On press and blogging

Finally found the time to blog. Recent weeks proved too busy and tiring for me to write anything here, and I don't see any free time these coming days as well. I found myself muttering "Oh God, please help me" too many times already these past few weeks. And I'm pretty sure once June and July come in, my blogging activity will be reduced even further. Sigh sigh sigh.

Since I really don't have the time in the world to post all the things that come to mind, I will be sparing you my take on a recent discussion in the blogosphere about journalism and blogging. In case you do not know, some bloggers negatively reacted to an abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak article quoting Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) deputy director and PJR Reports editor Luis Teodoro on his views about journalism and (or is it versus?) blogging. Some of these views here, here, and here. Manolo Quezon also posted his take here.

Aside from the lack of time, I really don't want to say something because some might accuse me of being biased for Prof. Teodoro or that he told me to post about it. (I work with CMFR and write for PJR Reports for close to seven years now. Aside from the fact that Prof. Teodoro is my boss, he is also my former teacher and dean during college.) Besides, he already said his piece on the issue.

But let me just share Anthony Ian Cruz's insightful post on the issue. A long-time blogger, Tonyo currently works as a reporter for the Manila bureau of Asahi Shimbun, Japan’s second biggest daily newspaper.

Blogging and Journalism
May 6, 2008

A debate rages in the blogosphere about journalism and blogging, with partisans lobbing virtual grenades at Prof. Luis Teodoro.

Dean Jorge Bocobo leads the assault, taking pains showing the entire world the meaning of name-calling. Geez, methinks Philippine commentary (online or offline) would be better off without name-calling. For so what if Teodoro is/was a leftist? Does that disqualify him from expressing himself? Should we only have centrist or right-wing public intellectuals and pundits? Should we just jail or assassinate leftists or suspected leftists? I suppose the left has a place in the blogosphere. I am sure Mr. Bocobo will latch on this side-issue till the Second Coming, but I leave the blogosphere to judge name-calling, whether it is intelligent and whether name-calling is relevant in discussions such as this.

Good thing, Teodoro is a journalist and was part of the anti-Marcos resistance so we could safely assume that he knows how to take blows, be it as petty as name-calling.

Anyway, I just wish to focus on Mr. Bocobo’s main point in his tirade against Teodoro: Mr. Bocobo’s pride was hurt.

I never felt slighted by Teodoro’s remarks. I assumed those statements were made in completely good faith. Why? Because Teodoro seemed to have a clear objective: to ventilate the need for ethical standards that govern most professions and most areas of human activity. Whether journalists or, in the case of the Cebu perfume canister scandal, doctors fall short of their avowed ethical codes, we must gnash our teeth and demand accountability and urge conformity with the said rules.

Read more here.

Discussions on blogging and journalism, name-calling and labels excluded, were particularly interesting. The issue made me remember a recent global study made on the role of the press in an increasingly online world.

Newspapers likely to be free in the future: survey
By Kate Holton
May 6, 2008
Source: Yahoo News

LONDON (Reuters) - Newspapers seeking to compete with the Internet are likely to become free and place greater emphasis on comment and opinion in the future, a survey of the world's editors showed on Tuesday.

The report, conducted by Zogby International for the World Editors Forum and Reuters, revealed that newspaper editors were still optimistic about the future of their publications but believed they would have to adapt further for the digital age.

Some 86 percent of respondents believed newsrooms should become more integrated with digital services as two in three believe the most common form of news consumption will be via electronic media such as online or mobiles within a decade.

"For these editors the future is self-evident and our survey shows that they see the writing on the newsroom wall," said pollster John Zogby.

Read more here. The study is the 2008 edition of the Newsroom Barometer, an annual survey of editors around the world conducted by Zogby International and commissioned by the World Editors Forum and Reuters. For the main findings of the study, click here.

The fight for press freedom continues

Today marks World Press Freedom Day. Ironically, global press freedom continues to decline, according to international press freedom groups.

According to the US-based Freedom House:

"Global press freedom underwent a clear decline in 2007, with journalists struggling to work in increasingly hostile environments in almost every region in the world, according to a new survey released today by Freedom House. The decline in press freedom—which occurred in authoritarian countries and established democracies alike—continues a six-year negative trend."

Read more here.

There is no shortage of shortage of press freedom predators around the world, according to Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

For the past seven years Reporters Without Borders has exposed the world's "predators of press freedom" - men and women who directly attack journalists or order others to. Most are top-level politicians (including presidents, prime ministers and kings) but they also include militia chiefs, leaders of armed groups and drug-traffickers. They usually answer to no-one for their serious attacks on freedom of expression. Failure to punish them is one of the greatest threats to the media today.

There are 39 "predators of press freedom" this year. Five have disappeared from the previous list. Fidel Castro is one of them, as the "lider maximo" has definitively transferred power to his brother Raúl. Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf lost February's parliamentary elections and, in the process, his ability to harm press freedom. In Ethiopia, the situation seems to have stabilised and imprisoned journalists have been released, so Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been taken off the list. The same goes for Swaziland's King Mswati III, who has not committed any serious press freedom violation for several years. Finally, Young Patriots leader Charles Blé Goudé in Côte d'Ivoire has stopped calling for violence against foreign journalists or opposition journalists.

But 10 new predators have entered the list. In the Palestinian Territories, the armed wing of Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority's security forces in the West Bank were guilty of serious press freedom violations. Each faction systematically hounded journalists suspecting of siding with the other camp.

Read more here.

The Philippines remains one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, despite a few positive steps taken--which are eager to claim by the government--to address media murders. The culture of impunity still reigns in the country, and not just for journalists but for many others as well such as political dissenters, activists, social and human rights advocates, lawyers, development workers.

Here's Joel Simon and Sheila Coronel of the Committee to Protect Journalists on how the problem of impunity in the Philippines has had an effect on journalism and coverage of critical issues of human rights and corruption:

The (Marlene) Esperat case has been justly hailed a milestone in the fight against impunity. What is shocking, however, is that such convictions are so rare. There are 24 other murders carried out since 2000 in the Philippines in which no one has been brought to justice.

This dubious record helped earn the Philippines a top ranking in the Impunity Index devised by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) as a measure for assessing the safety and protection of journalists worldwide.... In fact, the only countries in the world that have a worse record of bringing journalists to justice have endured years of violent conflict – Iraq, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Colombia.

This nearly perfect record of impunity in the Philippines has had a devastating impact on the free flow of information and has inhibited coverage of human rights and corruption issues in the communities affected by violence."

Read more here. For more information about the CPJ and Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists campaign, click here. For CPJ's Impunity Index, click here.

Local press groups, among them the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, held activities today to observe the May 3 event. There was a wreath-laying ceremony earlier at the National Shrine of Marcelo H. del Pilar, a beloved hero of the Philippine revolution and editor of La Solidaridad. The event was followed by a jamming session of members of media tonight at Freedom Bar.

Eternal vigilance to fight for press freedom, therefore, is certainly needed. Expect the struggle to be a long and arduous one because of--and especially under--a government that has shown no qualms in being brazen in committing wrongdoing, discarding laws, throwing delicadeza out of the window, repressing the media and destroying democratic institutions just to cling to power.

Economics writers needed

From Matthew Montagu-Pollock, publisher of the Manila-based Global Property Guide:



Click the image above to email Global Property Guide directly. For more information, click the publication's site.

Prestigious awards for Filipino journalists focuses on corruption, human rights and environment

Let me just make a quick post before I start another busy day today.

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), administrative and technical secretariat of the prestigious Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ), has announced changes in this year's awards.

The 2008 JVOAEJ will focus on corruption/governance, human rights and environmental issues "in recognition of the urgency of encouraging journalistic excellence in addressing corruption/governance, human rights and environmental issues."

2008 Jaime V. Ongpin Journalism Award focuses on corruption, human rights and environment
Source: CMFR

The 2008 Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ) will focus on corruption/governance, human rights and environmental issues.

This was among the changes announced in the country's most prestigious journalism awards by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), which administers the JVOAEJ.

CMFR Executive Director Melinda de Jesus said the changes are being introduced in recognition of the urgency of encouraging journalistic excellence in addressing corruption/ governance, human rights and environmental issues.

The country has been rocked by one corruption scandal after another, even as the human rights situation and environmental degradation have worsened.

Read more here.

CMFR is still accepting nominations for this year's awards until April 25. CMFR conducts an independent scan of Manila-based publications and the nomination process is not a requirement for consideration. For more details, click here.

Gorrell and lifestyle journalism

Luis Teodoro, PJR Reports editor and BusinessWorld columnist, writes an insightful essay on the Brian Gorrell controversy. He tackled issues related to blogging and journalism, including ethical and professional standards as well as libel. The controversy, he writes, highlighted the problems of corruption and lack of professionalism in journalism.


Teapot tempest
Vantage Point
BusinessWorld
April 4, 2008

"(T)here’s a real story in the Gorrell to-do, and it’s in how journalism — or what passes for it in the lifestyle pages — is so far gone in corruption and unprofessional conduct, among other reasons because many of the people who’re into it are there not for their skills as journalists but for their claimed connections with the high and mighty. That’s what mainstream media can be condemned for — for allowing this to happen: nay, for encouraging and abetting it, to the detriment not only of people like Gorrell but also and primarily that of the foolish Filipinos who follow the lifestyles of their self-proclaimed betters more assiduously than they do extra-judicial killings."

Read more here.

Speaking of lifestyle journalism, I remember an article I wrote for the old Philippine Journalism Review back in 2003 ("The Society Page: Weddings, Birthdays and Other Earth-shaking Events"). That year, the Philippine Daily Inquirer hired society columnist Maurice Arcache. This prompted Inquirer founder Eugenie "Eggie" Apostol to ask the paper to remove her name from the staff box "forever" on the day Arcache's column appears in the Inquirer. Having his column in the country's largest and most influential broadsheet, Apostol then wrote board chair Marixi Prieto, "will be a great disservice--yes an insult!--to your readers. His froth and frippery would contribute nothing to the nation-building to which Inquirer is pledged."

Although I did not write about freeloading activities in lifestyle/society journalism (as alleged by Brian against some "Gucci Gang"members), I wrote that the lifestyle/society pages are regarded as major sources of advertising and circulation revenues for newspapers. Many advertisements, most of them catering to the social and moneyed elite, appear in these pages . It is also not surprising to see a columnist lavishly praising a certain product or service and alongside the column piece, a full-page ad on the product or service the columnist was gushing about.

Since it first appeared locally in fashion magazines such as El Bello Sexo (The Fair Sex) and La Illustracion Filipina during the Spanish period up to the present, one thing can thus be said about the society/lifestyle page, I wrote. "(T)he society page is symbol as well as representation of the divide between the classes, a clear demarcation line on who's rich and powerful, and who's poor and powerless in Philippine society."

I'm Richard Quest, and I'm from the Kinky News Network

The New York Post writes a "sexy" follow-up to the Quest incident. You have to take this report with a grain of salt however. After all, this is the New York Post (see Wikipedia entry on criticisms against the paper) which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, Fox News Channel owner and CNN's competitor.


Kinky News Network:
CNN's Quest A very 'Knotty' Boy
By Dareh Gregorian and Philip Messing
April 19, 2008

This is CNN? Kinky!

CNN personality Richard Quest was busted in Central Park early yesterday with some drugs in his pocket, a rope around his neck that was tied to his genitals, and a sex toy in his boot, law-enforcement sources said.

Quest, 46, was arrested at around 3:40 a.m. after a cop spotted him and another man inside the park near 64th Street, a police source said.

The criminal complaint against Quest said the park was closed at the time - something Quest should have known because of all the signs saying "Park Closed 1 a.m. to 6 a.m."

Read more here.

What happened to you, Richard Quest?

I was planning to post something today (after more than two weeks of blog inactivity) when I saw from my Google Reader a new entry from The Huffington Post.

Richard Quest, CNN Reporter, Arrested On Drug Charges
The Huffington Post
April 18

The New York Times' City Room blog reports that CNN International business and travel reporter Richard Quest has been arrested on drug charges:

Mr. Quest was arrested early Friday morning after being escorted out of Central Park for violating the park curfew, a law enforcement official said Friday. The park is closed from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m.

The police noticed Mr. Quest at 64th Street and West Drive at about 3:40 a.m., the official said. As he was being escorted out, he volunteered, "I have meth in my pocket," according to an official briefed on the case. The police searched him and recovered a small amount of methamphetamine in a Ziploc bag.

Read more here.

From the International Herald Tribune:

CNN reporter Richard Quest faces drug charge after early morning bust in Central Park
International Herald Tribune
April 18, 2008

A CNN International news reporter was arrested in Central Park on Friday with a small amount of methamphetamine in his pocket, but avoided jail when he agreed to undergo drug counseling and therapy.

Richard Quest, 46, a British citizen, was arrested around 3:40 a.m. on a possession of a controlled substance count, a misdemeanor that usually refers to a personal use amount of a drug. He was also charged with loitering for being in the park after 1 a.m. when it is officially closed.

Quest told police "I've got some meth in my pocket" when he was detained, according to the complaint filed in court. The complaint said he had a plastic sandwich bag containing methamphetamine in a jacket pocket.

Quest is known for reports on business travel. He hosts "CNN Business Traveler" and "Quest."

Read more here.

We in the office always watch every time Quest reports--with his distinctive and funny style of presenting the news. I guess that's the reason why I rarely see him in the CNN studios as anchor because he's better off as a reporter.

From CNN:

Richard Quest is one of the most instantly recognizable members of the CNN team; covering an extensive range of breaking news and business stories, as well as feature programming, he has become one of the network’s highest profile presenters. Quest is firmly established as an expert on business travel issues and currently works as a CNN anchor and correspondent. His regular programs include ‘CNN Business Traveller’, as well as his own hour-long feature program, ‘Quest’.

Quest’s dynamic and distinctive style has made him a unique figure in the field of business and news broadcasting. During his time at CNN he has reported on many of the major news events of recent years. His coverage of breaking news, which has spanned over two decades, has seen him report on a range of stories from the Iraq War, the death of Yasser Arafat and the Lockerbie Pan Am 103 crash.

Read more here.

Here's Quest in one of his reports:

The need for an investigative and critical press in these crucial times

Sometime last month, ANC's Media in Focus invited me and PJR Reports editor Luis V. Teodoro to discuss the main story in the January 2008 issue of the magazine. The story: Despite relentless daily coverage of issues, there was a lean harvest of the kind of investigative reports last year--the kind of investigative reporting that was so crucial in shaping public opinion and even moving citizens to action during Edsa 2 and the “Hello, Garci” scandal.

Here's an excerpt from the said story:

Despite another year of scandals
A Lean Harvest of Investigative Reports
PJR Reports
January 2008 issue
by Hector Bryant L. Macale, Don Gil K. Carreon, Junnette B. Galagala, Melanie Y. Pinlac and Kathryn Roja G. Raymundo

(A) more careful look at the coverage of last year’s political issues and controversies reveals a lean harvest of the kind of investigative reports that were so crucial in shaping public opinion and even moving citizens to action during the Estrada impeachment crisis and the “Hello, Garci” scandal of 2005 and 2006.

For the most part, the press limited itself to updates from the key actors involved in the controversies. Reporting was largely dependent, for example, on developments in Senate or House of Representatives hearings, as well as public officials’ admitting knowledge of, or committing, certain acts of corruption and other wrongdoing.

Without the pro-active commitment to look into the controversies, this dependence proved pivotal in diverting public attention, away from some of the most crucial issues of governance that have arisen since the Marcos period. No matter how serious, issues of public concern eventually disappeared without closure from the news pages and the airwaves whenever the Senate postponed or ended its investigation, or if another controversy erupted.

Read here for more.

It seems that the decline in investigative journalism is not just happening in the Philippines, but also in other countries such as the United States--although the Philippine press should not make this an excuse for the local decline. In a three-part series, the SF Weekly, a California-based news weekly, discusses the fall of investigative journalism in the United States, the reasons behind the decline, and its repercussions to the profession and society itself.

Investigating the Future of Investigative Journalism
Part I: ‘It’s a Very Scary Time’
Jan. 14, 2008
By Joe Eskenazi

In order to investigate the present and future of investigative journalism, you needn’t sift through buckets of shredded documents. You don’t have to fill out a Freedom of Information Act request or pore through court records. And you certainly shouldn’t waste your time meeting with shadowy sources in poorly lit parking garages.

Just talk to an investigative reporter. They’ll readily ‘fess up – things are bad.

“I think the state of the business is actually worse than most people are willing to admit or can really grasp,” says A.C. Thompson, former investigative ace for both SF Weekly and the Guardian.

“There is the possibility … what we do becomes not irrelevant but nonexistent. There’s always a relevance for someone doing this kind of work and exposing crooked politicians and cult leaders and nefarious, predatory corporations – but it just ceases to exist because we haven’t found a [business] model for it.”

Read here for more.

Investigating the Future of Investigative Journalism
Part II – Journalists and Bloggers: ‘Let’s Not Throw Grenades at Each Other’
Jan. 15, 2008
By Joe Eskenazi

Cats and dogs. Charlie Brown and the kite-eating tree. Rain and the Wicked Witch of the West. Bloggers and journalists.

The disdain between professional journalists and “citizen journalists” is well-documented. They think we’re a jaded bunch of ineffectual dinosaurs unable to cope with the wave of the future. And we think they’re a derivative bunch of hacks dressing up snarkily written links to our work as actual reportage (we may or may not make reference to propeller caps and living in mom’s basement).

But the truth, says Paul Grabowicz, is that they need us. And, let’s admit it, we need them.

Read here for more.

Investigating the Future of Investigative Journalism
Part III: Who’s Going to Pay For All This?
Jan. 16, 2008
By Joe Eskenazi

When Robert Rosenthal took over the Philadelphia Inquirer 10 years ago, the paper’s profit margin was a hefty 20 percent.

And still, “the pressure on the newsroom over the next four years to increase the margin was astonishing. [Newspaper chain] Knight-Ridder made a shitload of money, and now they’re out of business.”

The Hearst Corporation, which owns the San Francisco Chronicle, has been losing a shitload of money. And, after they last year dismissed a quarter of their newsroom employees, “Rosey” resigned as managing editor to take over Berkeley’s Center for Investigative Reporting.

He maintains there is a future for investigative journalism in print media – so long as newspaper owners are OK with not making shitloads of money.

Read here for more.

It seems that this year proves to be another year full of scandals and controversies--and another opportunity for the Philippine press to prove its mettle.

Explaining the repercussions of the crucial role of an investigative and critical press amid the barrage of scandals, the PJR Reports said: "The dearth of investigative reporting and pro-active coverage that can help provide the public with complete, relevant, and comprehensive understanding of the issues weakened the coverage of political and governance issues in 2007 by letting them die the natural death that follows any media failure to keep their focus on them."

