentation of mangga, itlog na maalat, kamatis at sibuyas.

dvalix doesn't miss out on some unique Filipino practices as well: he mentions drinking coconut juice from its shell and juxtaposes it with drinking Coke from a "plastic bag." Visuals of fresh fish, typically stacked the way they would be in a wet market imply he had a close encounter with a palengke. Activities such as riding a jeepney and tricycle, using a magic mic, and even mixing msg in a pot of water serve to highlight the peculiarities of the Pinoy. All these are only possible outside of tourist-y travel deals, home-grown customs and activities that can only be passed down by family members and the communities they grew up in.

Though some may find these mundane, I believe these are the "everyday" things balikbayans and overseas-born Filipinos crave. These scenes are from experiences that are rooted in the culture of the everyday, the culture that is lived and is struggled with in order to survive. The phenomena of the everyday are alien to these overseas-born Filipinos but they need to find a way to connect to the experiences. The best way for them is to use familiar memes ("California Girls," t-shirts with the words "adobo" and "sinigang") to construct their idea of Filipino culture in the Motherland. As a unique kind of visitor, the experience is compounded on many levels (being a Filipino born overseas, rediscovering roots, discovering unique customs for the first time, similarities with customs practiced "at home" in the United States, etc.).

Taking available forms (pop songs, video, music) to "adequately" express their feelings and insights about the experience as it happens allows them to transmit these "raw" data. While this opens up questions of exoticization and welcomes discussions on constructions of Filipino identity, I believe it is videos like these that will serve to document and create for the global (even nomadic) Filipino a sense of knowing that there is more to what even our local media present the Philippines to be. It is from personal experiences and individual stories that we get more raw, less conglomerate-mediated perspectives of what it is to be a certain identity, or not, having been born/living in one place but struggling with a strong sense of being from a totally different lineage.

The new media and the technological tools allow us to tell those stories, and sing the songs that help define, or redefine for us the Filipino identity. It's also a constant negotiation. Many may agree with dvalix's presentation/interpretation of the Filipino culture, and others may not. In fact the creator may even change his tact after another visit. But I believe it's all right for our identities to be fluid. These content provide markers for us, buoys if you will, in an ocean of information and reconstruction. It's the exercise that matters, the opening up of the discussion, and the exchanges that will allow communities, online and offline, to keep these artifacts of Filipino culture (or any culture fort that matter) alive.

What is New Media - according to this kid named Dan Brown

New Media and Pedagogy

The University of the Philippines honored five of the students' favorite faculty members at the Great Ideas symposium on Wednesday, 6 October. The Great Ideas Project aims to highlight the great ideas -- projects, activities, passions and pedagogies -- of the faculty members of the University, and in turn inspire others to come up with their own great ideas as well.

Think brilliant, spread brilliance was this year's slogan, and five brilliant professors out of the over 400 other brilliant professors nominated in the polls, did just that. Check out greatideas.ph to read the abstracts of the winners.

What I found interesting among all these winners is their use of new media, specifically, media found on the web, in their discussions. This jumped out at me as Prof. Gonzales discussed his documentation strategy using digital video; Dr. David's demo of the forecasting software using available photos, video and data on the web; Dr. Gonzales' and Dr. Tolentino's references to YouTube stars and the virality of certain videos on the media-sharing site; and Prof. Billedo's use of social media to explain cyberpsychology.

While appropriating any media in the way we teach is not new, it should be mentioned how these new media figured in the great ideas of these faculty. Scholarship and pedagogy are starting to build around the software, platforms and content on the web. How we begin to approach solutions and explanations to many long-suffering issues and problems are starting to take on new forms. How we think and do things now are informed by the tools and media that are available via the internet.

This begs the question, if the internet were not around now, would these ideas have been born? I think they would still be born, albeit much later in our history, in someone else's brain, with far more effort and more cost. This isn't to say there isn't any effort in what we see today. It's just that, we're lucky this happened in our lifetime, otherwise none of us would probably be alive to even see a hint of these ideas.

