N.B. – A Mass Communication student from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) sent five questions regarding online journalism. Here are my answers. The PhilSouth Angle (12 October 2009) re-posted this article with my permission.

Why did you choose to be an online journalist?

The kind of journalism I practice is not medium-based. It is necessary for journalists, as well as journalism educators and students, to treat journalism from a multi-media perspective.

Aside from practicing online journalism, I also contribute articles to the print media and, for a time, was a radio broadcaster. I have no bias for or against any medium. I believe that a journalist should try his or her best to straddle different forms of media to reach out to wider audiences.

Each form of mass media has its own limits, and being an online journalist does not necessarily guarantee reaching out to the intended audience.

In this context, I have chosen to venture into online journalism for the simple reason that the technology is available and that I have taken pains to learn it. In learning online journalism, one does not need to be as computer-savvy as a programmer or developer. What is imperative, however, is to be media-savvy in such a way that one knows how to apply the principles and standards of journalism to the available technology. For example, how can a journalist use social media like Facebook or micro-blogging like Twitter in the exercise of his or her profession?

What are the benefits of being an online journalist?

New media and online journalism are said to combine the permanence of print and the immediacy of broadcast.

In online journalism, one can fully maximize the convergence offered by the new media. Aside from writing and uploading articles, one can provide pictures and streaming audio and video to complement the text. There is also the added advantage of combining text and hypertext where internal and external links can be incorporated into the articles.

What are some problems that online journalists face?

There is a need to temper the excitement brought about by using the new media. A certain degree of level-headedness is needed in availing of new technologies which must be treated as mere tools of the trade, not as the panacea of the online journalism profession.

To cite an example, there is a difference between a person who knows how to create a blog creatively and a person who knows how to write effectively. The former knows only the technical side of the easy-to-learn technology while the latter knows the principles and standards necessary for mass communication.

Regardless of the form of mass media (i.e., print, radio, television, film, new media), there are standards that must be adhered to in writing and producing media content. Those who do not have a firm grasp of such professional and ethical standards could end up compromising the latter in the actual practice of the profession.

In online journalism, the ease in uploading media content could result in publishing articles even if the data are not verified. Such overeagerness does not help in giving relevant information to the public.

When did you start as an online journalist?

I started my personal website in 1999 but I did not start blogging until 2006.

I joined Bulatlat as a member of the Board of Editors in 2001. I became a regular columnist for Pinoy Weekly in 2006, writing for both its print (currently suspended) and online editions.

Very soon, I will start writing a weekly column for an upstart website based in the United Kingdom. Details to follow.

What is your advice to those who want to be an online journalist?

A good writer spends more time reading than actually writing. The same case applies to those who want to become journalists. They should have the hunger for reading, as well as the initiative to observe what’s happening around them by talking to different kinds of people. They should also have a clear understanding of the principles and standards of journalism before writing their first article.

For those who want to go into online journalism, they should try to keep up with information about latest technologies in software and hardware and know how these could help in the shaping of public opinion.