"The immediate consequence is to get erring officials off the hook, but the long term damage consists of the political class’ growing brazenness as a result of the impunity with which it has been clothed," PJR Reports wrote. "The country has hopped from one controversy to another, but what is astounding is that not only have these controversies multiplied; the actors involved have basically remained the same incorrigible lot."

New media group seeks to find truth

Thanks to Tonyo and Tita Ellen, I just learned that Vera Files is now online.

"Vera Files is published by veteran Filipino journalists taking a deeper look into current Philippine issues," according to the group's website. Vera is Latin for "true".

Journalists comprising the board of trustees and main writers of Vera Files are some of the country's best journalists, whose investigative and in-depth stories exposed various wrongdoings in the various spheres of politics, governance, business, environment and society--and even helped in the ouster of a corrupt president.

Vera Files happened at the right time: It came at a time when the country is hopping from one controversy to another. Vera Files seeks to provide deeper and relevant information to help Filipinos make sense and understand the issues and make informed decisions about them, hold officials accountable to the people, protect and promote integrity of the country's institutions, and promote democratic governance.

Most of them have won awards at the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ), with two of them (Yvonne Chua and Luz Rimban--two of my brightest teachers in college) elevated to the JVOAEJ Hall of Fame. (Since it was established in 1990, the JVOAEJ, organized by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility where I work and one of the country's most prestigious awards for journalists, has only three Hall of Famers: Ma'am Yvonne, Ma'am Luz, and Sheila Coronel, the former executive director of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism who is now the director of The Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at the Columbia University in the United States.)

Other members of the Vera Files are Chit Estella and Booma Cruz, my former bosses in PJR Reports, both of whom I also deeply admire; Jennifer Santiago; and Ellen Tordesillas who was a reactor to our last forum on media coverage of political crises.

Visit the website of Vera Files here.

Media's role in covering political crises

Recent events, including political controversies and the clash over issues of press freedom, have provoked questions about the role of the press during political crises.

To help explore these issues, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and the Embassy of Canada are inviting you to a forum on “Media Coverage of Political Crises” that will be held today (March 25), 9:30 a.m. at the Filipinas Heritage Library (Makati Avenue, Ayala Triangle, Makati City). Melinda Quintos de Jesus and Luis V. Teodoro of CMFR will be the principal speakers, while Marshall McLuhan Fellow Ellen Tordesillas and BusinessWorld Editorial Board Chair Vergel O. Santos will be the reactors.

Barack Obama's speech: "A More Perfect Union" (And isn't "perfect" an absolute adjective?)

Haven't really read colleague JB Santos's post on U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama so I think I'm going to reserve my thoughts on the issue for the meantime. Just saw from Youtube however that Obama's March 18 speech is the most viewed video this week.

Here's the clip:



Here's a copy of his speech.

--------------

Just want to add that there were some discussions regarding the use of comparison in "absolute" adjectives such as "perfect" or "unique". Here and here are just two of the many links regarding the issue. However, I agree on the discussion here that "more perfect" is correct. Also saw a post from Daily Writing Tips basically echoing similar points, but can't find the link. Sorry.

Writing compelling stories and new multimedia approaches in journalism

Finally. After more than a two-week hiatus and while taking my 15-minute break from transcribing an interview for a story for the April issue of the PJR Reports, I am back blogging again. I was planning to do a post something about Lent, but I got drained from trying to master singing the Pasyon overnight from our family's Pabasa activity. I guess knowing how to sing a song or two in the karaoke machine does not mean you can also be Pabasa's next singing sensation.

Anyway, Poynter Online--that informative resource tool for journalists--shares tips and suggestions from some of the best journalists in the United States on how to write compelling and outstanding stories.

Nieman Narrations: Tips and Tales from Top Storytellers

Anne Hull, Dana Priest and others provide insider accounts. Plus: Roy Clark reports on the Benton blogging curve and Mallary Tenore blogs the conference.

By Bill Kirtz (more by author)
Professor, Northeastern University
Source: Poynter Online

Details. Details. Details. Top writers and editors last weekend called them the engine that drives every compelling story.

Their comments came at the Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism in Boston, March 14-16. Speakers offered tips on dramatizing investigations, doing narrative on deadline, identifying writing flaws and enhancing stories with multimedia.

Read more here.

Aside from talking about the importance of detail in writing wonderful narrative stories and using the right verbs, quote and attribution, Kirtz also discussed the pros and cons of multimedia storytelling. New York Times multimedia editor Andrew DeVigal, according to Kirtz, called new media as just a platform. "Story and story-telling hasn't changed," DeVigal said.

Talking about journalism in the age of new media, here's an article I wrote last year based on veteran journalist Sheila Coronel's presentation about new multimedia approaches in doing in-depth and investigative journalism.

