Ang paglalaro ng politika, ang politika ng paglalaro: Ang kulturang politikal sa sistema’t disenyo ng video game na Political Animals
Article
Abstrakt
Sinusuri ng artikulong ito ang Political Animals, isang turn-based election strategy game na nilikha ng isang Filipinong video game developer na Squeaky Wheel at inilathala noong 2016. Binibigyang-tuon ng pagsusuri ang disenyo’t sistema ng paglalaro ng Political Animals at kung paano nito tinatangkang hulíhin ang kulturang politikal ng halalan sa Pilipinas tulad ng pagtuon sa personalidad, ang pamamayani ng politikal na pagpapadrino, at ang pamamayani ng paggamit ng eskandalo bilang estratehiya ng pagtutunggali ng mga kandidato. Pinahahalagahan ang mga tagumpay at limitasyon ng video game ng pagsasasistema na ito ng kulturang politikal at tatalakayin kung ano ang sinasabi ng laro tungkol sa halalan at politika ng Pilipinas. Mula sa formalistikong pagsusuring ito’y binibigyan ng pansin kung paanong maaaring maging paraan ng pagpapamulat ang mga video game tulad ng Political Animals sa mga isyung panlipunan at politikal ng Pilipinas. Magtatapos ang artikulo sa pagtatáya sa iba’t ibang paraan na maaaring magamit ng mga video game tulad ng Political Animals hindi lamang upang magpamulat sa mga manlalaro kundi maging pundasyon tungo sa posibilidad ng politikal na pagbabago sa labas ng video game.
Abstract
This article analyzes Political Animals, a turn-based election strategy game that was made by the Filipino game developer Squeaky Wheel and released in 2016. The analysis focuses on the design and system used by Political Animals as it attempts to capture the political culture of elections in the Philippines especially the focus on personality politics, the dominance of patronage politics, and prevalence of the use of scandal in the battle between candidates. The successes and limitations of systemizing this political culture is highlighted and what the game says about the elections and politics in the Philippines is also discussed. From a formalist analysis of the game, the article discusses how video games like Political Animals can be a means to show social and political issues of the Philippines. At the end of the article, the different strategies that are used by video games like Political Animals is discussed and how these not only raise the political consciousness of players but also how these can be a foundation for political change outside the video game.
Electoral Disinformation: Looking Through the Lens of Tsek.ph Fact Checks
Article
Elections are fertile ground for disinformation. The 2019 midterm elections, like the 2016 presidential election, buttress this observation. This ugly side of electoral contests is documented by Tsek.ph, a pioneering collaborative fact-checking initiative launched by three universities and eleven newsrooms specifically for the midterms. Its repository of fact checks provides valuable insights into the nature of electoral disinformation before, during and after the elections. Clearly, electoral disinformation emanates from candidates and supporters alike, on conventional (e.g., speeches and sorties) and digital (e.g., social media) platforms. Its wide range of victims includes the media no less.
The Making of the Philippine President: A Textual Analysis of Mythical Archetypes in the TV News Reports of the 2010 Presidential Elections
Article
Journalists will dispute that they work with myths or archetypes in writing and producing the news yet there is evidence that these are used to frame stories so that they resonate with readers or viewers. This critical discourse analysis using Richardson’s (2007) framework for newspapers studied 278 candidate reports out of 644 election-related accounts on the 2010 Philippine presidential election in the news programs TV Patrol and 24 Oras from January to May 2010. The analyses identified the character portrayals of the candidates and were then matched with familiar archetype qualities identified by Lule (2001). Archetypes in the media are potentially powerful communication frames that could impact on the political literacy of the electorate, especially in a predominantly commercial broadcast environment where there is hardly airtime for lengthy discussion of public issues.
