Category: Media

Are Ateneans making too much of a big deal over the Imelda Marcos photos?

July 7, 2014July 7, 2014 benign0 47 Comments

I do regard with wonder the virulent and militant nature with which Ateneans today raise their fists in quaint anger over photos of Imelda Marcos schmoozing with their fellows in an Ateneo Scholarship Foundation (ASF) social event. Yet hardly an organised peep had been heard from the collective community of alumni and students over the…

Civics, Culture, Lifestyle, Media, Politics, Society

Recall: President BS Aquino was crowned ‘Filipino of the Year’ by the Inquirer in 2010

July 6, 2014 benign0 5 Comments

For old times’ sake, let us revisit how the Inquirer back in 2010 crowned President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III “our Filipino of the Year” after just six months in power. This honour was bestowed on the incumbent Philippine president supposedly for being “the living Filipino who made the most positive impact in 2010”. And,…

Crime, Government, Media, Politics

Change from within: how science and celebrity can effect it

July 4, 2014 benign0 4 Comments

It has often been highlighted that to get on a sustainable course towards prosperity, Filipinos need not a change of men but a change in men. It is a social transformation that needs to come from within. An article in Scientific American provides insight on how lessons learned from the success of some past initiatives…

Culture, Development, Lifestyle, Media, Science, Society

Achieving developmental focus: The Philippines’ Vital Few initiatives

July 4, 2014July 4, 2014 benign0 1 Comment

The Philippines is a most massive outcome of lots of actions underpinned by very little thinking. So many initiatives, advocacies, “movements”, agendas, and vested interests driven by even more characters in a country of 100 million clueless people — it sounds like a chapter out of John Barrow’s book Impossibility. The Philippines is a case…

Charter Change, Development, Economy, Media, Society

Understanding the Media

June 30, 2014 BenK 8 Comments

For about a month now, I have had what I will call “an expanded role” beyond the column I write three times a week at The Manila Times. The specifics of that arrangement are not for public consumption (and would probably be completely boring to anyone who doesn’t happen to be in the newspaper business,…

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Media

Dutch airline KLM in hot water over ‘racist’ tweet vs Mexico World Cup team

June 30, 2014June 30, 2014 benign0 4 Comments

What was supposed to be a witty swipe at the Mexican World Cup team on Twitter by Dutch flag carrier Royal Ducth Airlines (KLM) became the subject of an online indignation campaign that forced the airline to delete the tweet. Mexico had lost to the Dutch earlier and is out of the match. Noted social…

Culture, Glitz and Glamour, Media, Society

Facebook users’ emotions controlled by manipulating newsfeed content

June 29, 2014 benign0 6 Comments

Facebook and other social media networks seem to have come of age. That is, like mainstream media corporations, they are now in a position to deliberately manipulate their audience’s emotions. The results of an experiment conducted on almost 700,000 Facebook users published on the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United…

Media, Society, Tech Talk

Filipino ideal of female beauty stands out in global Photoshop doll-up project!

June 27, 2014June 27, 2014 benign0 26 Comments

The Huffington Post article is pretty self-explanatory, What Happened When One Woman Had Her Picture Photoshopped In 25 Different Countries. The outcome was quite revealing following its author’s simple instructions as part of a rather clever project… “Make me look beautiful.” That’s what Esther Honig asked 40 photo editors to do — in over 25…

Culture, Glitz and Glamour, Lifestyle, Media