Listen with RealPlayer . Yet, the irony is that access to information remains elusive, especially for the rural population of this country of 75 million people. National newspapers are down to eight from a high of 22 in 1986, when a popular uprising toppled the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and unshackled a suppressed media. There are 408 community newspapers spread over the country's 7,100 islands-most of them English weeklies and monthlies in tabloid format. Both national and local newspapers are limited in circulation.
Radio remains the most popular medium, especially in far-flung barrios.
Television also outpaces the print media in terms of popularity, especially in the urban areas. Philippine media today have been touted as the freest, most rambunctious in Southeast Asia. The Philippines inherited American-style journalism and with it the structure of media as business enterprise at the turn of the 20th century when it was a U.S. colony. Back to Top Feedback Links Classifieds Customer Service Jobs at WPR Copyright 2000 by The Stanley Foundation . All rights reserved.