Thanks to these ideas, we are able to add infinitely more to our methods, we are able to share and exchange insights in almost real time with our students. We are able to communicate both formally and informally online, and keep those links long after they graduate. We start to build a network and this network suddenly becomes a well of relationships, wisdom and praxis both students and faculty can draw from. I am particularly interested with how Prof. Gonzales and Prof. Billedo have successfully integrated new media into their methods. Their use of the media endears themselves to their students, and there is a sense of understanding. In an information glut human beings want to be identified, want to be understood as individuals.

This is what their use of the new media allows these professors to do: it opens up a venue for students to express their individuality, preference, beliefs, passions and desires in a familiar, unthreatening way. When they know they are on safe ground, in an environment that is open to their opinions, they will be less inhibited, they will have impassioned exchanges, and subsequently learn from their peers, and learn from doing.

It's a great way to build true confidence in kids. They need that confidence and self esteem to properly navigate their identities online, and not fall prey to the bullying and influencing that can happen online. It takes a strong character and self-awareness to safely navigate the many unexplored territories of the Web. But we use those very tools that were employed to create it, to teach kids to trek through it safely.

It is this confidence to speak out that allows them to throw their great ideas out there. It is the self-awareness and self-esteem that allows them to see their ideas through to fruition. They've been trained using the web, now they can go conquer it. Many say using the Web can seriously affect learning and attention spans; it will make them more prone to plagiarism and induce them to laziness. But if we as teachers show them the potential to use these tools responsibly and use these tools to inspire change, then we have an army of change agents at our fingertips.

What is important to me is that they are here now - the internet, the Web, the new media, the students -- and we have the means to spread these ideas, right on the very platform that inspired or pegged the great ideas in the first place. Here is a genuine way to share and collaborate, to pass on best practices, to document processes and pass it on. Here is a way to study and teach, and reach out to generations still waiting to be born.

The Future of TV is here

This is it guys! Google is ready to take center stage in the age of convergence.

GoogleTV is set to launch a whole new experience in television viewing and web surfing. Google TV now allows us to see graphic information right from our television sets while interacting online. If you visit the GoogleTV website, you'll see all the different features it offers, including apps (yes, just like the ones on your smart phone), search and a graphic tv homepage.

It's mind blowing, to say the least, that we actually get to see this media form come into being in this century, a mere 20-something years since the internet was made accessible to the public. Now this opens up a floodgate of questions and implications, not least of which are attention spans, content creation, consumption and access.

Among other things. But the good thing is, we no longer have to depend on one tv remote control and go berserk when we misplace it. Our cell phones (smart phones) can now double as tv remotes.

I hope they tell us when and how to subscribe. I can't wait to try it out.

And now, the end (of the sem) is near

Who woulda thunk it? It's been a pretty eventful semester -- for me anyway. Exciting outputs from my BC classes. I'm looking forward to teaching an all-new subject next sem too, though.

Communications 150 - Internet Studies (Comm150) is being offered by the college for the first time ever. Comm150 will discuss how the technology of the Web and the architecture of the internet as permeated our lives, the industries we move in, and simply, everyday life. Exciting! I've been tasked to teach it, and I took it.

It's funny that this is being offered as an elective, but in some universities it's practically a whole degree! In fact there are even subjects offered in high school! Wild, eh?

Anyway, more about that later. For now, I just wanted to share this video made by one of my students: a mash up of shots during our "Take It Off" Campaign for the UP Pep Squad during the UAAP Cheerdance Competition. The campaign was the final project for my Interactive Broadcasting Class and this mash-up tried to recreate the energy and excitement of that winning day.

So many stories to tell about that day, and the whole experience of teaching such a dynamic class! But in the meantime, enjoy this video, put together by Sisigman Jason Laxamana.

The Great Thing about the Internet

is that you can start over.

And so here it is, my "Starting Over," season 35, episode 5. This is a personal and professional (and passionate) attempt to revive my life as a blogger.

This naturally presupposes I actually HAVE time to THINK. Time -- the one commodity isn't easy to come by these days, filled as it is with all sorts of tasks and distractions, but I have to MAKE that time.

So the theme of this episode is MAKING TIME to THINK. Hopefully this blog will be proof positive that I can turn off all other stimuli and let my brain breathe and relax long enough to produce something substantial.

