Just when you thought you've already heard the lowest writing pay rates ever

Yesterday, I was discussing with colleagues Edsel and Kathryn the current freelance rates of some local news websites. One site offers such a low rate that it's almost a sin to post it here.

This item just as well broke my heart.

“The Words ‘a’, ‘and’, And ‘the’ Are Not Included In The Rate”
By Hamilton Nolan
Source: Gawker.com
June 20, 2009 at 4:35 AM

"Journalism. It is not a lucrative profession. Maybe you could be a freelancer though? Easy gigs. Airline magazines! Travel pieces!"

Read the tragicomic ending here.

The best Philippine investigative and explanatory reports of 2008

The country's best investigative and explanatory reports published last year will be recognized this coming June 25 by the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ), one of the most prestigious journalism awards in the Philippines. (Disclosure: I work for the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility/CMFR which administers the awards.)

Last June 11, CMFR announced this year's JVOAEJ finalists. This is the 20th year of JVOAEJ.

‘Political killings not official but an intended policy’
By Nikko Dizon, Jocelyn R. Uy and Leila B. Salaverria
Editor: Fernando del Mundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
May 9-12, 2008

Guns with silencers are not usually issued to soldiers. So when a Scout Ranger officer got one, he knew what it was for.

'The procurement of this kind of firearms is just for special ops,' he says of clandestine operations that critics of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration claim to have resulted in hundreds of extrajudicial executions.

The officer, who requested anonymity for obvious reasons, says his unit received the guns three years ago, along with an “order of battle” listing the names of state enemies for “neutralization.”

US Subprime crisis: Why we should worry
By Des Ferriols
The Philippine Star
October 11-14, 2008

Someone in Wyoming is having a hard time paying for the house he bought years ago, so much so that last year, some bank took it from him.

Suddenly, that faceless man’s personal crisis is bringing down giants most people here have not heard about – Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Before we know it, the spiraling crisis is scuttling across the Atlantic and crawling up our shores from Ground Zero thousands of kilometers away.

The question is this: how did that man’s problem end up being our problem too? If the US government is already bailing out its financial system, why do we still have a problem?

A policy of betrayal
By Miriam Grace Go
abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak
Published in The Philippine Star on March 15-17, 2008

Since coming to power in 2001, the Arroyo administration has committed a series of acts geared toward compromising Philippine territorial interests in favor of China.

This was made possible through the agreement for joint marine seismic undertaking (JMSU) that the Philippines signed with China through their national oil corporations on Sept. 1, 2004. (Vietnam was an afterthought. It protested, and was therefore accommodated through a tripartite JMSU pact signed on March 14, 2005.)

Our investigation shows that in exchange for conceding territorial waters, the Arroyo administration, in the last seven years, agreed to receive padded loans from China. Critics say this is a betrayal of public trust.

Aid inflow sparks scandals for GMA, debt woes for RP
By Roel Landingin
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Published in The Philippine Star on February 11-13, 2008

Foreign aid inflows to the Philippines are soaring to their highest levels in about six years, but the availability of more money for government projects has not made life any easier for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Filipino taxpayers.

Indeed, the latest controversy to rock her seven-year reign stems from the sharp surge in official development assistance (ODA) from China, an emerging economic behemoth, and the Philippines’s growing inability to impose its procurement policies and procedures on ODA projects.

A six-month study of project documents by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) also showed that seven of 10 projects reviewed fall short of economic benefits promised, even after completion and roll-out.

Squatters and the city
By Cherry Ann T. Lim and Rene H. Martel
Editor: Cherry Ann T. Lim
Sun.Star Cebu August 11-14, 2008

The many faces of bribery
By Aries Rufo
abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak
Published in The Philippine Star on September 11-13, 2008

Every Christmas season, a controversial taipan plays Santa to a number of justices in the Court of Appeals. With the help of two retired CA justices, he would distribute gift checks to the magistrates who would graciously accept the harmless offering. Or so it seems.

It would have been a simple act of generosity were it not for the fact that the taipan has a string of pending cases in various courts. He knows how to cultivate goodwill to ensure that his business thrives.

Quedancor swine program another fertilizer scam
By VERA Files
Published in BusinessMirror on September 2 and 4, 2008, Malaya and The Manila Times on September 1-3, 2008 and Philippines Graphic on September 15, 22 and 29, 2008

Aura Dew Escanlar was all set to take the nursing board examinations that December of 2004 when she decided instead to put up a piggery.

What changed her mind was an offer from the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor). Called “the poor man’s financing institution,” the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) credit guarantee arm was giving out loans in the form of piglets and feeds, with a buy-back scheme that assured borrowers some income.

Escanlar then used her parents’ savings to build pigpens and buy piglets, and signed up for the Quedancor Swine Program (QSP). Less than a year later, Escanlar lost almost everything. The income from the buy-back scheme was always delayed, and the feeds came late or were not delivered at all. After 50 of her piglets died, Escanlar stormed the Quedancor regional office here. “You have turned my farm into a graveyard,” she told Quedancor employees.

Less than 10 people in plot; 5 core, 5 others 'in the know'
By Fe Zamora
Philippine Daily Inquirer August 21-27, 2008

An hour after former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. was shot dead on Aug. 21, 1983, a military agent verbally reported to his unit commander his assignment of monitoring the tarmac of the Manila International Airport.

After listening to the report, the commander said: “O, who was there?” The agent replied: “Si Colonel Abadilla po, sir.”

The unit commander did not ask further questions. He knew Rolando Abadilla, chief of the Metropolitan Command (Metrocom) Intelligence and Security Group of the then Philippine Constabulary (now the Philippine National Police). They had coordinated with each other on several operations. They understood the culture of their job. An officer does not show up in any place if he had no business being there. In their kind of work, there were no coincidences.

"To focus attention and encourage reporting on the urgent issues of human rights, the environment, and governance and corruption, the JVOAEJ awards this year still scanned both investigative and explanatory articles on these three topics, but added a fourth theme, the economic and financial crisis," CMFR said in its announcement.

This will be the thirteenth year that the Canadian Embassy will award the Marshall McLuhan Prize, a travel study tour of Canada to one of the winners.

CMFR will hold the awards and the Jaime V. Ongpin Journalism Seminar on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at the SGV Hall, 3/F AIM Conference Center Manila (Benavidez cor. Trasierra Sts., Legaspi Village, Makati City). The seminar will be held at 9:30 AM. The awards ceremony will follow at 11:30 a.m.

The first JVOAEJ were given in 1990 to honor the late Jaime V. Ongpin, who was secretary of finance during the Aquino administration and press freedom advocate. For more information about this year's JVOAEJ, please click here. For additional information, please click here.

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On a personal note, this is my first post after a long blog hiatus (again). I hope the change in the layout and the need to update the links (I'm still not finished copying here the links from the old template, sorry) will persuade me to blog more often.

Resume peace talks with rebel groups and stop the killing of activists and journalists, European Parliament urges Philippine government

The Philippine government should resume peace talks with rebel groups to address the massive bloodshed and displacement of civilians in the country, according to the European Parliament (EP) in a resolution last March 12. It also expressed grave concern at the rampant cases of extrajudicial killings of activists and journalists, and "the role that the security forces have played in orchestrating and perpetrating those murders."

The EP added that it wants to ensure that the European Union's financial assistance towards economic development in the Philippines is "accompanied by scrutiny of possible violations of economic, social and cultural rights, with special attention being paid to encouraging dialogue and inclusion of all groups in society."

For more information about EP, click here.


European Parliament resolution of 12 March 2009 on the Philippines

The European Parliament ,

– having regard to the Declaration of 15 September 2008 by the Presidency on behalf of the EU on the situation in Mindanao,

– having regard to the appeal issued by the Ambassadors of the European Union and the United States of America and the Australian Embassy's deputy head of mission on 29 January 2009,

– having regard to the third session of the Tripartite Review of the implementation of the 1996 Peace Agreement between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) from 11 to 13 March 2009,

– having regard to the Hague Joint Declaration by the GRP and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) of 1 September 1992 and the First and Second Oslo Joint Statements of 14 February and of 3 April 2004,

– having regard to the Commission's Country Strategy Paper 2007-2013 for the Philippines, the programme of support to the Peace Process under the Stability Instrument and the negotiations for a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the Philippines,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on the Philippines, notably that of 26 April 2007(1) , and reaffirming its support for the peace negotiations between the GRP and NDFP as expressed in its resolutions of 17 July 1997(2) and 14 January 1999(3) ,

– having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas several armed groups, notably the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), have been combating government troops in the southern part of the Philippines since 1969, in one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies,

B. whereas the conflict between the GRP and the insurgents of the NDFP has claimed more than 40 000 lives and sporadic violence has continued despite the 2003 ceasefire and peace talks,

C. whereas hostilities between government forces and the MILF in Mindanao resumed in August 2008 after the Supreme Court of the Philippines declared unconstitutional the Memorandum of Agreement between the MILF and the GRP on the Ancestral Domain, which would have given substantial autonomy to the Bangsamoro nation,

D. whereas the renewed fighting has killed over one hundred and displaced approximately 300 000 people, many of whom are still in evacuation centres,

E. whereas Malaysia, the peace facilitator, withdrew its ceasefire monitors from Mindanao in April 2008 due to the lack of progress in the peace process, but is willing to reconsider its role if the GRP clarifies its negotiating position,

F. whereas peace talks between the GRP and the NDFP have stalled since 2004 and whereas the Norwegian Government has made great efforts to encourage both sides to resume formal talks,

G. whereas hundreds of activists, trade unionists, journalists and religious leaders in the Philippines have been killed or abducted since 2001 and the GRP denies any involvement of the security forces and the army in these political killings, despite ample evidence to the contrary,

H. whereas there were several cases in 2008 in which local courts found the arrest and detention of activists to be unlawful and ordered their release, but where those same people were subsequently rearrested and charged with rebellion or murder,

I. whereas the judiciary in the Philippines is not independent, while lawyers and judges are also subject to harassment and killings; whereas witness vulnerability makes it impossible to effectively investigate criminal offences and prosecute those responsible for them,

J. whereas, in the case of most of these extrajudicial killings, no formal criminal investigation has been opened and the perpetrators remain unpunished despite many government claims that it has adopted measures to stop the killings and bring their perpetrators to justice,

K. whereas in April 2008 the UN Human Rights Council examined the situation in the Philippines and stressed the impunity of those responsible for extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, but the GRP rejected recommendations for a follow-up report,

L. whereas in order to put an end to abductions and extrajudicial killings it is necessary to address the economic, social and cultural root causes of violence in the Philippines,

1. Expresses its grave concern about the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people in Mindanao, calls on the GRP and the MILF to do all in their power to bring about a situation which allows people to return home, and calls for enhanced national and international action to protect and to work towards the rehabilitation of the displaced persons;

2. Believes strongly that the conflict can only be resolved through dialogue, and that the resolution of this long-standing insurgency is essential for the sake of the overall development of the Philippines;

3. Calls on the GRP to urgently resume peace negotiations with the MILF and to clarify the status and future of the Memorandum of Agreement after the above-mentioned Supreme Court ruling; welcomes the GRP's announcement that it intends to drop preconditions for the resumption of talks;

4. Welcomes the talks, facilitated by Norway, between the GRP and the NDFP in Oslo in November 2008 and hopes, in this case also, that formal negotiations can rapidly resume; calls on the parties to comply with their bilateral agreements for the JMC, to meet in accordance with the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and to allow joint investigations of human rights violations;

5. Calls on the Council and the Commission to provide and facilitate support and assistance to the parties in implementing the CARHRIHL, notably through development, relief and rehabilitation programmes;

6. Calls on the European Council and the Commission to support the GRP in its efforts to advance the peace negotiations, including by means of facilitation if requested, as well as through support for the International Monitoring Team responsible for overseeing the ceasefire between the military and the MILF;

7. Suggests that the role of the International Monitoring Team could be enhanced through a stronger mandate for investigations and through an agreed policy of making its findings public;

8. Calls on the GRP to increase development aid to Mindanao in order to improve the desperate living conditions of the local population and welcomes the financial support of more than EUR 13 million in food and non-food aid which the EU has given to Mindanao since fighting restarted in August 2008;

9. Expresses its grave concern at the hundreds of cases of extrajudicial killings of political activists and journalists that have occurred in recent years in the Philippines, and the role that the security forces have played in orchestrating and perpetrating those murders;

10. Calls on the GRP to investigate cases of extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances; calls at the same time on the GRP to put into place an independent monitoring mechanism to oversee the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of such acts;

11. Calls on the GRP to adopt measures to end the systematic intimidation and harassment of political and human rights activists, members of civil society, journalists and witnesses in criminal prosecutions, and to ensure truly effective witness protection;

12. Reiterates its request to the Philippine authorities to allow the UN special bodies dealing with human rights protection unrestricted access to the country; urges, also, the authorities to swiftly adopt and implement laws to incorporate the international human rights instruments (e.g. against torture and enforced disappearances) which have been ratified into national law;

13. Calls on the Council and the Commission to ensure that the EU's financial assistance towards economic development in the Philippines is accompanied by scrutiny of possible violations of economic, social and cultural rights, with special attention being paid to encouraging dialogue and inclusion of all groups in society;

14. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the President and Government of the Republic of the Philippines, the MILF, the NDFP, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the governments of the ASEAN Member States.

(1)	OJ C 74 E, 20.3.2008, p. 788.
(2)	OJ C 286, 22.9.1997, p. 245.
(3)	OJ C 104, 14.4.1999, p. 116.

The Philippines: most dangerous place in Asia for journalists

The Committee to Protection of Journalists (CPJ) and Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ) cordially invite everyone to the launch of CPJ’s 2009 Global Impunity Index in Manila on March 23, 2009.

There will be a presentation of CPJ’s findings in its global analysis of unsolved journalists’ murders over the last 10 years, a briefing on the case of Filipino journalist Marlene Garcia Esperat to mark the four-year anniversary of her killing, and a discussion of impunity in the attacks against the media in the Philippines.

The Philippines is the most dangerous place in Asia to work as a journalist, according to CPJ research. There have been 78 Filipino journalists/media practitioners killed in line of duty since 1986, according to the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, which is a member of the FFFJ and acts as its secretariat.

Speakers include:
Jose Pavia, Chair, FFFJ
Elisabeth Witchel, Impunity Campaign and Journalist Assistance Program Coordinator, CPJ
Shawn Crispin, Senior Representative for Southeast Asia, CPJ
Prima Jesusa Quinsayas, legal counsel, FFFJ

Date: March 23, 2009, Monday
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Paul Room, Annabel's restaurant,
194 Tomas Morato Avenue corner Scout Delgado,Quezon City

Presentation will be followed by lunch.

Please RSVP:

Lara / Carol
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
2/F, 130 H.V. dela Costa St.,
Salcedo Village, Makati City
Telephone: (+632) 894-1314 / (+632) 894-1326 /
(+632) 840-0903 / (+632) 840-0889 (telefax)
E-mail: staff@cmfr-phil.org

Do you remember your first love?

Now, before I sound too nostalgic or corny--and just to take a break from the crazy world--here's a wonderful TV advertisement about the giant fast food company McDonald's (I'm not much of a McDonald's fan by the way). Got this first from ABC-5 reporter Jove Francisco who shared this uploaded video from Facebook user Lester Obice--who seems to be part of the team that created the ad--with his Facebook network. (Ooh, I hope they don't mind my posting their Facebook accounts here.)

I looked for a copy of the video on Youtube and here it is below (from Youtube user argemv):



According to Obice, here's the creative team behind the ad:

GADC : Margot Torres / Christina Lao / Mel Montemayor
Creatives : Teeny Gonzales / Argem Vinuya
Accounts : Tey San Diego / Wella Balagtas / Lester Obice
Producer : Irene Chingcuangco
Director : Stephen Ngo
Prod House : Provill / Sound Design
Caster : Enrich Munchua
Musical Work : "Ang Huling El Bimbo" by Ely Buendia

Already, the ad, released just a few days ago, has generated a lot of positive feedback online.

One positive feedback came from blogger Misteryosa, who wrote a good summary of the ad's plot:

McDonald’s New TV Ad: First Love

Basically, the story goes like this: There’s this bespectacled guy who remembers every moment of the first time he met his first love, whom I’ve codenamed pretty girl, whenever he goes to McDonald’s. Their mothers, complete with the 80’s big hairdo, were old friends and crossed paths again on that certain McDo branch. He felt that pretty girl and he had known each other a long time, having the same favorites (dipping the fries on the hot fudge sundae, which, as I side note, I have to admit I’ve been doing for a long time, hehe). So anyway, bespectacled guy fell in love with pretty girl, and this love never died.

Fast-forward to many years later, pretty girl drags him to meet her family, and you just have to see the expression on the bespectacled guy’s face to know how he feels. You know, when your steps falter and your heart suddenly takes a nosedive? It becomes a little bit hard to breathe, your palm gets sweaty, you try to smile but the ends of your mouth pulls down into a frown?

The ad ends with, “At kahit hindi rin naging kami sa huli, siya pa rin ang first love ko.” (Transliteration: And even if we didn’t end up together, she still is my first love.)....

Cute, huh? Doesn’t help that the song used is arguably one of the greatest Filipino songs of all time.

Have you noticed the pretty girl’s expression when the bespectacled guy dipped his fries into the sundae? Sort of, like, a mixture of nostalgia and a little bit of regret? Or maybe I’m putting color into how touched she seems?

Read Misteryosa's full post here.

Some have even compared this ad to another classic McDonald's commercial showing a girl named "Karen" (who became a teen celebrity after the ad became famous) and her grandfather at McDonald's. For those who cannot understand Tagalog or those too young or too old to remember, the story is about "Karen" who brings along her grandfather--who presumably has Alzheimer's disease--to a McDonald's branch. Much to Karen's dismay, her grandfather kept calling her Gina--presumably another granddaughter of his.

A few seconds later and much to Karen's surprise, her grandfather sliced his burger in half, saying: "Ito... para sa paborito kong apo, si Karen (This... is for my favorite grand child, Karen.)"

From Youtube user ADman1909:



For me, there is no need to compare which ad is better. Both ads are ingeniously created, tugging at our emotions and memories without going overboard. Like the "Karen" ad, there's no doubt that this latest one from McDonald's is going to be another classic.

Precision reporting in a time of crisis

How do the media cover the current Gaza conflict?

Below is an article that offers a view on how two main Arab news channels, Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, cover the current crisis.


Arab news channels differ over Gaza war coverage
Ali Khalil
Source: Zawya.com
Jan. 9, 2009

DUBAI, Jan 08, 2009 (AFP) - Israel's onslaught on Gaza has taken over the screens of the two main Arab news channels, Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, but each with its own perspective on objectivity and the airing of disturbing footage.

"Gaza Under Fire" is the title adopted by the Doha-based Al-Jazeera television for its round-the-clock coverage of Israel's all-out offensive.

According to Gaza medics, more than 700 Palestinians have now been killed since Israel's offensive began on December 27.

To some, the Qatari-funded channel may seem pro-Palestinian in its coverage by describing the dead as "martyrs". But its editor-in-chief, Ahmed al-Sheikh, has no apologies.

"Instead of asking why we call the dead 'martyrs,' we say stop the killing so that there would no longer be any martyrs," he told AFP, insisting the channel remains objective, allocating airtime for Israeli officials.

Read more here.

The article discusses, among others, the perspective of "objectivity" in covering the conflict, including the use of terms such as "martyrs" to refer to Palestinian victims.

