People for Export: A Critical Discourse Analysis of GMA 7’s 2011 “Christmas Short Film Fest”
ABSTRACT
Decades have already passed and the Philippines is still continuously relying upon Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) remittances to save the economy. The state has constantly depended on labor exportation as a “band-aid” solution to some of the major national woes of this country. This institutionalization of labor exportation by the government is known as “labor brokerage”. Using Althusser’s theory, this thesis embarks on analyzing how the media, as an Ideological State Apparatus (ISA), echoes a repressive state ideology such as labor brokerage. This thesis examines the role of commercial advertising, particularly, the 2011 GMA 7’s “Christmas Short Films” that tackle themes of labor exportation. Apparently, out of the ten special Christmas commercials aired in 2011, three of which specifically narrated discourses about OFWs. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, this thesis has laid out how the commercials “Kabisera”, “OFW”, and “Christmas Morning” have served to support the state ideology on labor brokerage.
As for the recommendation, the researcher suggests studying whether the same ideology is maintained in other commercials of GMA 7 aired in 2012 and earlier. The researcher also suggests focusing on a specific facet of labor brokerage and then, analyzing how media represents this discourse to the public.
Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, GMA 7, Ideological State Apparatus,
Labor brokerage, Overseas Filipino Worker
Ghodsinia, F.A. (2013). People for Export: A Critical Discourse Analysis of GMA 7’s 2011 “Christmas Short Film Fest”, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.