Sen. Grace L. Poe (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Grace Poe underscored the vital role of print media as a source of credible information, especially in the era of fake news.
Addressing members of the United Print and Multimedia Group Inc. in its induction of officers on Wednesday, the senator said print media remained essential as a “bastion of accountability and responsibility.”
“[T]he distinct feature of social media is speed; the content creator’s objective is to go viral; and the spreading of information or misinformation is easily facilitated by clicking the share button,” she said.
“On the other hand, ethical practices in journalism, [the] most important of which is fact-checking, are consistently upheld in print media. This is probably why print media is trusted and can confidently brand themselves as the guardians of truth,” she pointed out.
According to the senator, traditional print and broadcast media brands have proven to be “more resilient to accusations of fake news” compared to social media platforms and digital news outlets.
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Role undiminished
Print media’s role, she said, “has not been diminished with the passage of time and technology… It is still is as important today as it was yesterday.”
She cited a 2023 global study of 10,000 consumers, commissioned by the nonprofit Two Sides and conducted online by the independent research company Toluna, showing that 71 percent of respondents believed that reading printed materials offered a deeper understanding of the issues. Currently heading the Senate finance committee, Poe previously served as chair of the committee on public information of mass media, a position now held by Sen. Robinhood Padilla.