Where three -or more- is not a crowd
A New Way of Reporting the News
by Hector Bryant L. Macale
Source: PJR Reports August 2007 issue

Faced by dwindling revenues and staff downsizing, should news organizations—the traditional gatekeepers of the news—be afraid of a world where blogs and citizen journalism have become increasingly important?

The future of journalism remains hotly debated among members of the press. Yet, news organizations may yet learn a thing or two from the new trends and techniques in which the news is being researched, reported, and presented.

“It’s a revolutionary moment in journalism. There is room for all kinds of experimentation now,” said journalist Sheila Coronel during her presentation on new trends in investigative reporting before a group of journalists last July 13. It was Coronel’s first visit to Manila since she assumed the post of inaugural director of The Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at the Columbia University in the United States last year.

The first and one of only three Hall of Famers of the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism, Coronel is a co-founder of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism where she served as executive director for 16 years.

“The business models that supported journalism for the longest time, especially print journalism—which are circu-lation and advertising that allowed newspapers to get revenues—are slowly crumbling and possibly collapsing,” Coronel said, adding, “Many newspapers are losing their circulation.”

Moving to new media

The changes not only affect the print medium but the broadcast medium as well. If the average newspaper reader in the US is 50 years old, Coronel said, the average viewer, say of global TV news giant CNN, is 60 years old.

“The audience for the so-called mainstream media is dimi-nishing,” she said, adding, “That is why the revenues that have sustained mainstream media operations for so long are slowly moving to new media.”

As consumers leave the traditional forms of media, advertisers follow them to the online medium where user-generated content is king. The power to act as information’s gatekeeper is devolving increasingly to the audience. No longer the monopoly of news managers and editors, new journalism involves greater participation among consumers in any aspect—research, writing, and distribution, according to Coronel.

“We don’t exactly know where things are going,” she said, adding that the source of news and information is currently shaped by both the press and the consumers every second.

The idea of who the journalist is is also increasingly being contested. The audience now is not just a consumer of news “but also a producer of stories.”

Read more here.

Let's have an eye on ethics

If you're a journalist and you haven't added the Eye on Ethics blog, then I strongly suggest you do. Now.

The Eye on Ethics: Asia Media Forum blog, is a joint project of the Asia Media Forum and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) to generate discussion on the unique ethical issues that confront journalism in Asia. The blog, the first to focus on journalism ethics in the region, reports and comments on developments in journalism in Asia that touch on those ethical issues and questions that often arise in the course of reporting, interpretation, and comment.

The blog, launched only this January, is edited by CMFR deputy director and PJR Reports editor Luis Teodoro. CMFR staffwriter and PJR Reports reporter, Don Gil K. Carreon, is the coordinator of the site. Comments and suggestions are welcome at staff@cmfr-phil.org. Already, there was one who wrote to CMFR asking to put the code of ethics of an advertising body in the site.

Recent posts included the problem of Malaysian journalists in working in an enviroment pressured by the government to toe the official line, the issue concerning a government-initiated code of ethics in Bangladesh, and questions regarding professional relationship with sources, following police insinuations that a soldier involved in the Manila Peninsula incident escaped with the help of a reporter, with whom the former has a romantic relationship.

By the way, former CMFR intern Tat created a beautiful web advertisement for the Eye on Ethics. Here's her web ad:



Click here to see the full ad. She also made a web teaser:



Since the teaser is a GIF image, I suggest you come to Tat's blog to see it fully.

Speaking of Don, our resident Mr. Love is also the project coordinator for CMFR's latest publication, Libel as Politics. The book, launched during the international conference on press freedom and impunity two weeks ago, examines libel from the perspective of law, history, politics, and press practice. The volume provides an insight why defamation remains a crime in the Philippines despite constitutional provisions guaranteeing press freedom and expression.

Libel as Politics
Source: CMFR



The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has released Libel as Politics, a publication that examines libel from the perspective of law, history, politics, and press practice. The volume provides an insight why defamation remains a crime in the Philippines despite constitutional provisions guaranteeing press freedom and expression.

Efforts to decriminalize libel have not prospered as politicians often use it as an effective harassment tool against journalists who subject them to unflattering reports. In 2007, broadcaster Alex Adonis was imprisoned for libel filed by Davao Rep. Prospero Nograles. Ironically, Nograles filed a bill for the decriminalization of libel last November.

Read more here.

Self-love photos

If you're a speaker, participant, or somebody who's interested in the discussions and presentations made during the international conference on press freedom and impunity organized by the Southeast Asian Press Alliance and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), copies of available speeches and presentations as well as the conference program and photos are now available at the CMFR site.

Legal experts, journalists, press freedom and human rights advocates attend international conference on press freedom and impunity in Manila
Source: CMFR

Just three months after scores of journalists and media practitioners were arrested after covering the Manila Peninsula siege, over a hundred legal experts, judges, journalists, press freedom and human rights advocates from all over the world along with some local government officials gathered at the same site, this time to address a problem that has besieged the Philippines: journalist killings.

