wishing for a firecracker-free new year's eve

The midday news on TV reported a fire in Bocaue, Bulacan caused by -- what else? -- the spark from a firecracker.

Around this time every year, print, radio and TV coverage of the yearend revelry are full of people -- mostly young children -- injured by firecrackers. Scores of victims are rushed to hospitals everywhere with blown-off fingers or hands. Will we ever learn?

a luxury?
A friend told me of a woman interviewed on a TV news program, lamenting that in previous years, her Php20,000 could buy more firecrackers. This year, the woman complained, the economy has not been as supportive of her firecracker-buying habit, and she got much less for her Php20,000. I didn't catch that news report myself, but I definitely think that woman is lucky enough to even have that kind of money to spend on firecrackers.

While children roam the streets begging -- or worse, rummaging through other people's garbage for food -- many Filipinos do not think twice about spending money on firecrackers. It has become almost a status symbol: one's ability to usher in the new year with the most, the biggest, the loudest firecrackers can make one the object of his neighbors' admiration or even envy. Never mind how big or small your house is, where you live, what you do for a living, or how educated you and your children are. All that matters is that, for new year's eve, you literally have money to burn.

effects on health
What many of us don't know -- or perhaps would rather overlook -- is how damaging firecrackers can be to our bodies.

The most obvious effects are to our ears and lungs. The website stop-fireworks.org lists the following effects of firecrackers (and even fireworks) to the ears:

Traumas due to crackers and explosions of fireworks are caused by impulsive bangs (bangs caused by high pressure blasts). The blast of exploding fireworks can reach more than 130 dB; in the immediate vicinity of public fireworks top levels of up to 190 dB can be reached and around 150 dB at farther distances. (In comparison: 130 decibels are measured at a distance of 100 m from jet enginges; 160 or 170 decibels are louder than a pneumatic hammer.) The hearing organ is not adaptable to acute high pitched sounds (sudden impulsive noise endangers the ear more than continuous noise; it can result in a blast and explosion trauma; ear buzzing and hearing deficiency (tinnitus, etc.); sometimes it results in an explosion trauma followed by tearing apart the tympanum. A trauma caused by a blast with damaged capillary cells in the interior ear can lead to permanent hearing deficiency. ("The incidence of acoustic trauma due to New Year's firecrackers", Stefan K.-R. Plontke, Klaus Dietz, Cornelius Pfeffer, Hans-Peter Zenner, Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol (2002) 259: 247-252, DOI: 10.1007/s00405-002-0451-4)

Children:
Firework, crackers and rockets can injure children's ears permanently. An explosion creates a blast trauma in the sensitive child ear which, besides the initial damage, can end in lasting, non-reparable injuries. [Please take a look at the site "Dangerous Decibels" (A public health partnership for prevention of noise-induced hearing loss) http://www.dangerousdecibels.org/hearingloss.cfm.]

A document entitled "Happy Diwali without Crackers 2006" lists other effects. Firecrackers contain fine particles that we breathe in, which can cause respiratory illness such as chronic bronchitis and asthma, and heart diseases. Particles that remain in the air (suspended particulate matter) can lead to asthma, cancer, restrictive lung diseases, and pneumoconiosis. The sulphur dioxide (SO2) in firecrackers can cause eye burning, headaches, cancer, heart diseases, and respiratory problems such as pulmonary emphysema. Another ingredient, nitrous oxides, can cause lung irritation, chest tightness, viral infections, and airway blockages.

And these are just the effects on humans. Who knows how much more damage fireworks can cause in birds, whose lungs are much smaller than ours, and in dogs, whose ears are more sensitive than ours?

effects on the environment
It's true that new year's eve comes around only once a year. But that means nothing in the face of all the havoc mankind have already wrought on the environment. Firecrackers release gases that affect not only our bodies but also the environment. Aside from air and noise pollution, firecrackers leave behind nonbiodegradable waste -- which will contribute to our already choked-up landfills. After all the discourse on global warming, climate change, and saving Mother Earth, you would think we would have actually learned something. You would think all our choices would be responsible ones.

In all this, what is the government doing? Two cities in Metro Manila -- Marikina and Mandaluyong -- have been declared firecracker-free zones. Kudos to their city officials for taking such a stand. But as I drove along a crowded street in Mandaluyong yesterday with a friend, I had to avoid some firecrackers thrown my way. Apparently, small children have learned from their elders that they must throw the firecrackers as soon as they light them, as far away from themselves as possible. It just so happens that as far away sometimes means onto the street.

I wonder at the uniquely Pinoy way we celebrate our holidays. Just a few weeks ago, we crowded into churches for the misa de gallo (dawn mass). Hopefully, tonight, we won't crowd into hospitals with injuries caused by firecrackers.

A peaceful -- and hopefully firecracker-free -- 2008 to all!

the round tuit

I came across this the other day, while surfing the Internet, and decided to post it as a yearender.

Upon Googling, I found that there are actually different designs, not to mention real -- as opposed to cyber, as in this case -- ones.

May we all get a round tuit!

THIS IS A TUIT.

Guard if with your life, as TUITS are hard to come by, expecially the round ones. This is an indispensable item. It will help you become a more efficient worker. For years we have heard people say, "I'll do it as soon as I get a ROUND TUIT." Now that you have one, you can accomplish all those things you put aside until you got a ROUND TUIT.

With thanks to the Roundtu-it Eco Caravan Park for the graphic.

the fly on the wall

Reading Lillian Ross's book Reporting Back: Notes on Journalism, I came across a phrase I have not heard or read in a long time: "fly on the wall," a technique used in journalism.

Journalists were once thought of as flies on the wall -- that is, passive, impartial observers and documenters who report what they observe and see from the scene of a news event. Do such journalists still exist? Is this technique still effective?

Ross thinks that it is "craziness" to think of journalism in this way, and to teach would-be journalists to use this technique.

A reporter doing a story can't pretend to be invisible, let alone a fly; he or she is seen and heard and responded to by the people he or she is writing about; a reporter is always chemically involved in a story.

The job of the media has long ceased to be that of a mere fly on the wall. I don't know how journalism is taught in other schools, but our instructors never told us to be flies on the wall. They taught us to be active -- to engage both subject and audience, and to anticipate and ask the questions that our audience might ask.

In teaching us that reporting is all about being the public's eyes and ears, Dr. Eric Loo, head of the University of Wollongong Graduate School of Journalism, used the acronym ORACLE. A journalist's job, he says, is to observe, reflect and report, analyze, contextualize, learn, and enlighten.

I prefer the ORACLE framework of reporting, but I don't think Dr. Loo meant it to mean that journalists are supposed to know it all. There might be some "mysticism" to the fly on the wall technique, in a Zen sort of way -- and I have no doubt there are situations when it might be needed and it might actually work as well. But it seems to be a one-dimensional approach to a very complex job.

Observation is integral to a journalist's role, but it doesn't end there.

mariannet's story

When the news about the suicide of 12-year-old Mariannet Amper first broke out, it seemed to be an open-and-shut case. After all, she came from a poor family; that's why she took her own life. She lived with her parents and brother in a tiny house without electricity and water. Her parents took odd jobs: Magdalena earned Php50 (less than $1.25) a day working part-time in a factory and washed other people's clothes on the side, while Isabelo did construction work. So poor were they that other kids in their community in Davao reportedly would not even play with her and her brother.

If not for Mariannet's diary -- a class project -- and an unsent letter to the television program "Wish Ko Lang" (How I Wish), the world would probably never have known what life was like for this little girl. Her dreams were simple -- jobs for her parents and an education for herself. Yet, for want of transportation money, she was unable to go to school; nor did she have a bag and shoes to use. 

So on 2 November -- All Souls' Day -- Mariannet took some nylon rope and hanged herself. End of story. End of life.

Or so everyone thought. Yesterday, the newspapers reported that Mariannet had been raped. And this most likely contributed in a big way to her taking her own life. 

But suicide is never a simple case. Especially if it is committed by a 12-year-old, whose life at that age is really just beginning. After all the finger pointing, the preaching, and the hype Mariannet's suicide has generated, how will the media now report the case? Poverty is not uncommon  in this country. Nor is it something you can hide. You can see it wherever you go. What about the sexual molestation of young -- and poor -- girls, often by people they know and trust? It's not uncommon either. The only difference is that the latter is a more delicate issue. It speaks of a deeper malaise. No one wants to talk about it. 

Mariannet's story has become darker, more sinister, yet no less common -- that of innocence lost and hopes dashed. How many Mariannets are out there, still hoping for a better life? Will their stories even be told?

the princess and the paparazzi

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines paparazzo as "a freelance photographer who aggressively pursues celebrities for the purpose of taking candid photographs." The term came into use after the 1959 film La dolce vita, by Federico Fellini, featured such a photographer whose name was Paparazzo.

The paparazzi -- plural form of "paparazzo" -- feed on the public's insatiable appetite for delving into the private lives of movie and television stars, politicians, and in Europe, royalty. The lens of the paparazzi's cameras function much as the lens of the microscope does: examining, enlarging, and exposing details of these celebrities' lives in the name of sensationalism and tabloid journalism. And for a quick but hefty buck; photos of public figures and celebrities, especially "exclusive" ones, sell.

The truth is, photos can tell a story much more eloquently and dramatically than words can. They have greater impact, according to the rawness of emotion captured through the lens. The paparazzi know this. But their purpose is different. Impact, in the case of the paparazzi, is measured in the fleeting and secret moments in the lives of celebrities, snapped while hiding in the bushes after hours of waiting in the dark, or while chasing the subject down a busy street. It is in what they are able to capture, and when: exclusive photos of this politician dating that actress, the first photos of the pregnant princess, the last photos of the celebrity couple together. And it is in how human or ordinary the stars are seen in the photos: they dine, shop, marry, divorce, make mistakes -- and yes, suffer fatal accidents, as mere mortals do.

Because of their methods -- not to mention the resulting photos -- the paparazzi have had run-ins with the celebrities they cover. The most famous controversy involving the paparazzi was 10 years ago, after a vehicular accident killed Princess Diana, Dodi Al Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul. With the inquest into their deaths having already started at London's High Court, the paparazzi and their practices are once again thrust into public scrutiny.

According to a news report on BBC yesterday, a paparazzo named Romuald Rat called one of the British papers from the site of the accident. He was offering exclusive photos of Princess Diana -- taken as she lay dying -- for GBP300,000 (roughly USD600,000). The inquest also repeated witness accounts of the paparazzi at the scene, taking photos of the princess just seconds after the crash, instead of helping her and the other passengers in the car.

There is something so glaringly wrong with the picture of the crash site painted by these accounts. After all, in real life, one could only hope that anyone arriving at the scene of an accident would call for help or otherwise provide assistance to the injured. The fact that the paparazzi did not -- according to the statements of witnesses -- and even sought to capitalize on the accident, as in the case of Mr. Rat, speaks volumes about the ethics (or lack thereof) of that profession.

The evidence raises important ethical questions. How far will the paparazzi -- and all media practitioners, for that matter -- go to get the story? Would they break rules of conduct, overstep boundaries of human decency? Would the job take precedence over morality? 

Were the paparazzi directly responsible for the car crash, and ultimately for the death of Princess Diana and her companions? Should they be held accountable for it? These questions may very well be not just for the paparazzi, but for the tabloid editors, publishers, and readers whose demand for such photos necessitated the supply.

rituals and remembrances

It's not even All Souls' Day yet, but already the police are on heightened security, maintaining a presence at bus terminals and at the bigger cemeteries in Metro Manila where crowds have descended and are expected to continue to do so. Meanwhile, the news on TV earlier showed cars at a standstill on the expressway as Filipinos head for the provinces to remember the dead. The fact that this is a long weekend, on the heels of last weekend -- last Monday was a holiday, and so are tomorrow and Friday -- contributes to the traffic situation greatly.

It is interesting how deeply rooted in our culture the ritual of remembering those who have gone before is. It has a Christian origin, as the Church encourages the faithful to pray for the departed, especially those who are in purgatory. In fact, commemorating All Souls' Day with prayers and special rituals, after All Saints' Day on November 1, was begun by monastic orders. And with Christians comprising more than 80% of our population, the whole country is on a national holiday to observe All Souls' Day.

But I would think that even before the introduction of Christianity into our culture, the early Filipinos were already practising some sort of remembrance, as Asians. Ancestor worship is important to the Buddhists and the Taoists, and with the strong Chinese undertones in Filipino culture, I would say that our rituals of remembrance leans more towards this practice.

I'm not sure about early or indigenous Filipino practices of remembering the dead, nor about the practices of other faiths in the country (the Islamic community, for one). Definitely, we Filipinos have made these rituals of the East and West our very own -- and then some. We flock to the cemeteries with not just candles and flowers, or incense and offerings, as is applicable -- but also with tents, playing cards, mah jong sets, and karaoke machines. Our version of All Souls' Day has turned out to be not just a day to remember and honor the departed, but more so, an occasion to celebrate being alive, in true Pinoy fashion. I have no doubt that those going out of town are making the most of the trip, by visiting relatives. Or maybe even stopping by the beach.

Those in Manila who are unable to visit their loved ones' tombs in the provinces will have their own little rituals, lighting candles at home and offering prayers for their souls. In all this, we see how much of a melting pot the Philippines is. As with many things, we have integrated two influences -- the Christian practice of the West of remembering our departed loved ones, and the older Asian practice of ancestor worship. This makes us part of a larger community, the rituals of which continue to find expression in our culture.

let there be light!

Speaking of being earth friendly, I came across an interesting cartoon about the incandescent light bulb. Well, I must admit, I never knew there was anything wrong with these light bulbs. But, as the cartoon says, it's so 19th century!

See for yourself:



With thanks to Mike Adams for the illumining idea, and to NewsTarget for the use of the cartoon.

earth-friendly elections

I think we Filipinos have a tendency to overdo things. It's the pandesal mentality at work, the principle behind it being saturation. Take our business establishments, for example. A few years ago, it was pearl shakes -- when the pearl shake business was doing well, there was a pearl shake stall every few hundred meters near residential areas. Nowadays, it's coffee. On almost every street corner in middle- to upper middle-class neighborhoods, you're sure to find a coffee shop. Where there's a call center or commercial area, there will be more than one.

The same principle is at work during election season, when candidates compete for our attention in every possible way. Not an inch of approved space is wasted in hanging posters, streamers, and banners. Campaign jingles blare over and over from loudspeakers. Flyers, pocket calendars, cardboard fans and visors are given away. On election day itself, the precinct grounds get littered with discarded sample ballots.

Besides the stress on our well being from the visual and aural pollution -- because even just the sight of clutter and the noise, of course, do add to one's stress levels -- there is the stress on the environment. If each candidate were to produce some 5,000 (a low estimate) each of their flyers, posters, streamers, pocket calendars, stickers, and other printed campaign materials, how many kilos of newsprint, matte, or sticker paper would it all add up to? How many trees? How many cans of ink? Multiply that by the number of candidates, and you'll get a good idea of how much paper is consumed in the process -- and consequently, how much waste ends up in our landfills.

But that's not all. That is just campaign material. Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez has this to say about the trash this election would generate on the side of the campaign workers alone:

There are 41,995 barangays all over the country. There will be 16 elective positions up for grabs, with each elective position attracting at least one candidate - most will be fought over by two or more. If each candidate - assuming each position will have two contenders (unlikely as some have as many as 5 or 6), and that each contender has 20 campaign workers (barangays have a minimum of 2 thousand inhabitants, and each candidate is allowed 1 campaign worker for every hundred) working for 9 days (campaign runs from the 19th to the 27th), and eating 3 squares out of one styro pack and one plastic bottle, by the 28th of October we will have 6,531,062,400 styro packs and 6,531,062,400 plastic water bottles to dispose of, all over the country. And that’s not even counting the candy wrappers and the plastic baggies (and drinking straws) used to sell soda in, and the torn up plastic packs of various junk food.