But how should the press refer to Hamas: a Palestinian faction, an Islamic militant group, or a terrorist organization? Are these labels accurate or fair? Columbia Journalism Review assistant editor Katia Bachko tackles how press descriptions of Hamas shape the public's understanding of the conflict. "It’s a complicated history—which goes to underscore the inadequacy of the simplistic labels being deployed by the press during the current conflict," she explains. "Precision reporting is essential during wartime, when misinformation flows freely and all sides want to win the war for public opinion. But journalists continue to frame Hamas primarily as a terrorist organization."


War of the Words
Katia Bachko
Source: Columbia Journalism Review
Jan. 8, 2009

As the extent of physical damage and human suffering in Gaza comes into sharper focus, one aspect of the current conflict remains frustratingly unclear. Who or what is Hamas, exactly?

Definitions vary depending on which news outlet you consult. Al Jazeera English calls Hamas “the Palestinian faction that controls the Gaza Strip,” while the New York Post refers to “the Islamic militant group Hamas.” The New York Times sometimes calls Hamas “the militant Palestinian group” and sometimes adds a little more context with “Hamas, the Islamist militant group that governs Gaza.”

Read more here.

Alba: An emerging alternative to neoliberal economics

Amid the current financial crisis gripping worldwide today, is it enough to "redesign" the neoliberal economic and financial system?

Noted development studies and political economy professor and 2008 University of the Philippines Centennial Professorial Chair Awardee Roland Simbulan writes about an alternative to neoliberal economics. "It symbolizes the new solidarity and internationalism that draws inspiration from the integration of initiatives from popular organizations and progressive states," he explains in a Philippine Daily Inquirer commentary last Jan. 5.


Commentary
Emerging alternative to neoliberalism

Roland G. Simbulan
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
Jan. 5, 2009

THE crisis of neoliberal economic theory and practice is only proving that an economic and financial system based on the logic of deregulated profit maximization cannot go on. But is it just enough to reform or “redesign” neoliberal capitalism? Those who think that it can be saved by mere bailouts of big business failures by governments will be disappointed.

As the world reels from the crisis of neoliberal capitalism, an exciting process is happening in Latin America led by Venezuela and Cuba. It is a process that is emerging as an alternative to profit-oriented neoliberal economics and a foreign policy subservient to the United States, the IMF-World Bank and the World Trade Organization. It symbolizes the new solidarity and internationalism that draws inspiration from the integration of initiatives from popular organizations and progressive states.

In Latin America, taking concrete shape right in the backyard of the US Empire, there has emerged the Bolivarian Alternative to the Americas (Alba), which is an alternative form of regional integration that is not based on trade liberalization. If not on US-sponsored free trade agreements, what is it based on then? It is based on the vision and idea of social welfare and equity, advocating a socially oriented trade bloc. It is a regional solidarity whose purpose is to eradicate the poverty of the most dispossessed sectors of society. Its linchpin is to allow the economically weakest countries to gain more favorable terms in trade negotiations, thereby undercutting the prerogatives of profit-driven transnational corporations. But it is more than a new and alternative trade agreement.

Read here for more.

Here are some online materials about Alba:


ALBA Venezuela’s answer to “free trade”: the Bolivarian alternative for the Americas
Source: Focus on the Global South

The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) represents the first attempt at regional integration that is not based primarily on trade liberalization but on a new vision of social welfare and equity. Alternatives are often either theoretical to the point of impracticality, or so micro that scaling up presents huge challenges; ALBA is both large-scale and, to an increasing degree, taking concrete shape. While many aspects of the project are still unrealized or only in the process of realization, and despite some apparent contradictions between theory and practice, ALBA is an important case study.

Read more here.


ALBA: Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the Caribbean
Teresa Arreaza
Source: Venezuelanalysis
Jan. 30, 2004

The ALBA (Alternativa Bolivariana para las Américas), as its Spanish initials indicate, is a proposed alternative to the U.S.-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA, ALCA in its Spanish initials), differing from the latter in that it advocates a socially-oriented trade block rather than one strictly based on the logic of deregulated profit maximization. ALBA appeals to the egalitarian principles of justice and equality that are innate in human beings, the well-being of the most dispossessed sectors of society, and a reinvigorated sense of solidarity toward the underdeveloped countries of the western hemisphere, so that with the required assistance, they can enter into trade negotiations on more favorable terms than has been the case under the dictates of developed countries.

By employing more effective mechanisms to eradicate poverty, ALBA—as proposed by the Venezuelan government—provides a counterweight to the policies and goals of the FTAA. This alternative model also identifies the most crucial impediments to achieve a genuine regional integration that transcends the prerogatives of the transnational corporations. One of the obstacles to confront is the deep disparity that exists in development between the countries of the hemisphere, whereby poor countries such as Haiti or Bolivia are compelled to compete with the world’s leading economic power. In order to help overcome trade disadvantages, ALBA pushes for solidarity with the economically weakest countries, with the aim of achieving a free trade area in which all of its members benefit (a win-win alliance).

Read more here.

Controversies, crises greet 2009

And so the "Alabang Boys" case continues to sizzle, and rightly so.

Since December, I have been looking at the press reports on the controversy and watching the House investigations aired over ANC.

Of course, other issues that are equally important have been continuing as well. One story is the alleged mauling incident involving the sons of Agrarian Reform Secretary and peace negotiator Nasser Pangandaman Sr.

Five days ago, journalist Caloy Conde raised an important point regarding the Pangandaman controversy and the power of blogging.


A Challenge to Bambee dela Paz and Other Bloggers
By Carlos H. Conde
January 3, 2009

Bloggers who benefited from the power of blogging to correct the injustice done to them have a duty to pay society back. And the only way I can think of is for them to raise hell, too, about the injustice done to other people.

Read more here.


The war in Gaza continues, and might even worsen. From Dec. 29 to Jan. 4, the Gaza fighting between Israel and Hamas became the top news staple in the U.S. press, accounting for 21% of the newshole, according to the weekly News Coverage Index from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.






PEJ News Coverage Index: December 29, 2008 - January 4, 2009
War in Gaza Casts Shadow over Transition
Source: Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism

A bloody new chapter in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians dramatically shifted the news agenda from domestic to foreign crises, dominating media attention in an otherwise crowded week of news.

The Gaza fighting between Israel and Hamas, which escalated from aerial warfare to fierce ground fighting, accounted for 21% of the newshole from Dec. 29-Jan. 4, according to the weekly News Coverage Index from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Other than the Iraq war, that made Gaza the second-biggest overseas story for any week during the past two years. Only the brief and one-sided conflict between Georgia and Russia, which filled 26% of the newshole from Aug. 11-17 2008, generated more coverage.

