Online Coverage of 2010 Elections: Citizen journalists at work
Reflecting the changing media landscape, the online medium has evolved into a distinct and powerful source of news and information for the 2010 elections. More and more Filipinos are following and even participating in the online coverage of the elections as social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter bring online news sites closer to netizens. These new web tools have brought the online medium several notches above its 2007 presence and contribution.
Unprecedented in the country’s election history, bloggers and citizen journalists covering the 2010 elections were given media accreditation IDs by the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Candidates also realized the power of the new media and posted advertisements on sites such as Youtube and Facebook for the first time. The online presence of political ads has even reached the news headlines as it gained influence and impact on shaping public opinions.
Conversely, the online media have also been the source of image spin  and black propaganda against the candidates. Some of the stories the mainstream media reported, such as the fake psychiatric report of presidential candidate Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and the alleged US mansion of Aquino rival Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr., started online and spread like wildfire over Twitter, Facebook, and email. The online medium has not been just a source of information and news but also the root of some controversies and negative publicity on some candidates.
From just a mere complement to the traditional media during the 2007 elections, the online medium has evolved into a distinct and powerful source of news and information for the 2010 automated polls. The online news sites’ micro sites and special sections on the 2010 polls gave a broader and more in-depth look at the elections.
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[…] era of internet- and mobile-powered election coverage has arrived — but this report sadly ignored the stellar role of Blogwatch.ph while lumping bloggers (who don’t belong to […]