The speech was delivered by Martin Andanar at the 9th Comguild Mass Communications Conference at the AFP Theater, Quezon City, Philippines. By Martin Andanar, Head of News5 Everywhere

1. Why should social awareness be a shared
responsibility of the Media and the Community?
The speech was delivered by Martin Andanar at 9th Comguild Mass
Communications Conference at the AFP Theater.
by Martin Andanar, Head of News5 Everywhere

2. Ms Jennifer Cruz, Ms Melclaire Delfin, participating
schools, students, professors and all members of
COMGUILD, good morning.
It is my pleasure to be here today as one of your
speakers. Indeed, the agenda Social Awareness: A shared
Responsibility of the Media and the Community is so
timely as our nation is again in the crossroads of status
quo tolerance and intolerance.
God has been so good to us that he has given us so many
opportunities or crossroads to tread the right track. Edsa 1
in 1986, Edsa 2 in 2001, the Hello Garci and Euro
Generals Controversy, The DAP issue, numerous abuses
also of private individuals from the private sector and so
on and so forth. Lahat na yata ng klase ng corruption
naging issue na, from
1.Waste of Project
2.Fraud
3.Lying
4.Concealing Information
5.Cronyism
6.Nepotism
7.Insider Trading
8.Abuse of Authority
9.Bribery
10.Kickbacks
11.Patronage of Civil Service Positions

3. 12.Conflict of Interest
13.Embezzlement
14.Influence Peddling
15.Violating Norm of Professional Integrity and
16.Failure to take personal responsibility
But it seems like we can never beat the established
system of abuse in government and in the private sector.
As mediamen and women, this should all lead us to
question our level of awareness. Afterall, one can only
have a better understanding and solution to a problem if
he is aware of what is happening around him. So, are we
really aware of what is happening around us? Are people
in communities aware of what is truly happening around
them.
Human Rights Activist, Malcolm X, once said: “The
greatest mistake of the movement has been trying to
organize a sleeping people around specific goals. You
have to wake the people first, then you’ll get action.”
I have a question: Do you know what you should be aware
of?
Allow me to recommend 4 ways to look at society. It’s
something I drew from my Sociology Class during my

4. University days in 1995. According to C. Wright Mills we
can decipher society through the Sociological Imagination,
which is the “vivid awareness of the relationship
between experience (personal troubles) and the wider
society (public issues).”
Australian Sociologist, Evan Willis, adds; one can use the
sociological imagination by looking at society from the
lenses of the following social factors: Structural, Cultural,
Historical and Critical.
Structural, how do various forms or social organisation
and social institution affect our lives? How do these vary
over time and between countries and regions?
Eg. Bureaucratic Red Tape influences private companies
over pricing.
This problem entails a top down structural solution in both
government and private institutions.
Cultural, what influence do tradition, cultural values and
particular belief systems have on our behaviour and social
interaction? In what ways has cultural change occurred?
What subcultures exist? How does our own cultural
background influence our sociological gaze?

5. Eg. Bureau of Customs culture of corruption, explains why
tax revenues are not met. This is encourages traders to
underpay or smuggle for more income.
This problem requires a cultural solution. Maybe a cultural
revolution supported by an unprecedented political will.
Historical, how have past events influence the present?
Eg. Past decision of letting corrupt official go scot-free,
explains the braveness of current corrupt officials.
The problem here lies in how we deal with history. History
is supposed to be dealt by learning from it so we dont
repeat the same mistakes in the future. Maybe a new
history mindset that should evolve from values formation.
Critical, how people critique the problems.
Eg. Myopic vision and amnesia towards corruption in the
past emboldens the corrupt official.
The solution that I see here is collective effort of the media
and the citizenry to record all wrong doings in an online
public logbook of shame. Wherein we can just refer to
every now and then. Parang sa mga subdivision lang na
sinusulat mga pangalan sa malaking blackboard ng mga
hindi nagbabayad ng monthly maintenance dues.

6. Aware of the corruption around me, I find this a useful way
to understand why there is corruption and it gives me a ray
of hope that solutions arise from the same social factors
that explain why corruption exists.
Having said that, the role of the media, as the fourth
estate, remains the same. It is to remind the community to
be aware of what is happening around their communties
and to explain in layman’s terms what the consequences
are in their day to day living.
It is not only our professional duty but I believe it is our
primordial constitutional and civic responsibility to do so.
We have to be aware and appreciative about the fact that,
as a profession, it is only the media industry that was
given certain inalienable rights in our constitution’s bill of
rights.
As written in article three, section four of the 1987
Constitution Bill of Rights.
No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or
of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition
the government for redress of grievances.

7. Again, we must appreciate and respect that constitutional
provision by taking the heavy responsibility in using those
rights to maintain social awareness and, thus, contribute
to nation building.
But it has got to be a symbiotic relationship between the
media and the community, since the media also get their
critical feedback or information from the same community
they serve. One cannot survive without the other. The
same way that media dishes out an engaging topic, a
rather successful communication does not occur if the
audience does not engage.
Ergo, community participation is critical. We must not
confuse it with community volunteerism and engagement,
they are one in the same.

8. Why is community participation essential to social
awareness? It gives every citizen a sense of ownership of
his or her community. Community participation strengthens
grass roots democracy.
It makes or forces leaders to become accountable
and honest. It is the precursor of a “civil society”.It
builds communities and, eventually, it builds a nation.
According to Dr Barbara Burrel of Northern Illinois
University there are 4 types of engagement:
Civic Engagement: Organized voluntary activity
focused on problem solving and helping others.
Political Engagement: Is an activity that has the intent
or effect of influencing government action either
directly by affecting the making or implementation of
public policy or indirectly by influencing the selection
of people who make those policies.
Public Voice Engagement: The act of voicing out the
wrong and the right.
Cognitive Engagement: Is the active pursuit of
knowing what’s happening in a society.

9. We can go on and on about this topic for the rest of the
day but since I am given only an hour to talk to you, allow
me to cut this here and give you what the take aways
should be from this talk.
1.Social Awareness is clearly the responsibility of both the
media and the community. It is a constitutional
responsibility for the media and it is a civic responsibility
for the community.
2.Social Awareness requires a certain set of skills. We
have to know how to understand societal problems and
how to solve it. I suggest understanding it from
sociological imagination perspective of C Wright Mills and
Evan Willis.
3.Constitutional and Civic Responsibilities of the media
and the community to promote social awareness should
not be taken at face value. It is the commitment to
continuous engagement that will strengthen the value of
these certain inalienable constitutional privileges.
Social Awareness: A shared Responsibility of Media and
the Community. Heavy words that we must seriously
nurture, practice and protect.
Thank you for having me.
End.