A different kind of campaign was launched by the EcoWaste Coalition before the May elections -- a campaign for waste-free elections. Undoubtedly, the May elections were dirtier -- I'm speaking in terms of waste here -- but it would be good to review the guidelines for the prevention and reduction of waste.

With climate change inevitable, we should start voting along the lines of which candidate has a sound platform for zero waste or otherwise earth-friendly policies.

Read Jimenez' post here. And read more about the EcoWaste Coalition's campaign for waste-free elections here.

pinoy, and proud

This is the winning entry in the Proudly Pinoy competition.

I had forgotten all about this until today. Reviewing the entries, it was interesting how the concepts of being Pinoy (Filipino) and of pride were translated as badges.

What makes a Filipino proud? What makes one proud to be a Filipino?

To all the participants, thank you for reminding us of our being Pinoy.

And to the organizers of the competition, thank you for the badge.

self, identity, existence

Everyone has a story to tell.

Maybe my college friend, poet Ralph Semino Galan, was right when he said -- with apologies to René Descartes -- "I write, therefore I am."

Now, millions of people find their own little nook in cyberspace to tell their stories, assert their identities, define their existence. Their mantra -- again, apologies to Descartes, and also now to Ralph -- "I blog, therefore I am."

Blogging is different things to different people: a liberating experience, an exercise in democracy, and for some, a ritual for healing and self-expression. But as all these -- by no means a definitive list, I'm sure -- does blogging define us? Has it become a measure of identity and existence?

I ask this each time I have the urge to blog. The precious minutes of downtime that can be used for rest or study, I blog away. Not necessarily here, as I have more than one blog, as many bloggers do. The point is that we have associated ourselves so much with our blogs and with the act (and art) of blogging that to some, it is utterly unthinkable not to blog.

Of course, we are bigger than our blogs, our blog topics, and even blogosphere in general. The snippets of life that we manage to capture and note down, recorded in cyberspace -- virtual air, a system of 1's and 0's -- are precious, fleeting, and almost ethereal. But that's all they are: snippets. Life is too big to be encapsulated in a blog. It is too simple to be rendered as code, and too complex to be confined to bytes.

Simply put, a blog may be proof of one's existence -- not unlike a composer being remembered for his music or a painter being known for her art. Seen in this way, we are not only what we blog -- we are when we blog. We are as good as our blogs, with blog stats as our yardstick. We measure our worth by the number of blogs and sites linked to us. Badges and widgets, we wear with pride.

What then, if we are unable to maintain our blogs? Abandoned blogs -- are they like the "old, abandoned shells" in Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince? The prince said there's nothing sad about old, abandoned shells. Can the same be said for abandoned blogs?

What happens to a blog or a site when its owner passes away? Julia Campbell's blog and the MySpace and FaceBook sites of the Virginia Tech students killed last April -- these are indelible proof of lives now gone. They're all that's left of a measure of space-time once spent on this earth. And for us who never knew them, they're desperate ways of connecting, getting to know, and paying tribute.

All this is a long way of saying that this blog may end up like theirs -- abandoned, for a time, as I give up blogging. At least while I work on completing my Master's Project -- which, again, is just another piece of who I am, proof of a facet or phase of my life as MA student.

I may use this blog to take note of my research... but only if time will allow it.

Everyone has a story to tell. And I have a story to write.

faith in media

One night last week, I was chatting with my friend when he said, "Minsan iniisip ko... may naniniwala pa ba sa news? (Sometimes I think... does anyone still believe the news?)"

This intrigued me, so I asked him if it meant he doesn't read/watch/listen to the news anymore -- or if he knows anyone who doesn't.

He thought about it for a while, and said no.

But I knew what he meant -- and I knew he wasn't alone in his sentiment. It wasn't the news he doubted. It was those who report it.

various reactions, one thread
People's distrust for and disenchantment with media are rooted in many things. The feeling that traditional or mainstream media "just don't get it" is one. Sensationalized news is another. "Envelopmental" journalism and other corrupt media practices are yet another.

Filipinos' reactions to media are varied. We are enamored by media personalities -- thus those huge billboards with newscasters advertising the latest product or service -- or distrustful and wary of them. There are Filipinos who applaud journalists and media practitioners, and those who think that anyone with a press card is "dirty." Some have taken advantage of the media to gain mileage and influence. And others, regrettably, have gone as far as to silence members of the press to keep the truth from coming out.

In all these reactions, however, lies a common thread: the recognition that journalists and media practitioners function in the public sphere. Whatever information the media receive, whatever news they gather, is meant for the public. It goes out in the form of a news report or feature that is published or broadcast. The media act as our eyes and ears. They report to us a world that is beyond our immediate sphere of existence.

the need to know
The need to know what's going on in the world or even in our immediate circle is basic. We express this need whenever we greet one another by saying, "What's up?" or "Ano'ng balita?" -- roughly, "What's new?"

The mass media fulfill this need -- or are supposed to, at least. But if we are dissatisfied with the media, then we will increasingly turn to other sources of information and news. With the Internet, we can get news and information from more sources now than we had ever dreamed. And with mobile phones, we can get it much faster than we had ever imagined.

If my friend's sentiment is indicative of how majority of young Filipinos today regard the media, I wonder if faith can be restored. Maybe it's time to reexamine how the media do their job -- and even what job it is they're supposed to do. Otherwise, the mainstream media could lose their audience to the Internet and mobile technology.

news?

Over a million people watched this particular video on YouTube.



What a statement this reporter made. I can't quite imagine this happening on Philippine television, though.

pinoys on the web

My "Proudly Pinoy Blog" badge (to the right of the screen) will soon get a replacement.

A competition to design a "Proudly Pinoy" logo to be used without charge on Filipino-owned web sites and blogs was recently launched.

The organizers of this competition, which ends on 11 July, no doubt realize the importance of establishing a distinct Pinoy identity on the web.

Displaying this badge on your site or blog is the virtual equivalent of planting the country's flag atop a mountain. But more than being a symbol of Pinoy pride, the badge identifies you as a member of the community of online Filipinos.

How many Filipinos own web sites? How many are bloggers? The number can't be that big, considering that as of last year, there were only a little over seven million Internet users in the Philippines. That's about nine percent of our total population.

But consider this: for such a small nation, we are on the Internet map. Pinoys are on the Internet and not just as consumers, but more importantly, as producers -- whether as web designers outsourced by foreign companies, or as bloggers whose hits come from all over the world.

So a "Proudly Pinoy" badge makes sense.

The winning designer will get P10,000 (a little more than $200). As of this post, 71 entries have been submitted and can be seen on the site.

she loves me, she loves me not...

As I write this, Asia News Network associate editor and former Bandillo ng Palawan editor-in-chief Jofelle Tesorio is free again.

She was released after some 10 hours in prison. Why was she even there, to begin with, considering that she had already posted bail?

love-hate relationship
This happened just a day after the newspaper headlines screamed that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was seeking the media's help in the last leg of her presidency. It makes one wonder about her relationship with the Philippine press -- a love-hate relationship, to my mind.

I still remember that infamous press conference that members of the Foreign Correspondents' Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) were banned from attending. FOCAP members observed that not even the late President Marcos did such a thing.

Then came Proclamation 1017, which placed the country under a state of emergency. Though it lasted for just a week, it was enough to create a chilling effect. The office of The Daily Tribune was raided, and a military presence was established in other media organizations.

change of heart
And of course who can forget the First Gentleman's libel suits against some 40 journalists last year? These were all magnanimously dropped after Mr. Arroyo's successful heart surgery in April this year. Looks like he had a sudden change of heart (sorry, I couldn't resist the pun).

