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Kite Flying Festival for Peace last May 1, 2003 with
the Federation of Reporters for Empowerment and Equality
(FREE) in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato (Photo by ) |
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CONNECTING
WITH CITIZENS
Public
Journalism or Simply a Deeper Commitment to Craft and Community?
by Red
Batario
There is no denying that when Leonilo "Toots" Escalada,
a radio station manager in General Santos City in Mindanao,
talks about the reshaping of local communities he sounds
more like a development worker, or a politician, rather
than a journalist.
And he does not confine himself to the booth when airing
his daily program, Barangay Agong, which takes its name
after the station. He brings his program to where the action
is — the barangays (villages) of General Santos where Escalada
actually facilitates discussions of current issues. more
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What
Is Journalism For? Media in the Cusp of Change
"We
need news to live our lives, to protect ourselves, bond
with each other, identify friends and enemies. Journalism
is simply the system societies generate to supply this news.
That is why we care about the character of news and journalism
we get: they influence the quality of our lives, our thoughts,
and our culture. Writer Thomas Cahill, the author of several
popular books on the history of religion, has put it this
way: you can tell 'the worldview of a people … the invisible
fears and desires…in a culture's stories,'" so said Bill
Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel in The Elements of Journalism:
What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect.
It
was also once said that darkness falls and uneasy quietude
settles when news disappears. Nowhere was this most acutely
felt than in the dark days of martial rule in the Philippines
when news was trammeled and information tailored to suit
the needs of an autocratic regime. more
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NEW
BOOK
Breaking
the Norms
by Red
Batario
 This
book compiles Philippine community media innovations through
public journalism showing that the practice of the craft
can go beyond mere agenda setting.
What the book contains:
Introduction
Part 1: Building the Framework
• Public Journalism: Bringing
the News Back
to the People
Part 2: Taking on the Challenge
• Case 1
Civic Life Examined: The Visayas
Examiner
• Case 2
Small Town Radio Sends Big Message:
DXCA-FM’s “Pulso ng Bayan”
• Case 3
Radio as Community Member:
PBN-DZGB Legaspi City
• Case 4
Rethinking the News:
Bandillo ng Palawan’s “Tuturan”
Section
Part 3: Changing Mindsets
• Public Journalism or
Civic Journalism:
Reinventing Committed Journalism
• A Media Challenge
• Civic Journalism: Responding
to the Times
• Media and Decentralization:
What Roles Do Journalists Play
in Self-Governance?
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EXCERPTS
Lessons
from the Countryside
by Carolyn O.
Arguillas I do not think I am the best person
to write an introduction to the book Breaking the Norms
given that I and Amy, a colleague-friend, raised our brows
during the first seminar on public journalism in Mindanao
in February 2000.
It wasn't because Amy and I had become cynical of seminars.
It was more because by then, there had been so many labels
appended to journalism and the labels somehow created distinctions,
even an elitism of sorts. more
Civic
Life Examined: The Visayas Examiner
by Diosa
Labiste
 The
Visayas Examiner (TVE) is a community newspaper established
in 1999 by journalists in Iloilo City, a community where
many newspapers are beholden to political interests. Sometime
in 2001 the newspaper experimented with Public Journalism
as a frame for covering the news, writing stories and relating
to its readers. The activities of that initial foray into
the realm of public journalism ranged from holding community
meetings, candidates' forum during elections, helping other
media groups organize and hone their skills, to the printing
of a public journalism page. TVE's Public Journalism initiative
resulted in greater public impact of the news, development
of more critical readers and enhanced skills of journalists.
It also helped form a community of readers that share a
common vision of a safe and progressive community. more
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COMMUNITY
BILLBOARD
Seminars,
Workshops, Dialogues
South Asian Journalists’ Training on Public
Journalism and Good Urban Governance
August 17-20
Held in cooperation with The Urban Governance Initiative,
UNDP India for South Asian journalists (New Delhi)
Public Journalism for Broadcast
August 11-12
Designed specifically for radio station DZBA in Bicol (Legazpi
City, Albay); to be conducted in partnership with the Social
Action Center, Diocese of Albay
Process Documentation Training for Journalists
July 25
Attended by selected Mindanao journalists for additional skills
and capacity building (Tubod, Lanao del Norte)
Framing the Public Journalism Story
July 24
For Mindanao journalists who are already experimenting with
public journalism through their respective outfits (Tubod,
Lanao del Norte)
Silencing Filipino Journalists, Suppressing the Truth?
A Dialogue Series on Citizens' Right to Know
July 23
Held in partnership with the Mindanao Institute of Journalism, Mindanao News and Information Cooperative, Federation of Reporters for Empowerment and Equality, and the provincial government of Lanao del Norte (Tubod, Lanao del Norte) more
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What is Public
Journalism? |
Public Journalism
Toolkit |
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