Tag Archives: citizen journalism

Media, Speeches, Tech Tack Talk

(Updated) After the Pinoy Citizen Journalism Seminar

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Based on the sheer number of participants (close to 100, based on Tonyo Cruz’s account), one may safely assume that the Pinoy Citizen Journalism Seminar last November 29 was a “resounding success.”

But more than the unexpected turnout, I would like to think that the success is in the effective packaging of the free seminar to various audiences, resulting in a healthy mix of bloggers, techies, journalism students, scientists, campus journalists and community organizers from Metro Manila and beyond.

I was assigned to give the first lecture on citizen journalism, the PDF file of which may be retrieved from this blog’s “Downloads (PDF)” section located in the sidebar.

Please find below the highlights of my discussion:

  • In the Philippines, citizen journalism is nothing new and has existed even before the introduction of the Internet;
  • Citizen journalism is a mechanism for media literacy of audiences;
  • Giving feedback (e.g., posting a comment in a blog or writing a letter to the editor in a newspaper) and being a source of information do not make an audience a citizen journalist;
  • Audiences should be properly trained for them to know the highest professional and ethical standards to practice journalism; and
  • More than the necessary skills, the people should know the role of journalism in society, which is to provide relevant information in order to help shape public opinion.

Thats me waiting for my turn to speak. Photographed by Tonyo Cruz.

If you attended the seminar, you may have noticed that I looked a bit tired and sluggish while waiting for my turn to speak. I had a cold and a slight fever that time, and the former had obviously affected my voice.

Fortunately, my limited experience in radio broadcasting somehow “saved me” as I held the microphone in a way that my voice can be better projected.

Did it work? I honestly don’t know, as I did not stay long enough to hear any feedback or to even entertain questions from participants.

Judging by the picture on the right (photographed also by Tonyo Cruz), please understand that I was holding on to my knees as I felt weak and a bit disoriented even before my lecture.

It could be the weather that Saturday morning: I felt that it was hot outside and the venue’s airconditioning was too cold.

Anyway, several individuals had written about the recently concluded seminar and provided a photo documentation of the activity. Do visit these if you have time: