How much information is too much information? Philippine television coverage of the May 14 elections will attempt an answer.
Before the polling precincts have even opened, assorted pundits line up on the TV screen to analyze the patterns of votes which have not yet been cast. Anchors are quizzing field reporters to make sure they are on the ball.
“Have the ballot boxes arrived?”
“Yes, they have.”
“And the voters’ lists?”
“Yes, they’re all here.”
“And that indelible ink to mark the voters’ index fingers with so they can vote only once?”
“Yes, they have ink.”
“What about those folders which ensure each voter’s privacy?”
“Yes. . .”
Surveys are reviewed and interpreted. Past elections are recalled. Voter psychology is discussed. The head of a chicken is bitten off and its innards studied to predict the winners. No, I made that up. Bets are placed, although owing to the importance of the occasion, they are called projections. Eight-four-one, some say; others prefer eight-five. Music videos consisting of slow-motion footage of recent political events set to heart-rending pop songs are aired. At one point a snippet of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s musical score for Wuthering Heights is played, and for a moment the viewer expects to see senatorial candidates running across the mist-shrouded moors, crying, “Vote-buying! Harassment! Fraud! Heeeathcliff!”
Concerned personalities urge the electorate to Vote Wisely, raising the possibility that candidate Wisely will make it to the Magic 13. The body count of this election period is compared to the body counts of previous elections, and all agree that as electoral exercises in the Philippines go, this one is fairly peaceful. So far, the pundits hasten to add, implicitly reminding the audience that there is still a lot of time for something really exciting to happen, therefore they should stay glued to their TV sets because it would be a tragedy if they missed it.
Oddly, none of the platforms of the candidates vying for the thirteen senatorial slots, the 282 congressional seats, and the 17,000 or so local positions are scrutinized, either because there are no platforms, or no one can tell the platforms apart.
As the polling places open, news teams from all over the archipelago report incidents of voter confusion, disenfranchisement, power outages, harassment, delays in certain areas, supply shortages, and celebrity sightings. At 3 pm the precincts close, and the election results begin to trickle in.
“In Barangay Whatever, Noli de Castro leads the tally with ten votes. There are eight votes for Flavier, six for Loi Estrada, four for Lacson, three each for Drilon, Honasan, and Arroyo, two for Pangilinan and one for Homer Simpson. These are partial unofficial returns representing point zero zero. . .”
“At this time, sixteen ballots have been tabulated, and the results are as follows. . .”
“. . .zero zero. . .”
“Angara, twelve. The tribe has spoken.”
“. . .zero zero zero one of the total number of votes.”
Do we really need to know how every single barangay in our country voted? Apparently the news organizations believe we do. Yes, we must be vigilant in order to protect our democracy. Also, we need to fill lots of airtime. Sure, the numbers are too small to indicate even a shadow of a hint of a suggestion of a trend, but the people must be informed. Let the conspiracy theorists suspect that the audience is being conditioned to accept the victory of certain candidates. Those wackos are paranoid anyway.
This is the age of twenty-four hour news, seven days a week. We need content! There is no such thing as a slow news minute. Nothing is so insignificant that it can’t be covered by intrepid broadcast journalists and dissected by pundits. There is no detail so inconsequential that it can’t be magnified into a story. The mere presence of a reporter with a camera means that there is news being made. It’s an incredibly competitive business. You can’t wait for news to actually happen, you have to make it happen.
“Mr. Candidate, you’ve been lagging in all the surveys. How do you rate your chances?”
“Well, I always say, climb every mountain. Ford every stream. Follow every rainbow. Until you find your dream. Everybody! Climb every mountain, ford every stream-”
The complete official results won’t be ready for weeks, but stay tuned because you don’t want to miss anything. Just don’t hold your breath.
