Philippine radio: a short history of a medium in crisis

Abstract

From its inception in the early 1920s, radio as a mass communication medium in the Philippines has performed a variety of roles in shaping the social, economic and political landscape of the country. Yet, there is a dearth of written accounts of the history of this important mass medium. This paper represents an attempt to address this gap as well as to highlight the pre-eminence of radio as an instrument of change in the Philippines during the 1986 People Power Revolution that toppled the thirty-year Marcos dictatorship. It aims to show how radio has been utilised effectively in times of crisis while itself experiencing a crisis borne out of neglect and abuse.