Cheers to a new effort, and a new semester!

A New Leader in a Time of Change

I want to write a post about the swearing in of the new president of the USA. I want to talk about the things i saw last night, when it was high noon in Washington and it was midnignt in my part of the world, in Manila.

But there are just too many things to say because he stands for so many things. And every time he does or says something, it adds another layer, and words become redundant; instead it's easier to just feel the impact on your humanity, and on the human race.

It feels good somehow to say those three words: President Barack Obama. Finally a different name, one with a lot of vowels, and phonetically a name that opens up your mouth to say something different. At the same time the man who owns that name seems to open us up to alternative possibilities. But he says, those possibilities only come with responsibility and accountability. And I like that. For too long we've expected others to make the world a good place for us. But really it all depends on us. I also like that he reiterates the importance of community. The world is getting smaller, her says, and big countries like the US can no longer be indifferent to the needs and sufferings of others, especially a country like theirs, that has plenty.

It felt like, he was addressing my country in particular. I suppose it felt that way for a lot of people. Because of the "patchwork heritage" he so often mentions, you feel a personal affinity towards him. "He's just like me," you say. He has experienced discrimination, he has seen hunger and poverty and lived in its midst. He knows what it's like to have your destiny limited simply because of the color of his skin or the misfortune of his race. Now here he is showing us the countless possibilities, by reminding us he was the son of a black man who wouldn't be served in a restaurant 60 years ago; and that man is now taking a most sacred oath as the first African American President of the United States.

Now these are all rather lofty, and high hopes are sometimes dangerous because we set such store on them. We have hight hopes for this man, and it remains to be seen if indeed, he will not let us down. Notice I use the all-inclusive pronoun, us. The extent to which we are affected by the actions and decisions of this one man is deep. The history and the hurts trace their roots back to over a century. What will happen to the Philippines now? Will he indeed extend his hand, will he give us an ear? Will there be policies to help our veterans, our immigrants, and protect our overseas Filipino workers? Will he give it to us? We will find out.

Hopefully he does begin this revolution of change, and all nations come out and take up the challenge. Let's hope he does take us through the icy currents and create a wealth of possibilities for all those who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get things done!

Alam niyo kung bakit di man lang tayo nagpe-place sa Olympics?

Dahil sa point of view pa lang natin, talo na tayo. It's in the nuances in which we refer to our chances (the elusive gold), the way we skew angles in how we discuss it (the sorry state of philippine sports; the disadvantaged athletes), and when we talk about the results, napaka condescending (she finished with a mere 107 kg, placing second to last).

Case in point: the media. I wanted to slam Anthony Suntay's head on the counter when he reported the results of the women's weightlifting category in such a condescending way. can he and his producers do what Hidilyn Diaz did? I dare him & his "news team" (emphasis on the quotation marks) to lift that "mere 107 kgs". I dare them to train and sweat and work their butts off in the face of all that politicking, corruption and lack of support. The kind he and his writers just demonstrated.

Obviously he, and every media person like him (the educated, the ones trained abroad, those who made their bones thru a hard knock life--bar none) forget their responsibility when they are handed the power to talk about other people . Granted, these are truths, and they are just telling it like it is. But there are other ways to tell it. Tell it impartially if you can't tell it positively. Whoever wrote that copy should eat it.

News is not objective. That's a fundamental truth (just reiterating a bit of broadcasting 101 here, and communication theory in case they were absent from school that day). And the fact that they wrote their news the way they did shows just how much faith they have in our own athletes.

A season of fresh starts

Ok, so here's the thing: I am living a double life. IT Marketing Manager by day, tv show supervising producer by night. Not to mention tv show host. Ahehe.

Yes I have been dabbling in the sordid task of mounting a show for a Fledgling Production Company for the past month. (One month! My, how time flies.) This company is composed of advertising people who transformed themselves into content providers for a tv channel owned by a religious leader.

Now don't get any ideas just yet. The channel's programs here are being geared towards the youth. So there are all kinds of shows: from job finder fillers to daily schedule checks, to a chopsuey of segments and mini-programs to counseling programs and shopping shows. The one I handle is a TV shopping program.