The new spasm of Mideast violence attracted significantly more coverage than the No. 2 story, the economic crisis, which filled 14% of the newshole. Although it had been widely believed that new President Barack Obama’s first priority would be working to mitigate that meltdown, last week’s events raised the possibility that the Gaza bloodshed could pose his most immediate challenge instead.

Indeed, Obama’s response to that conflict—which has thus far been muted—was the biggest theme of the Presidential transition (the week’s No. 4 story at 8% of the newshole).

Sandwiched in between was a political sideshow that presented yet another headache for the President-elect. The fallout from the scandal involving Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, which last week focused on his controversial selection of unlikely candidate Roland Burris to replace Obama in the Senate, accounted for 10% of the coverage.

It was a week in which those top four stories all generated significant media attention and accounted for more than half the overall newshole.

Click here for more. PDF copy of the report here.

Here's an article from The New York Times on the Israeli government's ban against the media entering Gaza in order to control the message and narrative in its favor.

Israel Puts Media Clamp on Gaza

By Ethan Bronner
Source: The New York Times
January 6, 2009

Like all wars, this one is partly about public relations. But unlike any war in Israel’s history, in this one the government is seeking to entirely control the message and narrative for reasons both of politics and military strategy.

Read more here.


Interesting reads: ("The Gaza crisis and the perspective of permanent revolution" and "Israeli atrocities in Gaza: a political impasse and moral collapse" from the World Socialist Web Site)

And a funny 2008 year-end review from the famous Uncle Jay. With over 6.5 million views already on Youtube and more than 1,500 comments, Uncle Jay sings the major news items in 2008 within three and a half minutes. This video has become among the most popular Youtube clips so far this year.

Hoping for change and reflection

I welcome 2009 with a new post.

I look forward to meaningful, liberating changes this year. I hope all the dark events that transpired in the past months (and years), especially on how the political elite has repeatedly raped our democracy and nation, will soon come to an end. I hope Filipinos would continue--and strengthen--their fight for truth, justice, and accountability from our government officials.

I hope 2009 would be a better year for press freedom in the Philippines and throughout the world, although under the current administration, I don't know if this is going happen. Looking at the interactive map the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has created on the killing of journalists in the Philippines, it shows that more journalists/media practitioners have been killed since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ascended to the presidency in 2001 than the combined terms of Presidents Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, and Joseph Estrada. You can click here to see the map or go to this link: http://www.cmfr-phil.org/map/index_inline.html.



The map contains the names and case profiles of the slain journalists/media practitioners, including those who were not killed in the line of duty. You can categorize the cases based on the medium, region, gender, and administration. The map, as far as I know, is the first interactive tool of such kind in the Philippines and in the region.

The map was made possible with support provided by The Asia Foundation and U.S. Agency for International Development.

In 2009, I hope the press community continues to reflect on its relevance in an age of information overload and in a period when investigative journalism are becoming less (despite the increasing complexity of our times), news organizations around the world are downsizing their staff, and revenues are diminishing.

Here's good read from the Columbia Journalism Review on the issue. The article explains journalism's current struggle for relevance and role in today's society, and argues that journalists would continue to play a very important function in an age of information overload.

Overload!
Journalism’s battle for relevance in an 
age of too much information

By Bree Nordenson
Source: Columbia Journalism Review
Feature — November / December 2008

Thus, we come to the heart of journalism’s challenge in an attention economy: in order to preserve their vital public-service function—not to mention survive—news organizations need to reevaluate their role in the information landscape and reinvent themselves to better serve their consumers. They need to raise the value of the information they present, rather than diminish it. As it stands now, they often do the opposite.

Read more here.

Other interesting reads below.


What Are Newspapers Selling?
Time to mine the depth and knowledge niche

Source: Columbia Journalism Review
Editorial — September / October 2008

By The Editors

Hired by Sam Zell to find innovative ways to market Tribune’s newspapers, and for the moment, Abrams is among the more controversial actors in the drama of American newspapers at the start of the new century. Regardless of what you think of Abrams and his ideas, there is a more fundamental question to consider: What is Abrams selling? Indeed, what are newspapers around the country selling these days?

Every few weeks, it seems, we read about another daily “transforming” itself, searching for a formula that will compel people to read it and, hopefully, go spend a lot of time on its Web site. These overhauls are often accompanied by a memo from the editor that explains how the changes are designed to help the newsroom “do more with less.”

That’s because the reality beneath the rhetoric is grim: fewer reporters, shorter stories, smaller newsholes, less institutional memory, more sections with titles like “Fun & Games” (The Sacramento Bee), and more Web features devoted to celebrities (Los Angeles Times). “Hyperlocalism,” which tends to have pride of place in these memos, has become the go-to strategy—last recourse?—for newspapers whose ambitions are rapidly contracting.

Read more here.


Pushback
Fed-up newsrooms want a voice in their future

Source: Columbia Journalism Review
Essay — November / December 2008
By Julia M. Klein

When her Contra Costa Times colleagues compared her union organizing efforts to those of Norma Rae, Sara Steffens rented the 1979 Martin Ritt film—and was disconcerted to discover that the feisty textile worker immortalized by Sally Field lost her job. “I remember thinking, ‘I hope that doesn’t mean I’m going to lose my job,’ ” Steffens said late last summer.

On June 13, editorial workers at the Bay Area News Group—East Bay, a group of nine MediaNews properties that includes the Contra Costa Times, voted to be represented by The Newspaper Guild—Communication Workers of America. It was the guild’s largest U.S. organizing win since the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel some two decades ago, according to Eric Geist, the union’s administrative director.

But victory came with a twist. Two weeks later, management announced a 13 percent reduction in the unionized workforce—and the thirty-six-year-old Steffens, an award-winning poverty and social-services reporter, was among the twenty-nine laid off.

The guild has filed an unfair-labor-practices charge with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of Steffens and two other laid-off reporters involved in the organizing drive. The company, not surprisingly, denies any wrongdoing. “The decision on the RIF [reduction in force] had nothing to do with the people—it was the positions that people held and the elimination of redundancies,” says Marshall Anstandig, a senior vice president and general counsel for MediaNews’s California News Group. Nor, says Anstandig, was Steffens specifically targeted. “Believe me, she’s not that important.”

Ouch.

Whatever the legal outcome, the Contra Costa case illustrates the rising frustration—for both labor and management—in today’s shrinking newsrooms. It also hints at the obstacles confronted by rank-and-file editorial employees fed up with cost cutting and the erosion of newspaper quality and eager for more constructive change.

Read more here.

