Reply: You may visit the library of IBON Foundation along Timog Avenue for references which present an alternative analysis of the global financial crisis. With regard to its global impact on media (which also has a bearing on Philippine media), try reading the works of Chomsky, Hermann and McChesney. Part of your learning process is to identify the appropriate titles, hence my decision to just give you the surnames of some authors and the location of a library outside the campus. Good luck on your research.

Reply: Kindly check your inbox. Thanks.

The post immediately before this one is from a Blogger user that is impersonating me. The person has impersonated me on other blogs and left comments there.

If you want proof of my identity, i can gladly e-mail you.

Thank you.

Reply: I’ll take your word for it. That you’ve been using an IP number different from the previous one is proof enough, I think. I’ve taken the liberty to replace the name with “Anonymous” but I feel that the comment should be retained. I hope this arrangement is comfortable with you. All the best!

It is too risky for media corporations to expand business operations when the global and local economies are contracting. The good news in the local media is that cable subscribers cannot afford without it even during hard times. Filipinos just wanted to be entertained no matter how hard is the economy.

Reply: Good point. The “name of the game” now for mainstream media organizations is convergence. For example, a newspaper organization would venture into online (and even broadcast) but still use the print reporters to produce outputs for the other media. It would have been welcome news for journalists to straddle different forms of media, but the problem is that the multimedia orientation of the practice of the profession is being done to cut cost, exploiting the journalists in the process. I don’t know if cable subscription is something that people cannot do without, at least in Metro Manila where the cost of postpaid subscription is relatively high compared to the provinces. That would explain why a cable company has begun issuing prepaid cards in Metro Manila that are good only for a certain number of days. In the next few years, however, we will see the shift from analog to digital TV in the Philippines and this might force households to subscribe to cable, the cost notwithstanding. In any case, you’re right in saying that media will definitely serve as entertainment fodder (of the escapist kind) in these hard and trying times. All the best.

Sagot: Magandang punto. Marami ring mapanlikhang paraan ang third-party networks para pagtagpuin ang publishers (bloggers) at advertisers, tulad ng paglalagay ng contextual advertisements, pagsusulat ng sponsored posts at pagkakaroon ng paid links. Tulad ng stealth advertising, may elemento ng panloloko ang sitwasyong dinidisenyo ang mga patalastas na kung saan mahirap nang paghiwalayin ang patalastas sa aktuwal na mensaheng nais ipahatid ng isang website o blog.