But he wasn't the only one. On 15 June, the Philippine Daily Inquirer carried a story about the President promising "to end the killing of journalists and protect them from libel suits and arbitrary arrest." She also called upon all journalists to join hands with her administration "in mutual trust and common purpose so that all the violence will be stopped."

Since Ms. Arroyo assumed office in 2001, 51 journalists have been killed.

ask not what the media can do...
This is undoubtedly a president who knows what the media can do for her and her administration.

She is aware that the media can play a huge role in the downfall of a president, as it did in the case of her predecessor. She knows how relentlessly the press can pursue a story to uncover the truth, as what happened in the "Hello, Garci" affair. And she feels the watchful gaze of international media and human rights organization who are determined to make her administration accountable for infringements on the freedom of the press.

Is she now eager to show what she can do for the media?

relief
The Philippine press heaved a collective sigh of relief as Jofelle walked out of detention in Quezon City. Whether this relief is temporary and short-lived will depend on whether the President makes good her promise to put a stop to the killing, suing, and arresting of journalists.

Read more about Jofelle's arrest here.

the bugo-bugo in the senado

Along with Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, there are three newly elected retired or otherwise former military officers and graduates of the Philippine Military Academy in our Senate: Panfilo Lacson and Gregorio Honasan (PMA '71) and Antonio Trillanes (PMA '95).

I was able to catch the first part of the recent edition of ANC's "Strictly Politics" with all of these cavaliers (as PMA'ers are called) as guests, except for Trillanes. The fact that there are four of them in the Senate has become a cause for recent concern and discomfort. The presence of former military officers in the Cabinet and other areas of public service, and now in the Senate -- what is this, some kind of club? Unfortunately, the proverbial fuel was added to the fire with the statement of one of them, editorialized in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a few days ago, that essentially -- yes, there is some sort of club.

My interest is the commonality among the four. What binds them together is the PMA experience -- the discipline, the values, and the lessons learned within the walls of Fort del Pilar as well as out on the field. It is not necessarily the same experience, but the bond exists, forged by a code of conduct we can only wonder about. Yet, is this bond enough for them not to go head to head over matters that may arise in the future?

Belongingness, as I mentioned in my previous post, stems from such commonalities. They all are PMA graduates, and so we can assume that to some extent, they shared one community. But years after the PMA, and with years apart among them (except for Honasan and Lacson, who were classmates) -- were their communities still the same? Was Biazon's cadet life the same or at least comparable to Trillanes'? What about Lacson and Honasan, mistahs though they are, did they experience the same military experiences after leaving the PMA?

I wanted to see where the discussion was going, but didn't have much time to watch. I stayed long enough to hear Sen. Honasan say that in the Senate, it's the national agenda they are pushing, not the agenda of the bugo-bugo -- a term of endearment used at first for plebes, and later, for fellow PMA'ers. Can we trust their definitions of the national agenda, considering the very different personalities and alignments of the four? All of them were involved in their own different interpretations of service to the nation at some point in their careers -- whether mutiny, coup d'etat, or defense.

Commonalities or not, their first duty -- as well as that of the other senators, for that matter -- is in the exercise of their responsibilities as elected senators. It is to the public, the people that elected them, that they must prove themselves and be accountable. Not to the PMA, as institution and community, and certainly not to the bugo-bugo.

belonging

Today, I went to school and waited for my turn to have some papers processed. I was one of only three graduate students in the waiting area, apparent not only by our dress, but also by the fact that we three were the only ones unaccompanied by friends -- and therefore, the only ones who were quiet. Most interesting was the conversation going on around us during that wait. Everyone was speaking in English. If anyone spoke in Pilipino, it was with a distinct non-Filipino accent, or it was actually Taglish.

One guy was engaged in a particularly loud and annimated conversation with another guy. His speech was peppered with four-letter words:

...and then, you know, this guy was beating the **** out of him! He was really like... wow, man... **** talaga!

Sitting there, I felt a bit out of place, not just because of the difference in age -- I'm almost sure these kids would call me "ma'am" or say "po" when talking to me -- but because of the difference in language.

I got the same feeling not long ago, before a recent trip up north (part of which I blogged about here). Standing in line to get a ticket at the bus station, I felt as if I were no longer in Manila. The dispatcher and everyone in line ahead of me were transacting business in Ilocano. One could tell that this bus was bound for the north, where Ilocano is spoken; in fact, this bus company made trips only to that part of the country.

Again, the language was a hindrance. I could understand snatches of conversation, but on the whole, it was a different culture altogether. Similarly, though the teenagers in the first incident were speaking in a language I understood very well, the difference in how we used this language was the key.

These experiences represent two different communities -- that of the undergraduate students of that particular university, and that of the Ilocano speakers. A community assumes many things. A shared language is one of them. With close to 200 dialects spoken in the Philippines, is it any wonder that regionalism exists? A given locality can speak more than one dialect or language, in fact, and this makes it all the more challenging.

More than a shared language, a community also involves shared ideas and the shaping of a common world view. In particular, I refer to a discourse community -- one in which participation means the use of jargon or terms and, at the very least, familiarity with the written and spoken train of thought unique to the community. The world view of that male teenager who spoke English as an American his age might, for instance, would be entirely different from that of the bus company dispatcher who spoke Ilocano and perhaps very little Tagalog or even Pilipino. Even if they lived in the same locality, their very perceptions of that locality would be different.

What language could the Philippines lay claim to as a national language? What world view would this language produce and represent? In my experience, when some residents of Asipulo wanted to communicate with me, they did so in English. This may represent the hopes and aspirations of many Filipinos, but certainly not their daily experience.

If there are as many world views as there are tribes and dialects in our country, what is to define our sense of belonging? When national events unfold and are represented and reported in media in a language that a great many people cannot relate to or worse, do not understand, belongingness must be found in other forms, through other commonalities.

mabuhay!

I'm posting this video of Lupang Hinirang as a reminder that Philippine society is far from perfect.

Not all our presidents were great. Not all our heroes were selfless. Not all our athletes bring home the gold. Not all our public servants are noble. Not all our families are happy and intact. And not all our babies are healthy and well cared for.

It will take some time before we are rid of all our ills and become the people we want to be.

In the meantime, we are free. And while we are free, there is hope.

Mabuhay!

a real community

In his book Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, anthropologist Benedict Anderson defines a nation as "an imagined political community":

It is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion.... (A)ll communities larger than primordial villages of face-to-face contact (and perhaps even these) are imagined. Communities are to be distinguished, not by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined....

The nation is imagined as limited because even the largest of them encompassing perhaps a billion living human beings, has finite, if elastic boundaries, beyond which lie other nations. No nation imagines itself coterminous with mankind. The most messianic nationalists do not dream of a day when all the members of the human race will join their nation in the way that it was possible, in certain epochs, for, say, Christians to dream of a wholly Christian planet....

Finally, it is imagined as a community, because, regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship. Ultimately it is this fraternity that makes it possible, over the past two centuries, for so many millions of people, not so much to kill, as willingly to die for such limited imaginings.

I remembered this a few days ago as I looked out over the mountains of Ifugao Province, en route by tricycle to the municipality of Asipulo from Kiangan. The trip was nearly an hour over roads that were thankfully concrete in some places, rough and bumpy in most, and generally winding up and down through some of the prettiest views I had ever seen in my life.

The farmers who hosted our stay in Sitio Pula and the locals who guided us through the thick mountain forest -- what did I have in common with them? Not geographic location, nor way of life, nor language. The place I've called home for most of my life seems a world away from here; the dialect I speak (Tagalog) is foreign to these people. The mountain trail that took me a painful hour to traverse (and not without their help and patience, I might add), they breeze through in half or even a quarter of that time. Indeed, we measure time differently -- they, by seasons of planting and harvest, and I, by semesters and projects.

They would probably never understand what I do -- how I can spend up to hours in front of a computer in my little room, my dependence on an unseen yet powerful thing called the Internet that travels through cables and allows me to reach out to other members of a community not only imagined but also perhaps previously unheard of. In the same way, try as I might, I would probably never fully grasp what life on a mountain is really like -- how to read the signs of the sky and the earth, how to live in harmony with Nature and with other beings who make the mountain their home.

But in our minds, did "the image of our communion" already exist even before we met? Did we each imagine that hundreds and thousands of kilometers away from our homes were people who led lives the polar opposite of our own? They, Ifugao, and I, Manileña -- did we see ourselves as actually sharing a nationality, a Filipino-ness? Did the fact that we are both Filipino -- a term that signifies membership in this imagined community -- compel us to appreciate each other before we had even met? And having met, did we find that we shared more than what we had ever imagined?

In Asipulo, I was in a totally different place from where I live, in a situation I would not quite have imagined myself to be, amid people who were strangers to me. Yet, I felt I belonged, perhaps because this place was part of my nation -- imagined or not -- but more importantly, because the people recognized in me a co-member in a very real community called mankind.

And recognizing me as such, the people of Asipulo reached out to me, as I did to them, shared their food and their homes, offered me a glimpse into their lives -- and simply made me feel welcome.

the peace agenda

One of the topics I've been thinking of focusing on when I do my master's project is peace journalism, or the peace initiatives of Philippine media. Obviously, this is still very broad, but my interest in this stems from the idealistic notion that journalists can contribute to peace as they go about their work.

Ten years ago, the term "peace journalism" first came into use when Professor John Galtung of Peace Studies and Peace Research lectured at the Summer School at Taplow Court in the UK. Since then, the term has been used to both refer to and recognize approaches to reporting conflict that focus on peace initiatives, and ultimately, promote nonviolence.

This is not to say that peace journalism is new. I remember Carol Arguillas of MindaNews saying that she'd been practising journalism from a peace perspective for years without knowing that there was a name for it. Indeed, the term "peace journalism" can be applied to any journalist's efforts to report on war or conflict situations guided by conscience and from the desire to bring about change.

The history of wars and other conflicts played out throughout the world shows proof of the media's role in either perpetuating such conflicts or helping to end them. The truth is, we have gotten so used to the "conflict frame" -- "A versus B" or "us versus them," a two-dimensional, myopic approach that tends to pit a protagonist against a sometimes unwitting antagonist -- that we forget that there are other options, other angles, and other players. The coverage of the Subic rape case, for example, was done mostly from the frame of "Nicole" versus Daniel Smith, female versus male, or even the Philippines versus the US. Other media practitioners did well to go a step further, and reported on the impact of the Balikatan exercises in general, the Visiting Forces Agreement, and the history of crimes committed by US military personnel while here.

A conflict frame ends up justifying the conflict in the guise of rallying the public in support of the cause, and soon leads to divisiveness. This is what happened during the Vietnam War, when the media were initially manipulated for the purposes of propaganda. We see this locally as well, with the use of such terms as "Muslim rebels" or "Muslim extremists" by the media, reflecting a bias against those who are not of the dominant religion. Though perhaps done unconsciously, it is unfair and damaging. Why not "Catholic murderer" or "Protestant corrupt official" then?

Peace journalism provides a more holistic approach to the coverage of conflict, one that considers all sides without making judgments, focuses on the goals of the different parties, and allows for solutions. Where there is war or any sort of conflict or violence, there is the opportunity for journalists to report from such a perspective. Doing so sends a strong message to the audience and will go a long way in contributing to peace. But beyond the presence of war or conflict, peace journalism can be practised anytime -- as a conscious effort to prevent future conflict, no matter what the status quo.

advantage: internet

It's still a source of both amazement and amusement to me that from time to time, whenever I open my email, I'm offered links to articles from publications such as the International Herald Tribune or the New York Times. There was a time when I would never have had access to these publications -- and now, here they are, as accessible as anything, thanks to AdSense!

Getting news on the Internet has perks such as this. And though it is a new experience, to me, the use of the Internet as a news medium is a matter of course. In the days when radio fulfilled the need for speed, families gathered around it to listen to the news; why wait for the morning paper when you could hear the news in real time? Then came television, which not only proved to be instant but also more engaging and appealing. Hearing and seeing the news as it unfolded became more than a novelty. It became plain necessity. Not content with regularly scheduled news programs, we demanded hourly news updates, and from there, 24/7 cable news was born.

Which brings me back to the Internet. It is fast, it is capable of multisensory news delivery, and it is available 24/7. But more importantly, it is affordable. It has leveled the playing field for news organizations: small players can have as much (and as credible) of an online presence as the bigger establishments. Mainstream media organizations benefit from the Internet, but more so the alternative media -- those who would not have a fighting chance in the arena of print or broadcast, both of which are costly to manage and maintain.

The Internet's "free-for-all" nature, however, presents a challenge, especially for small organizations. This challenge is to stand out. It's a competition to capture and hold the reader's attention. After all, the Internet is for anyone and everyone with an agenda. Whether you are selling or buying, preaching or searching, educating or learning -- you can make the Internet work for you. Interestingly enough, it is the small groups -- more than the big players, who can provide variety in their news reports -- who use the Internet well. Mainstream media organizations, despite their resources and opportunities for expansion and skills training, seem stuck in providing nothing more than shovelware. Visit the web site of any major Filipino news agency, compare it with the day's print version, and you'll see what I mean.

But for organizations with no print version, the Internet provides a liberating experience. No more nagging anxiety that your story may be cut -- or worse, axed altogether -- due to lack of space. No more waiting for the following day to get your story out, or to publish an erratum. You get the benefit of multimedia capability and interactivity as well.

Hands down, the advantage seems to belong to the Internet. Traditionalists will argue that the Internet is a cold medium; there are rituals of getting your news from print or broadcast that the Internet will never be able to provide. Most of these rituals have to do with a sense of socialization or of having a common experience -- such as reading the morning news at the breakfast table, for instance. Or gathering around the radio or TV set with your family. However, iIn parts of the country where the literacy rate is low or there is no electricity, radio remains the medium of choice.)

Will the Internet ever replace print, radio, or TV as the news medium of choice? To be sure, there are many factors that will determine this. But on the whole, the Internet has greatly aided the delivery of news and the journalistic imperative. It has certainly changed things, and in a lot of ways, made things easier and more convenient. Journalists must take advantage of this and harness all that the Internet can offer. Ultimately, it can change the way news is presented and delivered -- and journalists must upgrade their skills and learn to view the news in light of convergence.

Shovelware or convergence? The choice is really up to journalists. The Internet is a liberating new medium, but writing and planning for it is not without its challenges. One thing I can say a journalist might miss is having something to clip and frame or paste in a scrapbook.

real people power

This year's election has left more than 100 people dead since the campaign started -- 114, according to Inquirer.net, and 116, according to International Herald Tribune. Five of these people were killed today alone.

These figures are lower than those for the 2004 elections. And though still not violence-free, elections 2007 has already been called peaceful and clean. Hopefully, this is not a premature proclamation.

Despite the violence, this has been more of a democratic exercise than ever. Inquirer.net's election coverage includes a blog site that accepts posts from readers, while on ANC, photo and video contributions from citizen journalists have been encouraged in TV spots that sell the idea of going beyond voter education to "voter empowerment."

And in the end, that's what this is all about: putting the power back into the people's hands. It is about the voter -- the Filipino -- his voice, his hope. It is about how empowered he feels and how much he values his vote, despite -- or maybe, more properly, because of -- the killings, the cheating, and the politician's promises.

Let us hope the people elected today never forget this.

two books

On 3 May, the Philippine media watchdog group Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) launched the primer Philippine Press Freedom Primer: Quick Answers to Your Questions at a forum on press freedom in Jakarta, Indonesia. The forum was organized jointly by the Unesco, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia, and the Indonesian Press Council.

The book contains information on laws that affect press freedom, and the codes of ethics of the country's various press organizations. It should be a valuable resource for students, researchers, and even the general public.

Back home in Manila, another book was launched, also on 3 May. Blood on Their Hands: Infanticide in India and Other Stories was launched at the Diamond Hotel at the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism (ACFJ) at the Ateneo de Manila University's Second Emerging Leaders in Asia Forum.

Blood on Their Hands can be described as a book of firsts: it is actually a compilation of excerpts from the Master's Projects of ACFJ's first batch of MA Journ students, and is the first in ACFJ's "Projects in Asian Journalism" series.

With these books, as with books previously published on the topic, it is hoped that the standards of journalism in the Philippines and in the region can continue to be both reviewed and upheld.

world press freedom day 2007

In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly first proclaimed 3 May of every year to be a day to celebrate the freedom of the press.

More than ever, these are dangerous times to be a journalist. According to the Unesco, the Iraq War has been "the deadliest conflict for media professionals since the Second World War" -- with 137 journalists and media staff killed in the line of duty since the war began.

Other circumstances, not only war, can present danger to journalists. Journalists are not spared from election-related violence, for instance. The ambush of PDI's Delfin Mallari, Jr. and DZMM's Johnny Glorioso is a clear example; more so, the murder of DZRB's Carmelo Palacios just the day before.

Even in "peace-time" Philippines, journalists are ambushed on the road, shot on their way home from work. Worse, they are killed with impunity in their own homes, in the presence of their families.

Anywhere journalists are killed for doing their jobs, thrown in prison from speaking out, or bribed to shut them up -- the press is not free. The irony is that anywhere these crimes are committed, the press is most needed.

Here's to a free press, and a free world!

dr. stephen quinn in manila

When Australian author and journalism professor Stephen Quinn -- who also happens to be our Convergent Journalism professor -- came for a brief visit in March, my classmate Erwin Oliva managed to squeeze in some questions on his ongoing projects and his take on technology in Asia and in the Philippines, in particular.

It was an interesting interview, with Dr. Quinn discussing "the future for journalism" in the Philippines. True to the concept of convergent journalism, the whole Q&A was captured on video via Erwin's mobile phone. Watch the full interview below:



With thanks to Erwin for letting me use this.

the new battleground

The Internet seems to have become a new battleground for this election's candidates.

It seems logical for candidates who lack the machinery or the numbers -- or both -- to use the Internet for their campaign. Blogs in particular are free, easy to maintain and update, and accessible even to Filipinos outside the country. Perhaps more importantly, they cater to a new audience, the informed citizenry, the online activists who are engaged and empowered to make changes.

Kapatiran senatorial candidate Martin Bautista for one, a virtual unknown, maintains a blog called On My Way Home. It begins with a blog post titled "My First Blog Post" on 18 January 2006, and is updated regularly. What makes this blog noteworthy is that it is true to the nature of blogs. It is a faithful chronicle of Bautista's journey back to the Philippines, including his personal insights, hopes, doubts, and misgivings. One can picture Bautista blogging away at his computer at the end of a long day, despite his busy schedule.

Contrast this with the blog of another senatorial candidate, Tessie Aquino-Oreta of Team Unity. Unlike Bautista's blog, Oreta's blog's title, Tessie sa Senado! says it all. But again, unlike Bautista's blog, which is religiously maintained, Oreta's contains only one post, entitled "Why blog? Why education?" dated 28 March 2007. On the other hand, it looks and feels suspiciously like the blog of Tito Sotto, another Team Unity candidate, entitled Tito Sotto sa Senado! and containing only one blog post, from around the same time.

I have yet to see the other candidates' blogs, but this is just an example. If one were to vote based on blogs alone, Bautista would win, hands down. On the other hand, Oreta and Sotto can certainly afford not to have a blog, as they both have the resources for a full-blown, tri-media campaign. But only one post?

This makes me wonder what the Comelec says on the use of blogs for the campaign. If there are no restrictions on this as yet, it would be interesting to see how this year's elections might change that.

the media's choices in the coverage of the virginia tech shooting

In times of crisis and tragedy, the challenge to media organizations remains the same: aside from adhering to the basic tenets of journalism, reporters and decision makers must exercise greater sensitivity and responsibility in their reportage.

The Virginia Tech shooting last Monday was certainly no exception.

But if in the past, the challenge would mostly revolve around getting a reporter or crew to the scene and transmitting footage as quickly as possible, the shooting presented challenges we would not have even had to consider in previous years.

unique challenges
For one, citizen journalism played a large part in how the shooting was reported. CNN's now familiar footage of the incident taken from a cellphone camera was courtesy of Virginia Tech undergrad Jamal Albarghouti. While a bit shaky and below broadcast quality, the footage put CNN's viewers on the scene. The message: Albarghouti was there. Not a single reporter or cameraman from a mainstream media organization was.

But there's more. On Wednesday, NBC received a package containing materials from the gunman, Virginia Tech student Cho Seung-Hui, portions of which they aired on NBC Nightly News. A video showed Cho ranting, while photos showed him in various "Rambo"-like poses, pointing a gun at the camera.

media response
Citizen journalism draws mixed reactions from professional journalists. Armed only with digital cameras and mobile phones, citizen journalists might find themselves in the same kind of danger more experienced ones might be more prepared for. Does this make them heroes? Without them, what would we know, see, or hear of the Virginia Tech shooting?

Albarghouti was the world's eyes and ears in those moments. He documented those moments as he perhaps thought a good citizen -- any citizen -- should do. And he turned in his footage online via CNN's I-Reports. It was his choice to make -- one for which he reportedly got paid, after CNN used his footage on the air.

The case is the same with the NBC footage. It was a choice. Though Steve Capus, president of NBC News, assures us that the decision to air photographs and parts of the video was "not taken lightly," is it one we will remember if a similar incident takes place in the future? Remember that Cho's model was Columbine. Besides being disturbing and graphic, could the images -- and the fact that they've been aired countless times -- turn Cho into a misunderstood underdog kind of hero in some way?

Sure, the airing of Cho's material might allow us some insight that may aid in identifying future gunmen, but would it help us prevent such carnage in the future? What are the effects on viewers -- on one hand, the families of the victims, the survivors; and on the other, children, extremists, the mentally and emotionally disturbed?

It may be a long shot, but NBC's airing of Cho's material can be compared to giving in to a hostage taker's demands. It is an attention-getting device, a call for attention. Nowhere among Cho's material can an apology be found; no mea culpa, no confession, no remorse. Instead we find reasons -- a man justifying his actions by hate, anger, and the need to act out his aggression. It is distressing and painful to watch.

we, the audience
All of this brings us back to the audience. What does this kind of coverage say about the audience? Are we starved for speed and scoops? Why did Albarghouti's footage sell? Would we make the same decision he made?

There are more questions, none of them easy: Is it all just part of the mad scramble for ratings? Do we really, truly want to watch the rantings of a killer and know why on God's earth he conceived of and carried out such an act? Do we really want to get inside the minds of such criminals? What kind of coverage do we really want?

In times of crisis and tragedy, what do the media think we, the audience, want? Judging by their response to the Virginia Tech shooting, it is clear: we all had to be there at that moment, and we all had to be the gunman too.

blogging history

While the Sydney Morning Herald counted 10 years of blogging yesterday (click here for the story), the real score -- according to New York Magazine -- is 13.

The magazine's timeline of the history of blogging names Justin Hall's links.net as the first blog ever published. The year: 1994.

But ironically, Hall -- the man hailed by the New York Times Magazine as "the founding father of personal blogging" -- said goodbye to blogging in 2005. (Read the whole tearful story here.)

Today, Technorati counts 71 million blogs. For all the junk that is actually out there, there are good blogs, those that are useful and worth reading.

Blogs. Hard to imagine life without 'em.

more notes

Though the semester is officially ending, this blog will continue. Or at least try to.

Thanks to Stephen Quinn for the encouragement. If not for the Convergent Journ course and the required blogging, I would not have become comfortable enough with the medium.

more on "the techie nun"

Watch an interview with Sr. Judith on Robert Scoble's "Scoble Show," here.

high-tech habits

At the LIFT conference concluded a few days ago, one of the stars of the show was a nun -- Sr. Judith Zoebelein, editorial director of the Internet Office of the Holy See. In short, Sr. Judith -- a fiftysomething American nun -- is the Vatican's web mistress.

Despite wearing a nun's habit, Sr. Judith breaks the stereotype of nuns being uncool and hopelessly outdated, if not ignorant, when it comes to technology. Not only that -- her job situates her at the helm of a typically male-dominated field in a very patriarchal system. No wonder the other LIFT participants such as Robert Scoble, the prolific blogger formerly with Microsoft, just had to sit down with her for a side interview.

But the interesting thing about Sr. Judith is her take on the Internet. She believes in using the Net to build communities -- not just online communities, but real ones. In an interview with BusinessWeek last year, she was said to be working on a site that would bring Catholics together, a sort of "MySpace.com for Catholics," as the article said.

This is similar to one of the aims of journalism. When done well, journalism engages its audience and makes them citizens in the true sense of the word. Combine this with the power, speed, and convenience of the Internet, and you have a truly global online community.

As I've said before, when you strip the Internet of all its bells and whistles, what you'll get is a tool for communication and information dissemination. It lends itself to journalistic ends because of this. Sr. Judith, in the BusinessWeek interview, talks about connecting and using the same technology, albeit for a different purpose:

"For (Sr. Judith), the Net is the ultimate way to reach millions of people and to connect them with their deity. 'It's about something much bigger than myself, and it's also very Franciscan: You can touch it, you can change it, and you can touch people with it,' she says."

Does Sr. Judith have a blog, you ask? Unfortunately, the answer is no.

blogging gone global

In case the power of blogging hasn’t sunk in yet, or if you’re one of those in denial, check out Global Voices Online.

Here are some excerpts from a case study I did:

Global Voices Online (www.globalvoicesonline.org) is a “citizens’ media” project (Global Voices Online, 2006) that networks bloggers from some 160 countries around the world. Existing purely online, it makes use of a blog and other Internet technologies to enable interaction and discussion among bloggers. Most of the bloggers are from or in countries underreported by mainstream media -- i.e. countries outside North America and parts of Europe.

The project took off from a meeting of bloggers entitled “Global Voices Online: Blogging for Independent Journalists, Concerned Citizens, and Activists,” which was part of a conference called “Internet and Society 2004: Votes, Bits, and Bytes,” held in December 2004 and sponsored by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at the Harvard Law School. The meeting was organized by technologist Dr. Ethan Zuckerman and former CNN correspondent Rebecca MacKinnon, both research fellows at the Berkman Center.

A manifesto states the project’s core beliefs and values -- the commitment to free speech, and aims to use the power of citizens’ media in addressing the needs of people and societies marginalized or even disenfranchised by mainstream media. (Global Voices Manifesto, 2005) The Global Voices “About” page lists the following goals:

1. to call attention to the most interesting conversations and perspectives emerging from citizens’ media around the world by linking to text, audio, and video blogs and other forms of grassroots citizens’ media being produced by people around the world;


2. to facilitate the emergence of new citizens’ voices through training, online tutorials, and publicizing the ways in which open-source and free tools can be used safely by people around the world to express themselves; and


3. to advocate for freedom of expression around the world and to protect the rights of citizen journalists to report on events and opinions without fear of censorship or persecution.

With the estimated one million visitors the site receives monthly, many of them reporters and editors from the mainstream media, Global Voices has truly created a global blogging community. Aside from this, it has helped call attention to the parts of the world that have been underreported or marginazlied in traditional/mainstream media.

if james bond were a journalist

According to Ifra, “A primary task for Mobile NewsGear 2007 is to keep journalists at a remote news scene connected to each other, to the Internet and to the newspaper office.”

The latest and most high-tech NewsGear selection is a “complete mobile online newsroom built into a Volvo XC90” -- like a TV remote broadcast van, but designed to produce news in multiple formats. This will enable journalists to drive to a live event, shoot digital video, record broadcast-quality sound, work on print stories with a laptop, scan and print to PDF -- and send everything live to a newsroom or straight to the Internet.

At our chat session a few nights ago, my classmates Nanette and Marieton, and I discussed how much this souped-up Volvo looked like something straight out of a James Bond film or that 1980s TV series Knight Rider -- or Mission Impossible, for that matter. If this vehicle were to become the newsroom of the future, it would mean infinitely more mobility and speed for the journalist, who could report in any or all platforms at any time and from anywhere -- a far cry from the days when we would have to report back to the office to file a story after a coverage on the opposite end of the city.

This mobile newsroom would streamline tasks -- but not, as I mistakenly noted during the chat, necessarily cut costs. Dr. Quinn says in Convergent Journalism, content does not cut costs in the content-producing areas:

“…(s)ome editorial managers and publishers… think that multi-skilled journalists should potentially be able to produce more news for the same or little more money. They reason that their organizations should be able to cut costs because of increased productivity -- more multi-skilled reporting means the organization needs fewer reporters. This remains one of the most popular myths about convergence.”

Could the mobile newsroom eventually render the tickler, pen, and even voice recorder obsolete? Not before journalists are trained to function in a cross-platform environment. Or at least rid themselves of their technophobia.

ever changing, ever constant

For years, journalists have been in control of what the news is, and when and how the public gets it. Now, they are learning -- they have to, anyway -- that they do not have a monopoly on this.

Not everyone who blogs/moblogs is a reporter or a journalist -- or wants to be -- but bloggers/mobloggers have speed, access to sources, and low-cost, portable technology on their side. Journalists will benefit from these tools with reduced production times. More importantly, blogs/moblogs are adding a new dimension to journalism, in the form of “user-generated content.” This opens the way for a two-way flow of news, which gives journalists a new source of news and information.

It makes no sense for journalists to be in competition with bloggers or mobloggers. Nor must they become complacent and leave all the work to the blogging/moblogging public. It is important to harness the potential of blogs/moblogs in newsgathering. But more than ever, journalists must be able to make sense of all the information out there, fact-checking, framing stories, and providing context -- skills that are necessary regardless of medium. They will have to separate the chaff from the grain.

As Howard Rheingold writes in “Moblogs Seen as a Crystal Ball for a New Era in Online Journalism:”

“… the most important remaining ingredient of a truly democratized electronic newsgathering is neither a kind of hardware nor a variety of software, but a species of literacy—widespread knowledge of how to use these tools to produce news stories that are attention-getting, non-trivial, and credible.

Journalism, if it to deserve the name,… is about the journalist’s intuition, integrity, courage, inquisitiveness, analytic and expressive capabilities, and above all, the trust the journalist has earned among readers.”

Journalists must continue to exercise their conscience in their work. Ethical standards must never be compromised by speed and technology. There is nothing wrong with speed -- but “instant” should not mean “reckless.” The ability to produce instant news must be balanced by sound judgment calls.

Blogging/moblogging will continue to change the way journalists work. Nevertheless, much will remain the same.

virtually free

Recently, I was chatting with a Burmese journalist in exile who works with an online Burmese news site and monitors the country’s blogosphere. A study he did just last week revealed that there are not more than 200 Burmese bloggers. Of these, only about 10 admitted to blogging from Burma. Of all Burmese blogs, less than 10 percent have political content.

According to him, the junta does not censor the blogs of those from outside Burma. Still, all bloggers -- political and otherwise -- hide their identities and take great care to go under the radar, so to speak. Censorship of the Internet in Burma is strictly and successfully accomplished, so much so that Reporters sans frontieres has included Burma in its list of 13 “enemies of the Internet” and has declared its Internet policies to be “even more repressive” than those of China and Vietnam.

Perhaps Internet restrictions have resulted in the small number of Burmese bloggers. But blogging does not necessarily indicate a free press. Take China as an example. Despite its estimated 17 million bloggers (and more than 10,000 newspapers and magazines, and 600 radio and TV stations), control of the media is still strong. Web and blog sites are either blocked or forced to shut down.

Imprisonment is another form of censure. In Burma and China, as in other countries with limited freedom of the press, any journalist working in any medium can be thrown in prison. But bloggers can be seen as a bigger threat because they work in a medium with the fastest publishing time and the widest reach. RSF maintains a list those journalists and other individuals who have been imprisoned for their Internet activities, including blogging -- 59 at last count, 50 of whom are Chinese. Some of them have been in jail since 1999.

In places where the traditional media are not free, blogging is journalism. But until bloggers can successfully evade a clampdown, they are only virtually free.

in the line of duty

This is just a postscript to my earlier entry.

In the Philippines -- despite being a democracy, named by the Committee to Protect Journalists as “one of the most dangerous datelines” in 2006, second only to Iraq -- anyone might cover the conflict in Mindanao, the stampede in Quezon City, the elections in May.

But it is still the traditional or “professional” journalist receiving death threats or getting killed in the line of duty.

Of course there can be many factors behind this. I was just thinking, though, that perhaps the local blogs are not yet considered as much of a “threat” as the mainstream press.

news for all, by all

Perhaps the most common argument I’ve heard against citizen journalism is in reaction to the idea that anyone can be a journalist. When you have studied and trained for years to be one, slaved as a cub reporter, covered beats, conducted interviews, and risked your life as a journalist, being told that your work can be done by anyone with a cellphone, a computer, no experience, and no training, takes some time getting used to.

Nevertheless, citizen journalism is important because it empowers the people. As Dan Gillmor writes in his book,We the Media, “Once mere consumers of news, the audience… is learning how to join the process of journalism.” Journalism has always aimed to be a forum for public discourse. Citizen journalism is proof that the public is aware and engaged. It tells us that the public wants to participate in and contribute to journalism’s watchdog role. Whether this speaks of a distrust of the press is another story.

I agree with Mark Glaser’s observation in MediaShift, that “mainstream media reporters and producers are not the exclusive center of knowledge on a subject.” Traditional journalists are not supposed to know all the answers, but acting with the public’s interest in mind, are supposed to ask the questions the audience would want to ask. Citizen journalism is the public exercising its right and its ability to ask their own questions and to document the world as they see and understand it.

Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel wrote in The Elements of Journalism: “People have an intrinsic need -- an instinct -- to know what is occurring beyond their direct experience.” Citizen journalists are born from this instinct, just as traditional journalists are. And if traditional journalists have done their job well, citizen journalists will share and exhibit the same news values. Good journalism, by whatever name and through whatever medium, should always aim for the truth.

story 2: veterans at a standstill (broadcast)

Two members of the Veterans Freedom Party, or VFP, are claiming their lone party-list seat.

The seat was vacated with the passing of VFP representative Ernesto Gidaya on December 4.

The two VFP members are Estrella Santos and Rodolfo Gutang. Both were party-list nominees in the 2004 elections.

Santos is the next nominee in VFP’s list. She is qualified to take Gidaya’s place under Republic Act 7941. The said act automatically designates the next nominee to fill any vacancy in the party list.

But Gutang says the Commission on Elections, or Comelec, "cannot proclaim Santos automatically.” He says he should be the next VFP representative.

According to a VFP resolution approved in 2004 a nonveteran cannot be the party’s lone representative. The resolution also states that a nonveteran “who would have qualified is considered resigned or should resign his position.”

Santos is a nonveteran, while Gutang is a retired constabulary general.

The VFP seat remains vacant pending a decision by the Comelec.

story 2: veterans at a standstill (print)

MANILA, 11 December – The passing of Rep. Ernesto Gidaya, party-list representative of the Veterans Freedom Party (VFP), on 4 December, has left the party’s future uncertain.

Two VFP members are claiming Gidaya’s seat in the House of Representatives.

The position remains vacant, pending a decision by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

If Republic Act 7941, also known as the “Party-List System Act,” is to be observed, the vacancy should be occupied by Estrella Santos, next on VFP’s list of nominees. Santos, a nonveteran, is a member of the Sons and Daughters Association, Inc. (SDAI), an organization of veterans’ children.

According to a VFP resolution, however, the party cannot be represented by a nonveteran. Under this resolution, Rodolfo Gutang, a retired constabulary general, will take over.

only one seat
During the 2004 elections, the VFP earned one seat in the House of Representatives.

Gidaya, who headed VFP’s list of nominees, occupied the lone seat. The second nominee, World War II veteran Atty. Andres Bustamante, passed away in January 2006. The other nominees are Santos, Gutang, and retired general Vicente Buenaventura.

Section 16 of the Party-List System Act states that, “in case of vacancy in the seats reserved for party-list representatives, the vacancy shall be automatically filled by the next representative from the list of nominees in the order submitted to the Comelec by the same party, organization, or coalition, who shall serve for the unexpired term.”

Under this law, Santos would take over as party-list representative.

But in an interview, Gutang said, “The Comelec cannot proclaim Santos automatically.”

In a memo to the Comelec, Gutang cited VFP Resolution BT 04-04, approved in 2004, which states: “In the event that only one nominee is qualified and proclaimed by the Comelec to represent VFP, that nominee should be a veteran.” It further states: “The non-veteran who would have qualified is considered resigned or should resign his position.”

Santos could not be reached for comment.

on hold
Gutang said the Comelec has to study the matter carefully. “This is the first case of its kind in the party list. Wala pang ganitong nangyari, eh (nothing like this has ever happened).”

Meanwhile, Gidaya’s projects are on hold. “The implementation of the projects will need the presence of a congressman,” explained Gutang. “The replacement of Congressman Gidaya will take over the pending projects.”

With the lone seat at the House of Representatives being contested by both Santos and Gutang, the VFP is at a standstill.

story 1: a different market (print)

MANILA, 9 December – It was a different kind of market yesterday at the Goldcrest parking lot in Ayala Center, Makati.

Instead of food, clothing, or Christmas gift items, the items sold at yesterday’s Waste Market were recyclable waste. Used paper and paper products, electronics such as computers and computer parts, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles, aluminum cans, used toner and ink cartridges, and polystyrene packaging waste were brought and exchanged for cash.

Paper products were exchanged for Php 3.50 to 8.50 per kilo. Defective computer parts went for Php 15 to 80 per piece, and CDs for Php 5 per kilo. Even cables were exchanged, at Php 25 to 30 per kilo.

The Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE), organizers of the Waste Market, had to extend market hours to accommodate more people.

Mila Antofina, senior project officer of the PBE, said that the market collected more waste materials than expected.

“Maganda ‘yung naging response ng public (the public’s response was good),” she said in a telephone interview. “Some even called to say sayang (too bad), they did not know about it.”

Unofficial results of the Waste Market showed that paper waste topped the list of recyclables collected in terms of volume. But by economic value, paper came second to electronics, which was estimated at Php 40,000.

The waste materials are evaluated by volume, economic savings, landfill space saved, and for paper waste, the number of trees saved.

pilot phase
The Waste Market, which was open to the general public, had its pilot run in September. It was then held every first Friday until December. Its initial areas were the cities of Makati and Muntinlupa.

Antofina says the PBE will first assess the project’s viability then decide whether to continue the Waste Market in 2007. But she is optimistic. “May trend na pataas (there was an upward trend),” she says.

If continued, Antofina says, the PBE could take the Waste Market to other areas.

recyclables collection events
The Waste Market was a small-scale version of PBE’s Recyclables Collection Event (RCE), which targets industries, big businesses, and establishments such as malls and condominiums.

The Waste Market is hoped to replicate the success of the annual RCEs.

Since 2002, the RCEs have been held to coincide with Earth Day in April. Venues have been Makati City, Quezon City, Muntinlupa, Calamba City, Baguio City, and Davao City.