On this show we feature real products (and services) with real value. The approach is a tele-magazine type, where we let the product, and the product owners speak up. It's their airtime, and we give it to them. Shempre we have to research the products and test them before they go one air...we have to be a show that's credible and honest.

It feels good to be back in tv but it hasn't been easy. Essentially I have had to work 15-hour days crank up the production machinery, watch the show's quality and philosophy, attend to administrative matters, do technical work like check scripts and assemblies, and of course do the hosting thing. Imagine having to find some space for all this in the middle of taking my MA classes, regular work, and trying to cope with the growing pains of the Fledgling Production Company. There was no (and I think, there still isn't) over-all production manager or production designer to implement the production systems and procedures. There was no designer who would take care of the look and "voice" of the channel. There were no charts, no schedule boards, no clear path to get to where you had to go. Everything was being tossed together in a hurry.

At least that's how I felt. Which is why I decided that, if my main deliverable was 6 episodes of the show, the only way I was going to live up to the bargain was to institute my own system with a team that could work within it. So I handpicked 5 fabulous people with hardcore tv production experience and got to work.

Because of that we're not as tired or as wasted as the other producers and editors of the show, plus some of us get to keep our day jobs. We are however, considered the most "autistic" bunch. No one has really said it to our faces, but we know what people think: we're so yabang, we're such sticklers for skeds, we're makulit when it comes to our needs. I plead GUILTY on all counts. My main defense: we had to get things done. And if the only way to do it was to do it our OWN way, then that way be done!

There are still many nuances and intricacies of production that this FPC doesn't know about, but which impact greatly on the final output and effort. They need to be made aware of these. On the other hand, our team, coming from a purely production background needs to be instructed on the presentation aesthetic of the FPC. It is at this juncture that both of us can meet halfway, share knowledge and help one another.

There's still so much to tell, but we'll leave it at that for now. Because the channel's only just starting there will be a lot more stories to tell and a lot more events to learn from. I'll be hanging around for a whole season, and boy it's going to be a long and interesting one.

He saved the Cheerleader. Did he save the world?

HEROISM - the mania that comes with being a fan of the show HEROES.

The exciting, mind-altering, logic-twisting saga of the "real world" HEROES continues. And on it's ninth installment, the myriad of fecund state of events is about to lay their destinies bare.

(What on earth is she talking about?)

HEROES is a weekly series on American TV's NBC. It's the story of several individuals who, after a solar eclipse suddenly experience weird powers they never knew they had. There's a man who can fly, an artist who can see and paint the future, a cheerleader who regenerates, a nurse who can mimic others' powers, and my favorite hero: the young Japanese office worker who can bend time and space.

Think pre-X-Men, when the superhuman students of Professor Xavier were still only realizing they weren't "normal". But to me HEROES is more exciting: we actually see them as everyday people trying everyday, ordinary approaches to understand and harness their extraordinariness. What adds to the excitement is the coincidences the show unfolds at each turn, showing us how they are all connected in their quest -- though not all of them know what it is yet -- to save the world from total annihilation. This, while trying to stay alive against the deadly intent of one Cylar -- a superhuman himself who seems to want to annihilate the superhuman race.

The saga's premise is based on the research of an Indian geneticist who theorized that human evolution is moving to a higher level, and it is happening today. He knew that these individuals had to be united or told in some way, and this was what he set out to do. Travelling from his home in Chennai, India to New York, he tried to find these people. Unfortunately, he was killed. And now it is up to his son, Mohinder, to make sense of everything.

The program is on it's ninth episode and the stories keep getting better. I dare not spoil it for you dear reader, and will leave you to explore. You can also visit their website at http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/.

What on earth--??!!

I know this post comes out of the blue, but I couldn't help it. I just couldn't let this one pass.

http://bangkokpost.net/151106_Database/15Nov2006_data001.php

And here I thought Thailand, of all governments would be willing to explore open source...so should I tell them their Jatujak Market should be sold to Marks and Spencer so they could make more money and ensure their products are "safe"?