The "Impunity and Press Freedom" conference, held on Feb. 27 to 29, was organized by the Southeast Asian Press and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility with support from the Open Society Institute and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Click here for more.

Below are some photos we took during the international conference on press freedom and impunity in Makati City. Actually, photos we took of ourselves. Haha. Sorry. We're saving the rest of the photos of the conference and participants for the March 2008 issue of the PJR Reports.

CMFR staff



Taking a peek



With Indonesian lawyer Anggara and Cambodian human rights advocate Virak



With Anggara



With 2000 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts Atmakasumah Astraatmadja, JB (who's planning to move to another blog), Atty. Nena Santos and another lawyer



The staff at Ilustrados in Manila



Since the conference ended on Feb. 29, the staff decided to attend and cover the Makati rally that day.



Forgive our tired looks below. Actually after the conference, I didn't eat lunch because I rushed back to my room to fix some documents needed that day and scrambled my way back to the office. And off I went to the rally. My dinner that day was actually a lunch and dinner plus midnight snack.

A Tangled Web of Corruption and Greed

What's the connection between the NBN-ZTE deal and the international dispute over Spratlys? Why is the NBN-ZTE scandal connected with previous controversial deals such as the North Rail and South Rail projects?

Watch Ricky Carandang's report on the issue below. Hats off to him and The Correspondents for explaining the larger picture. Clips courtesy of Youtube user malfoyprincess.









In his blog, Carandang explains his report further. Treason, he writes.

Malaya columnist Ellen Tordesillas discusses why the joint seismic study agreement between the Philippines and China covers an area that laps the western shores of Philippines. "Sold: 24,000 sq. km. of Philippine territory," she writes. Here's another report on the issue from ABS-CBNNews.com and Newsbreak.

How much more can the Filipinos take?

This administration must not get away with this issue this time. If it does--the way it was able to do so in the past scandals since the "Hello, Garci" scandal--not only do erring officials get away again with their acts of wrongdoing. Worse, as a long-term damage, we allow the growing brazenness of the political class to commit corruption, undermine public and private institutions, escape prosecution, and continue to reign in this sorry land of ours.

Not in our name. Not in the name of our ancestors and heroes. Not in the name of our children and the future Filipinos to come.

Alert for Help

Got this from text.

"Juan Escandor, Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent in Bicol, and his three kids, are being pursued and harassed by the Army's 31st IB of 9th ID after his ex-wife, who had left the underground, escaped a hunt last Feb. 10. Please appeal to the Armed Forces of the Philippines not to hurt Escandor and his three kids."

Increasing the pressure

What a week that was.

First there was the international conference on press freedom and impunity by the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) that kept me busy for the last few weeks.

Here's a report on the outcome of the event by Philippine Daily Inquirer reporter and conference participant Ryan Rosauro:

New campaign vs press killings launched
By Ryan Rosauro
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Journalists, lawyers, and human rights advocates have joined hands in pushing for bolder measures to fight the culture of impunity that has allowed the ballooning number of journalists killed in the line of duty and made a mockery of press freedom and democracy in the country.

The campaign was launched at the end of a three-day international conference on "Impunity and Press Freedom" at The Peninsula Manila on Friday that brought together legal experts and press freedom advocates from Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Journalists, prosecutors, judges, and human rights advocates from such countries as Colombia, Guatemala, Argentina, Spain, the United States, Indonesia, and the rest of Southeast Asia shared their experiences to help find solutions to the unabated and unsolved killings of "truth bearers" in the Philippines.

Read more here.

For more details of the conference, click here and here. I know there are a number of reports about the conference that are available as well, but I'm pretty swamped with emails and news alerts right now so I guess I have to post them sometime later.

And of course, there was last Friday's Makati rally. Manolo Quezon gives a comprehensive post of what happened, as well as links to other news, reactions, analyses, photos, and videos on the rally. Most of the CMFR staff were in the rally. I'll try posting some photos when I get back to the office.

Being a media reporter that I am, I am interested on how media organizations covered the rally. Malaya reporter Anthony Ian Cruz gives us a clue of the coverage.

Ricky Carandang, meanwhile, has this excellent entry on the $8-billion loan by the Chinese government to the Philippines and its grave, grave implications.

I guess not being online for almost a week has dire consequences for me. Lots of catching up to do.

International conference on Press Freedom and Impunity: Finding solutions to unabated and unsolved journalist killings in the Philippines

It's already past 3 am and I just finished doing and tweaking some presentation slides for today's international conference on press freedom and impunity by the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR).

