1972 - 1985

• The Martial law period can be described as the Era of Guided Media and the Rise of the Alternative Press.
• Mass media controls were established. Editors and journalists were among the first to be arrested and incarcerated in military prison camps.
• It was a time of Marcos media vs. Mosquito Press or the alternative press.
• Media ownership became more concentrated in the hands of a few individuals or families close to the regime.
• There was monopolistic ownership of telecommunications by the regime's favored relatives and friends. Telephoney was monopolized by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, domestic satellite by DomSat Phils., and Cable Television by Sining Makulay.
• "Transnationalization" of the Philippine telecommunication started as Marcos cronies were forced to enter into joint venture with foreign partners because of the capital-intensive nature of telecommunications. Among foreign partners were Cable and Wireless, Marubeni, and Siemens GTE.
• We Forum, started out as a weekly for the youth; became forerunner of what was called, the alternative press in the early 1980s together with the Philippine Collegian of the University of the Philippines
• In the 70s, Press Foundation for Asia batted for development Journalism, highlighting issues and events on population, science and technology, health, nutrition and education. Its proponents were Juan Mercado, Alan Chalkley, Jose Luna Castro and Romeo Abundo.
• The 1980s saw the Emergence of the Alternative Press.
• The assasination in 1983 of Senator Benigno Aquino released the floodgates of press freedom in the Philippines.
• Xerox journalism and cassette journalism made it impossible for the Marcos regime to suppress information on the tragic assasination of Aquino.
• There was the pre-eminence of radio as instrument of change: Radio Veritas and Radyo Bandido.
• Campus publications took an activist stand on social issues.
• The Philippine Daily Inquirer founded on December 9, 1985 became the leading newspaper after the EDSA Revolution in 1986.

Milestones of the Period include:

• Emergence of the Development Communication as a field of study and as a profession (1970)
• Publication of communication and journalism books by Filipino authors (1967, 1977, 1979, etc.)
• Convening of the UNESCO International Commission for the Study of Communication (McBride Commission), 1977
• In December 1972, government information officers organized the Public Relations Organizations of the Philippines (PROP) to foster stronger fellowship and cooperation among its members and to raise the status of PR practitioners in the government through continuing education.
• In 1973, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP) was organized to provide mechanism for self-regulation in the broadcast industry.
• Communication Foundation for Asia (CFA) founded in 1975 by Fr. Cornelio Lagerway, MSC pioneered in the use of mass media in spreading the Word of God.
• In 1976, UPLB Department of Development Communication was the first institution in the world to offer undergraduate and graduate courses in DevCom.
• The very first presidential decree reorganized the government bureaucracy and created the Department of Public Information, a first in Philippine History.
• Marcos ordered all mass media closed except for the government radio and TV stations in Manila - the Voice of the Philippines, (operated by the National Media Production Center) and the stations of the Philippine Broadcasting System.
• Far East Broadcasting Network, owned and operated by Protestant missionaries was allowed to resume operation on September 25, 1972.
• All leading pre-martial law metropolitan newspapers and magazines were closed down. They include: Manila Times and sister-paper Daily Mirror; Manila Chronicle; Philippines Free Press, the Graphic, and the Nation.
• Manila Bulletin was the only newspaper that was exempted from being closed down by Marcos; on November 22, 1972 it was revived under the new name, Bulletin Today.
• Daily Express, then four months old (established June 1972) was allowed to resume operations (Juan Perez, Publisher (Reportedly owned by Roberto S. Benedicto)
• Channel 9 was allowed to resume operations (Kanlaon Broadcasting Corporation, later renamed Radio Philippine Network (also owned by Benedicto)
• Benedicto, a close Marcos ally took control of: Radio Philippines network (6 TV, 15 radio stations); Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation (2 TV, 7 radio stations); Inter-island Broadcasting Corporation (8 TV, 4 radio stations)
• Benedicto was also a major stockholder in telecommunications enterprises: Domestic Satellite Corp.; Nivico Philippines, Inc.; Oceanic Winders Corp.; and Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc.