The State of Media Freedom in the Philippines:
"Breaking barriers to bring information to the public."
The unfortunate growth of the Covid 19 has had a significant impact on not just small businesses but also big ones, like community media.
This year, in honor of World Press Freedom Day, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) hosted a webinar on the theme: "Breaking Barriers to bring information to the Public." During the webinar, one of the guest speakers, Mrs. Amalia B. Cabusao, The Vice President and Trustee for Visayas, Mindanao Times, discusses the effects of the pandemic on the media environment as well as pre-covid issues that have plagued the community. She explained the problems that arose in newsrooms as a result of the pandemic, as well as how severely it impacted print and digital media.
Topics tackled:
The Impacts of the Pandemic on the Community Media
-The Philippine press institute conducted three consultations in November last year under its program "Carrying under the Pandemic."
-"We have to be realistic wherein the IN thing/ the new norm is that we are shifting towards digital." (Rolando Estabillo Chair Philippine Press Institute)
-Covid-19 pandemic has a devastating impact across the world.
-Community papers have been suffering for a couple of years from dwindling revenue, now gasping for breathe to be able to survive.
Problems arising in the Newsroom:
Shrinking Newsrooms
-Most newsrooms are letting off correspondents because newspapers are financially strapped to make regular employees and give them benefits.
Shrinking Paper
-newspapers have to limit their number of pages due to the increasing price of printing materials and refactor in transportation and import
prescriptions during the pandemic
Loss of Revenue
-Some local advertisements coming in from both local and national advertisers are not coming in
-Local advertisers aren't able to pay for existing ads and the difficulty of getting payment.
-No ads are coming in.
Mobility of Workers
-Most of the reporters are working from home with virtual pressers organized by the government.
-difficulty in getting stories and verifying information because of the lockdown.
The Lack of Resources for Safety
-Difficulty in their safety while covering the pandemic because they lack PPE's and the news management do not encourage coverage during ECQ or MGCQ
Joblessness
-with some newspapers closing, some reporters are now jobless.
Amelia also pointed out the pre-covid problems that have affected the country and how that has impacted the nation.
-the Newsroom was already confronted with pre-Covid problems.
-"Simply telling people they have their facts are wrong is not enough."
Flooding
-a total damage of 1.2 billion in infrastructure and 1 billion in agriculture resulting from the flooding of Magat dam last November 2020 during typhoon "Ulysses" in Villamor, Isabel.
-Tropical depression "Vicky" caused 10 hour heavy rains in the entire province of Agusan del Sur in December 2020, the worst since 2014.
Conflicts
-3 years after the liberation of Marawi, "there is no liberation to speak of. Most of us have not been allowed to return to our homes and rebuild our lives. There has been no compensation for the damages to our personal properties."
-7 alleged New People's Army were killed when the Philippine Air force FA 50 dropped bombs is Sultan Kudarat on December 25, 2020.
-Maguindanao town Mayor cheated death after unidentified perpetrators set off a roadside bomb in June 2020.
Threats to the Safety of the Journalists
-Red tagging was discussed in the previous PPI webinar on how not to ask questions when journalists were to talk about their take on their community pantry.
-RA 11479 Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 a provision that would make us more vulnerable to harassment and personal harm. They are currently signing the statement.
PPI is prepping opportunities to improve digital innovation to help struggling members.
The Philippine Press Institute is rolling out digital trends and opportunities to improve digital innovation to struggling members.
PWA(Progressive web app)
-Can be downloaded and installed without the app store
-No download delays and update downtime & accessible cross-platform interfaces
-Instant and easy access
-Cheaper to build
AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)
-a project undertaken by Twitter and Google that aims to make the web faster
-expected to generate a triple increase in daily ad revenue with a faster performance of the web.
-PPI is doing this to help community media to survive in this pandemic.
-Digitization Process, PPI can set up and create internal shared VPS hosting for its members and partners.
-Covid 19 is being used as a pretext to clamp down on media.
-Local media may be limited in scope, but their work is as important as the national media.
Without media, we will know about these events from press releases of armed forces and other government propagandists.
-Re-imagining journalism means more reaffirmation concerning strengthening the principles of journalism.
-According to JV Baylon (NAC Vice President), "Some of them are understandable fears, some are hysterical fears, and the only way to calm down people is for media to be able to do its job freely and responsibly."
The country and even the world is facing a crisis for Covid-19. Amidst the struggles, we are trying our best to get back up and heal from the ongoing pandemic. Innovation and catering to the situation are the best to do in the meantime.
Link for the whole webinar: (3) Facebook
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