RegretTheError.com editor Craig Silverman lists his news accuracy and corrections wishes for 2009. Some of his wishes: "Wouldn’t it be great if every news website had a regularly-updated online corrections page linked from their homepage? Wouldn’t it be great if all news sites placed corrections within the offending article?" Someone commented on his list, and interestingly wrote: "Lots of good ideas - but wouldn’t it be great if newspapers still had fully staffed copy desks?"

Thank you to all those who regularly visit my blog, even if I haven't posted for a long time. I've been very busy with work. Plus, as some of you know, I am currently an M.A. Journalism fellow at the Ateneo de Manila University. The Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism has graciously chosen me as one their "Fellowships for Emerging Leaders in Asian Newsrooms". Fellows are chosen for "their potential to contribute to the development of an independent, responsible and viable press in their communities." Click here for the full list of MA Journalism fellows for school year 2008-2009. MindaNews also wrote about the fellows here.

One of my stories, an assignment for my Advanced Reporting and Writing class under Dr. Eric Loo, was posted online, along with some works of the other students.


Beyond the veneer
Quiapo and Makati are worlds apart, but they share a few things

Interesting how two districts in the Philippine capital of Manila are so alike and yet so different. Hector Bryant Macale takes a peek, and gives a good view.

By Hector Bryant Macale
Oct. 2, 2008

MANILA -- Quiapo Church, Friday noon. Wearing a faded yellow shirt and tattered slippers, Mark tolerates the sweltering heat, unfazed by the hollering vendors or the smoke spewing from nearby jeepneys and buses. Mark is used to the chaos after working the streets for 25 years now.

“It’s Friday,” he says. “It’s a busy day for us.”

Friday is Quiapo Day when Catholics troop to the Quiapo Church to pray for miracles from the Black Nazarene. To vendors like Mark, they pray that churchgoers will notice them and buy their items.

Since early morning, Mark has been hawking his maroon handkerchiefs with Nazarene’s image. “The handkerchief is very effective. Just touch the Nazarene using this handkerchief and it will cure you of sickness,” he pitches to the devotees.

Mark is one of countless vendors around the Quiapo Church, built in 1588 by the Spanish. It’s home to the Black Nazarene, a 400-year-old life-size wooden statue of Jesus Christ. Devotees believe the statue has miraculous powers.

Every year, thousands of followers pay homage to the image during The Feast of Black Nazarene on Jan. 9. During the event’s 400th anniversary last year, close to 100,000 devotees attended the procession in Quiapo.

Read more here.

I'm ending this rather long post with a fond farewell to Bimbo, a colleague who just left CMFR to enter the newspaper industry and daily reporting beat. We will all miss you buddy. At the same time, let me welcome our newest staffwriter Aika Pascual, who in her few weeks' stay at the office has already shown us promise in work as well as in rare staff gimmicks.

Obamamania, Obamanomics

Nov. 5 front pages of the San Francisco Chronicle and The Topeka Capital-Journal courtesy of the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR). Front pages of other newspapers here.

Below is the victory speech of President-elect Barack Obama, courtesy of Tonyo Cruz.

Victory speech of President-elect Barack Obama
Source: Tonyo Cruz
Nov. 5, 2008

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled — Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of red states and blue states: We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

Read here for more.

Here's Sen. John McCain's concession speech, also from Tonyo:

Concession speech of Sen. John McCain, Republican candidate in the 2008 US presidential elections
Source: Tonyo Cruz
Nov. 5, 2008

(Cheers, applause.)

SEN. MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you, my friends. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening. (Cheers, applause.)

My friends, we have — we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama — (boos) — to congratulate him — (boos) — please — to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

Read here for more.

Below is a quick look by CJR at the analyses of several major news organizations on the economic change likely under an Obama administration.

Audit Roundup: Obamanomics
Bloomberg on what’s in store; Challenges galore, says the Times; etc.
By Ryan Chittum
Nov. 5, 2008

Bloomberg, better than the Journal, Times, or Post, looks ahead to the economic change likely under an Obama administration.

The Democratic president-elect has much more on his agenda, amounting to what may be the broadest overhaul of the U.S. economy since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Beyond job creation and big investments in public works, Obama intends to shift the tax burden back toward the wealthy, roll back a quarter-century of deregulation, extend health-care coverage to all Americans and reassess the U.S. government’s pursuit of free- trade deals.

“The changes will be far greater than many expect,” said Andrew Laperriere, managing director at International Strategy & Investment Group, a money management and research firm in Washington. “From taxes to energy to health care, it’s a pretty sweeping agenda.”

But the Journal is good in looking at the “cooler climate” Big Business is expecting from Obama.

What appears to worry business interests most is the possibility that a Democratic Congress and a Democratic White House will shift the balance of power between employers and unions back in favor of unions, after two decades or more in which unions have been in retreat.

Click here for the the full post. Hat tip to Media Channel for flagging this post. Media Channel also points readers to this insightful piece by David Hincley of the Daily News of New York City on the U.S. television coverage of the 2008 presidential elections.

Election night reveals a whole new reality in network TV coverage
By Daily News

After 18 months of unrestricted projection, speculation and analysis about how America would vote in the 2008 presidential election, TV was stuck last night with the actual information.

It did the best it could.

Read here for more.

Busy busy busy, but Frank Sinatra has a cold

What I mean is I'm so busy these days, but can't help reading--and admiring--Gay Talese's brilliant piece about the life and work of legendary American singer and actor Frank Sinatra. In less than 15,000 words and published in 1966, "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" is considered the best profile ever written of Sinatra and one of the greatest celebrity profiles ever.

Probably the most famous magazine profile ever written (according to The New York Times) and the best story Esquire has ever published (according to this extensive Wikipedia entry on the story), any journalist or writer serious about his/her craft should not miss reading this one.

This piece made me remember that I still have to read Talese's 1969 book The Kingdom and the Power, considered as his first bestseller. Too bad that despite having two copies of the book (an old one from my boss Melinda Quintos de Jesus, and a new one I bought two months ago from Powerbooks--completely forgetting that I have an old copy), I haven't gone beyond the first chapter. If only I could ask for a month-long leave to read all the unopened books I have in my dusty cabinet. (Still, I prefer having books this Christmas. You guys know who you are. Haha.)


Frank Sinatra Has a Cold
Source: Esquire
By Gay Talese
Oct. 8, 2007

"Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" ran in April 1966 and became one of the most celebrated magazine stories ever published, a pioneering example of what came to be called New Journalism -- a work of rigorously faithful fact enlivened with the kind of vivid storytelling that had previously been reserved for fiction.