D.U.H.!

Owning the Internet

Saw this article: Who really Controls the Internet?, while surfing throug the BBC website and I was partly annoyed that I found it after I submitted a final paper on the same topic for one of my masteral courses.

The political economy of blogs: that was my paper. It had me concluding that perhaps it does exist because most of these tools and concepts are western. But I don't know...I think it needs more analysis. Another web luminary pointed out that the traditional elements and concepts no longer apply to the web in the first place, so maybe it has to be seen/analyzed with a different approach.

But still this is worth a read.

Oh, and here's a cool summary of the history of the web in a slidebar, hehe. Very cool, especially for those who need it for their assignments and references.

15 Years of the Internet

Amassing Media

I've been taking a class in my masteral course called Political Economy of Mass Media. It's been an interesting sem, and I enjoyed the heated debates and discussions with my classmates and teacher.

I realized though I have different ideas from my professor. Sure, political economy can be detrimental to the country, from the point of view of one sector. But from someone who has been seeing things from a business perspective, I've been wondering, can't it have a positive effect as well?

Based on what I've understood of the concept of political economy (limited, but enough, hopefully for me to pass the course), businesses merge/tie up with the media so that the status quo is retained, in terms of ideology, profit, value systems, and power. The more media partnerships you have businesswise, the better off you are. That's why big businesses here and abroad fall over themselves aligning with big media powers. But it is said, therein lies the danger.

Content can be controlled by these big businesses. So many stories float around about how some big networks here can be forced to kill news stories that put their businesses in a negative light. And because these businesses supply some basic human needs, they have a a pretty powerful grip.

Recently, NEDA chief economist Romulo Neri suggested that we open ourselves up to foreign ownership of the media. Many see this as a bad idea. But I wonder, can't we give it a try?

In the political economy course I took, I supported the idea of selling the squestered tv stations to foreign buyers because for one, the government can't afford to pay for it. No businessman in his right mind would shoulder the more than P10 million in debt of one station. So why not let foreign owners come in and try to crank it up? It's not like they haven't invaded us before: most of our content is drawn from Western plots and story concepts anyway. People now have cable. American movies still make a killing at our cinemas.

Why not let them run these stations on a lease for say, 15 years? I'm no economist, but if people are worried about them not having limits, then we can set those for them. 15 years. Pay off the debt. 75% of employees should be Pinoy. Tax the suckers higher than the Filipino networks. Ad buying should be ads bought in Pinas. Half the board should be Pinoy...and they should not be counted as part of the 75% of Pinoy employees.

I'm not sure if this is a viable solution, but at least it's another vote in favor of getting the sequestered stations out of a rut. Maybe media ownership by foreign investor isn't all evil, as long as the government is vigilant.

I'm not well-versed with the implications of what I'm saying, but these are just ideas of a humble student. Feel free to debate with me. I would love to learn more!

Death of a Hero

He was larger than life.

Steve Irwin made sure that his viewers and fans treated their life as one big adventure. He advocated exploration, getting close to animals, and getting "the wilds into people's hearts" (Larry King interview).

My husband and I were shocked first, then saddened when we heard the news of his death yesterday afternoon. By the evening, we lapsed back into denial and anger!

But, as many articles and interviews pointed out, he died with his boots on, mate. What could be more fitting than how he did it: getting stung by a stingray barb underwater, close to his home in Queensland? Only a true adventurer, a true hero with a passion for saving the wildlife can go that way. He impressed me continuously with the way he brought animals closer to people. In fact, did you know that the Queensland government named a species of turtle after him, in recognition of his efforts at relocating and saving them? Try looking for the species Elseya Irwini.

He leaves behind his wife Terri and his two kids, Bindi Sue and Bob, who are just as enamored of the wildlife and the outdoors as he was. They travelled with Steve everywhere. "He could never be anywhere else. The only thing that could ever keep him away from the animals he loves are the people he loves even more."

We may never hear his "Crikey" battlecry again, but his philosophy and his message of environmental conservation will echo throughout the world.

This (animal) planet will never be the same without him.

*image sourced from http://disclexington.blogspot.com/