In case you do not know about this conference, here's the news release about it below:

Legal experts, press freedom advocates flying in from Asia, US, Europe, and
Latin America to address the killing of journalists in the Philippines
Source: CMFR

MANILA - Legal experts and press freedom advocates from Asia, Europe, the US, and from as far as Latin America are flying into Manila this week to help find solutions to a long-festering crisis in the Philippines: the unabated and unsolved killing of journalists throughout the country.

Prosecutors, judges, human rights advocates and even high-level justices from such countries as Colombia, Guatemala, Argentina, Spain, the US, Indonesia, and the rest of Southeast Asia, are expected to meet with Philippine media, rights advocates, and members of the national legal community to address the topic of and to attend a conference on "Impunity and Press Freedom" in the Philippines from Wednesday, February 27 to Friday, February 29.

Welcoming the foreign experts, said the Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) and its Manila-based member, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), will be no less then Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, who will deliver the opening keynote address to the conference.

Click here for more.

So we're now here staying at the Manila Pen (Yes, the Manila Pen where the infamous siege happened) until Saturday. I'm sharing the room with JB, who is currently snoring at the moment but wakes up from time to time to check if I'm already finished with work.

I was thinking of live-twittering the event, but I just realized that I won't be able to do that because I'm going to be busy not just documenting the event and interviewing speakers and participants but also making sure everything in the conference works well. So help me God.

Damaged Institutions--and a Weakened Press?

Randy David writes an insightful piece on the current national crisis. The issue is not just about the rampant corruption in the government, he writes, but the long-term damage to the country's institutions--especially under Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's watch.

"Bonfire of institutions"
Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer


Because it is easier to imagine it, corruption has taken center stage in the public’s appreciation of the current national crisis. Against the backdrop of mass poverty, the quantities are truly mind-boggling: $130 million in kickbacks for a government project worth $329 million, a bribe offer of P200 million for a single signature, cash gifts of half a million pesos each for politicians who attend a breakfast or lunch meeting with a President facing impeachment, half a million pesos in pocket money for a government functionary who flies to Hong Kong in order to evade a Senate inquiry, and many more. But it would be a mistake to think this is just about corruption. This is, more importantly, about the long-term damage to a nation’s social institutions.

Read more here.


Speaking of David, he also offered his views why despite the fact that there were so many scandals hounding this administration last year, there were too few investigative reports from the press. This dearth of investigative reports amid a barrage of political scandals last year was the main story in the January 2008 issue of the PJR Reports.


Despite another year of scandals
A Lean Harvest of Investigative Reports
by Hector Bryant L. Macale, Don Gil K. Carreon, Junnette B. Galagala, Melanie Y. Pinlac and Kathryn Roja G. Raymundo
Source: PJR Reports

The central role of a free press in any society hardly needs elaboration. A free press provides the sovereign citizens of a democratic society the information they need to make decisions on public issues, to demand transparency and honesty in governance, and to hold their elected officials to account. In democratizing societies, the information a free press provides is often the crucial factor that makes the transition possible. Authoritarian regimes fear a free press for these same reasons. But by providing citizens information vital to their concerns, a free press can also hasten the fall of dictatorships and the dawn of democratic governance.

Recent events in the Philippines have again and again validated the vital role a free press plays in public affairs, and demonstrated as well the need for press freedom in any society. During the Marcos dictatorship the emergence of a press that dared challenge the martial law version of events was a major factor in the EDSA 1 citizens’ uprising that overthrew the regime. The critical and free press played a pivotal part during the Estrada presidency, when investigative reporting on the anomalies involving former President Joseph Estrada helped make his impeachment in 2000 possible. Estrada’s successor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has also had to contend with press reporting and criticism of corruption and bad government. She faced the possibility of being removed from office, and in fact entertained the idea of resigning, in the wake of the public outrage that followed the critical reports of 2005 and early 2006 on the “Hello, Garci” election scandal.

Since Arroyo’s infamous “I won’t run in 2004” pledge that she made in 2002, her reneging on that pledge in 2003, the fraud-ridden 2004 elections, Arroyo’s “lapse in judgment” apology in June 2005 over her calls to former Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano while the votes were being counted, and the first failed impeachment attempt against her in August that same year, the country has been reeling from one scandal to another. The year 2007 indeed proved to be another showcase of controversies and scandals, with most of them implicating Arroyo and other high government officials in various acts of wrongdoing.

The press was not remiss in covering the details of these scandals and controversies as it went about its daily task of reporting on governance and politics and other public issues. Through in-depth and background reports, as well as editorials and other opinion pieces, the press also provided background information and analyses in furtherance of helping the public arrive at informed opinions.

But a more careful look at the coverage of last year’s political issues and controversies reveals a lean harvest of the kind of investigative reports that were so crucial in shaping public opinion and even moving citizens to action during the Estrada impeachment crisis and the “Hello, Garci” scandal of 2005 and 2006.

Read more here.

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