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In the winter of 1965, writer Gay Talese arrived in Los Angeles with an assignment from Esquire to profile Frank Sinatra. The legendary singer was approaching fifty, under the weather, out of sorts, and unwilling to be interviewed. So Talese remained in L.A., hoping Sinatra might recover and reconsider, and he began talking to many of the people around Sinatra -- his friends, his associates, his family, his countless hangers-on -- and observing the man himself wherever he could. The result, "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold," ran in April 1966 and became one of the most celebrated magazine stories ever published, a pioneering example of what came to be called New Journalism -- a work of rigorously faithful fact enlivened with the kind of vivid storytelling that had previously been reserved for fiction. The piece conjures a deeply rich portrait of one of the era's most guarded figures and tells a larger story about entertainment, celebrity, and America itself.

---------

FRANK SINATRA, holding a glass of bourbon in one hand and a cigarette in the other, stood in a dark corner of the bar between two attractive but fading blondes who sat waiting for him to say something. But he said nothing; he had been silent during much of the evening, except now in this private club in Beverly Hills he seemed even more distant, staring out through the smoke and semidarkness into a large room beyond the bar where dozens of young couples sat huddled around small tables or twisted in the center of the floor to the clamorous clang of folk-rock music blaring from the stereo. The two blondes knew, as did Sinatra's four male friends who stood nearby, that it was a bad idea to force conversation upon him when he was in this mood of sullen silence, a mood that had hardly been uncommon during this first week of November, a month before his fiftieth birthday.

Sinatra had been working in a film that he now disliked, could not wait to finish; he was tired of all the publicity attached to his dating the twenty-year-old Mia Farrow, who was not in sight tonight; he was angry that a CBS television documentary of his life, to be shown in two weeks, was reportedly prying into his privacy, even speculating on his possible friendship with Mafia leaders; he was worried about his starring role in an hour-long NBC show entitled Sinatra -- A Man and His Music, which would require that he sing eighteen songs with a voice that at this particular moment, just a few nights before the taping was to begin, was weak and sore and uncertain. Sinatra was ill. He was the victim of an ailment so common that most people would consider it trivial. But when it gets to Sinatra it can plunge him into a state of anguish, deep depression, panic, even rage. Frank Sinatra had a cold.

Sinatra with a cold is Picasso without paint, Ferrari without fuel -- only worse. For the common cold robs Sinatra of that uninsurable jewel, his voice, cutting into the core of his confidence, and it affects not only his own psyche but also seems to cause a kind of psychosomatic nasal drip within dozens of people who work for him, drink with him, love him, depend on him for their own welfare and stability. A Sinatra with a cold can, in a small way, send vibrations through the entertainment industry and beyond as surely as a President of the United States, suddenly sick, can shake the national economy.

Read more here.

Quick quick post

News, indeed, never sleeps.

Just a few minutes ago, the U.S. House of Representatives, voting 228-205, rejects the $700-billion Wall Street bailout bill (Twitted this too). U.S. stocks down as bailout plan fails in the House.

Analysts also said that Barack Obama scored some victory points in the recent U.S. Presidential debate. With a few days left before the upcoming vice-presidential elections, Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria writes: Palin Is Ready? Please.

In local news, journalists who sued presidential spouse Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo for his mass filing of libel suits want him to testify. The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility is a signatory to the complaint.

Obama and McCain's 1st Presidential Debate

Here is the first 2008 U.S. presidential debate between Republican nominee Sen. John McCain and Democrat nominee Sen. Barack Obama. The debate focused on issues related to foreign policy and national security, including the global financial crisis. It is more than one hour and 30 minutes, so make sure you have the time and good Internet connection to watch it.



PinoyPress also reports the two candidates' views on political, economic, and social issues between U.S. and Asia.

Speaking of the financial crisis, Jon Friedman of MarketWatch criticizes the press for its "wimpy" coverage of the economic meltdown.

Media shouldn't shy away from explosive language
Commentary: Mealy-mouthed financial reporters should tell it like it is
By Jon Friedman, MarketWatch
Sept. 26, 2008

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Over the past few, stunning weeks, the reporters covering the apparent collapse of capitalism have tried mightily to be prudent and proper. In this extraordinary period, however, I'd prefer bluntness and brutal truth.

This is no time for journalists to be hedging their bets and falling back on imprecise, sugar-coated language.

The Wall Street media may want to dispel notions that they're merely trying to capitalize on a scary time and sell newspapers, increase their Web clicks and raise television ratings. Remember, journalists were skewered after the tech bubble burst in 2000. The public blamed the media for acting as cheerleaders for the fragile Internet stocks.

But these days, the media are taking their good intentions too far. They're failing to describe accurately the bloodbath (and, you bet, "bloodbath" is an acceptable word, too).

Read more here.

Journalism's raison d’être in society

Technology has allowed the rise of blogging and citizen journalism, and at the same time, helped produce the current 24/7 news cycle and multimedia journalism practice among media organizations. News gathering has become increasingly complex as well, offering challenges to journalists in covering events and issues. As citizens shift to the online medium both to consume and produce information, decreasing circulation figures and ratings have sparked fears of the demise of the media as we know it.

In these interesting times, journalists should review the values of the profession--why we are here in the first place. What is journalism's function and purpose in society? What are the obligations and responsibilities of journalists?

Citizens too have rights and responsibilities when it comes to news; rights and responsibilities which have become specially pronounced since the advent of blogging and citizen journalism.



Written by respected American journalists Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect, comprehensively discusses the essential elements that define journalism and the role of press in society. It also discusses the role of citizens in newsmaking in the Internet age.

"The Elements of Journalism delineates the core principles shared by journalists across media, even across cultures. These principles flow from the essential function news plays in people's lives," the Committee of Concerned Journalists said. A new edition, published April 2007, includes a 10th principle: the rights and responsibilities of citizens. This 10 principles flows from the "new power conveyed by technology to the citizen as a consumer and editor of their own news and information."

What are the Elements of Journalism?
From The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect
Source: Committee of Concerned Journalists

1. Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.

2. Its first loyalty is to citizens.

3. Its essence is a discipline of verification.

4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.

5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power.

6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.

7. It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.

8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.

9. Its practitioners have an obligation to exercise their personal conscience.

10. Citizens, too, have rights and responsibilities when it comes to the news.

The book's introduction, which explains how the book got started, can be read here.

Debbie Uy, a colleague and MA classmate who currently serves as readers' advocate of the Davao-based Mindanao Insider, discussed these elements in two successive column pieces. (First part here, second here).

Melinda Quintos de Jesus, executive director of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), also discussed the values Kovach and Rosenstiel discussed in the book for the April 2008 issue of the PJR Reports (which I wrote about earlier). In covering the current political crisis in the Philippines, she wrote, a review of basic principles may help clarify the role of the press. Since the CMFR site is currently undergoing some platform and design changes, I suggest you read Ma'am Melinda's piece in this cached page here.

