State TV: A Call for an Evolution

We live in times saturated by so much news and information.

This generation of Filipinos' insatiable need for news and information has made this country a record-setter in terms of the number of newspapers, the number of news websites circulating in the Internet, the number of radio stations and now, even the number of all news and information channels.

ABS-CBN led the way in all news and information channels in the Philippines with its launch of ANC in 1996. Fifteen years later, its rivals GMA Network and TV5 is providing competition to ANC's monopoly of the industry by launching their own all news channels -- all in free TV. Last February 21, TV5 launched Aksyon TV which is just one of the milestones made by this rapidly developing media conglomerate. GMA Network, meanwhile, is cementing its position as the country's most respected news and public affairs network with the launch of GMA News TV (replacing its lifestyle channel QTV) on February 28.

The Next Dominoes (2 of 4)

"Hey! I shout better than you! Down with Mubarak!"

They’ve all been ruled by despots. This is what Tunisia and Egypt had in common. Both  Ben Ali and Mubarak have been in power for more than 30 years. And getting through more than 30 years in power meant getting around the weak democratic system of governance in their countries. Mubarak, who came into power in succession to the assassinated Anwar Sadat, asked his rubber stamp parliament to revise the constitution in 2005 in order to allow multi-party elections for the first time in more than 40 years. This enabled him to run for his fifth and final term against largely unpopular opponents, since the formidable ones have been largely harassed and oppressed by government forces. Ben Ali is also known to have used force and intimidation against opposition figures in his country.