Abstract.docx

Abstract

The research paper is about finding whether sympathy voting is a necessary effect of Mass media as viewed in Nancy Binay’s winning the 2013 senatorial seat. Nancy Binay’s ascent to politics and her winning brought confusion to the public and casts doubt on Mass media’s power to directly affect public perception. In social media in particular, she was greatly criticized for being incompetent and overly ambitious. The criticisms went from being informative to being an avenue to defame making Binay as a laughing stock of the public. However, despite the destructive and degrading criticisms, it was surprising that Nancy Binay still won even getting 13, 310. 290 votes which made her land in the 5th position. The researchers concluded that Mass media may have a great influence on what the public should think and talk about but not necessarily what their approach on the matter is going to be. It revolves on the idea that the audience is no longer passive but an active participant in the whole process of communication. Furthermore, the Mass media may have been used as a tool to supposedly suppress Nancy Binay from getting a seat in the senate but her winning the position as a perverse consequence only strengthens the claim that Mass media is a powerful tool in Philippine elections.