I am also planning to write more about the elements of journalism in future posts. For now, let me just agree with Roy Peter Clark of The Poynter Institute when he said this about Kovach and Rosenstiel's book: "The most important book on the relationship of journalism and democracy published in the last fifty years."

Update on the Rolando Ureta case; Burmese junta frees U Win Tin

Freedom Watch, the institutional blog of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), has a multimedia report updating the public with the Sept. 6, 2008 hearing of the murder case against the alleged killers of broadcaster Rolando Ureta. The multimedia report is the first one CMFR made in its newly-created Youtube account.

Update on the Rolando Ureta case hearing
Source: Freedom Watch



Freedom Watch has also made a quick post on the much-awaited release of Burmese journalist U Win Tin from jail.

On the current economic crisis

The Wall Street financial crisis continues to hog headlines and airtime (good reads here and here). Even some local major news organizations have appropriately made several banner and front-page reports on the issue.

For those living under a rock in the past weeks or grappling with all those big-sounding business and financial terms related to the crisis, you might want to visit Carlos Conde's PinoyPress helpful post. You might want to read some of the links there for a quick understanding of the issue, but I recommend reading all the links he posted--just make sure you have enough time to do so. (Heck, I'm not even halfway finished in reading all the links Sir Caloy posted.)


The Attack of the Jargonites
September 19, 2008
PinoyPress
By Carlos H. Conde

As with many business or financial story, the meltdown that just happened on Wall Street is often difficult to digest, what with all the jargon and the complex methodologies used by investment and insurance companies to get to where they are now. Does anyone really know what a “derivative” is or what a “credit default swap” really means? And who the hell are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

Reading the papers and watching the news reports about the Crash of 2008 can often feel like they were written and produced by journalists who exist in a parallel world, a surreal, separate universe populated by Jargonites.

Read more here.

Hat tip to journalist Tonyo Cruz (who is this year's Best News and Media Blog in Philippine Blog Awards 2008) for linking readers to this commentary from Ian Bell of London-based The Herald: Capitalism has proven Karl Marx right again, Bell writes. In his post, Tonyo discussed the progressive, anti-imperialist view of the U.S. economic meltdown which effects reverberate throughout the rest of the world. He also linked related readings and news in other posts (here and here)

For more information about the effects of the U.S. crisis especially in the Philippines, do visit Money Smarts, the Inquirer.net blog of business editor Salve Duplito. She has blogged the issue several times (including this and this). Duplito's blog has been a very helpful information resource for Filipinos, especially the ones who are jittery--and quite understandably--on what the repercussions of the crisis.

It seems that financial and economic woes will continue to dominate media space and airtime in the next few days. But for how long? According to the U.S. based Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, a research organization that monitors U.S. media's coverage of issues, a month before the meltdown started, the economy was not a major news agenda.

The Lull before the Storm
Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism
Sept. 18, 2008

"The credit crisis hit Wall Street hard the week of September 15. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch was bought out Bank of America, and insurance giant AIG was rescued with an $85 billion bailout by the Federal Reserve. On Sept. 15, the Dow fell 504 points, the worst one-day drop since 9/11. Two days later, the market plunged another 450 points.

"While this recent financial turmoil has dominated headlines and become the focus of the presidential race, PEJ’s News Coverage Index reveals that in the month preceding these events, press attention to the U.S. economy was at a low point for the year."




Read more here. Infographic above from the same article.

I know local research think thank IBON Foundation is having a forum today on the US economic meltdown. "The global crisis will further worsen the Philippines’ own economic crisis as neoliberal reforms have further deepened its links to the US and the global economy," IBON said in a statement inviting people to attend today's forum. "However, the economy would have been less vulnerable if the domestic economy were not overly dependent on trade, foreign loans and capital, and if nationalist economic policies were in place." I was supposed to attend the event, but decided to ask another colleague instead. I hope IBON would post the proceedings online.

No to Arroyo's term extension--FSGO

A group of former senior government officials has launched an online petition calling for immediate resumption of peace talks on Mindanao, and against any possible term extension for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

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For the on-line signing of this petition, please visit: http://www.fsgo.org.ph/.

Your contact details (except the city or province you are in) and your email address will not be posted and will be kept as a confidential information by the FSGO Secretariat.
Please note that organizational signatories are also being solicited. For this, please contact me directly or send email to the FSGO secretariat at info@incitegov.org or mmibanez@incitegov.org.

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

Moves For Term Extension Will Not Die:
Filipino Citizens Should Prepare For Action

We, the organizations and individuals who have signed this statement, are citizens of this Republic alarmed by current political developments. We note that in spite of various protestations by political leaders from the administration and the opposition, the talk of a brazen attempt to extend the term of Mrs. Arroyo simply will not die.

Charter change to be initiated in Congress through a constituent assembly has seemingly been stopped in its tracks by the vocal opposition of many members of the Senate, whose two-thirds approval would logically seem necessary to convene a constituent assembly. Yet the House of Representatives, through the Speaker, and the Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments, has announced that it will be holding “public consultations” to elicit public opinion on charter change, whether for federalism, shift to a parliamentary system or such other excuse/justification as may later dawn on the proponents. Some legislators have been vocal in pushing their interpretation that “the Constitution requires only a two thirds vote of its members to propose amendments to the Constitution,” an interpretation that would make the Senators’ votes almost irrelevant in the process.

The current administration has swung violently on the matter of the conflict in Mindanao from rushing to sign the MOA on Ancestral Domain with the MILF to the abrupt cancellation of the peace talks, the dissolution of the peace panel and the attempt of Mrs. Arroyo to disown knowledge of the agreement; and now a relentless armed confrontation that is seemingly designed to goad the MILF and other groups into a combative reaction or a series of violent actions. The inevitable armed confrontations and deaths that will follow could be a ready-made platform to suspend the writ of habeas corpus or, heaven forbid, even the declaration of Martial Law. The Constitution requires only a vote of a majority of the members of Congress, voting jointly, to approve and extend Martial Law.

We declare our commitment to a just and sustainable peace in Mindanao . We will initiate and support all possible actions that will bring about an inclusive process to begin with ceasefire and return to the peace table.

We declare our united opposition (1) to any moves that exploit the Mindanao situation to extend Mrs. Arroyo’s stay in power, (2) to any attempt to amend the Constitution before 2010, (3) to any attempt to change the Constitution through a Constituent Assembly, and (4) to any step towards declaring Martial Law.

We call on all Filipinos to be vigilant, to inform themselves, to organize with like-minded fellow citizens, and to prepare to show our leaders and officials the true power of our democracy.