Topic 1: Citizen Journalism

Everybody in the group must read the article “On the rise of citizen journalism: Power to The
People?”
Source: Pinlac, M. (2007, July 6). Power to The People? Retrieved http://cmfr-
phil.org/media-ethicsresponsibility/ ethics/power-to-the-people/
Answer the following guide questions and discuss your answers as a group:
1. What is Citizen Journalism? What are the advantages of Citizen Journalism? Cite some
examples.
2. How does the Internet change the way news is reported? Do media companies limit their
stories to their journalists only? Why/why not?
3. What are the issues of Citizen Journalism? What mechanisms do they have to prove the
accuracy of their stories?
4. Do you think making ordinary citizens news reporters on TV or online develops more
awareness on newscontent and mass media literacy?
Synthesize your answers by creating a mind map. The mind map may be drawn and written on
cartolina or Manila paper, or be done through presentation software. Discuss the answers as a
group and be sure that the reporters are ready to present the mind map to class.

EVALUTION (15 MINUTES)

• The reporter from each group present a 1 minute update about their mind map.
• Each group’s mind map will be presented next meeting in which each group will b given 2-3
minutes. During the presentation each group shall answer the pertinent questions and present
the process and content of the mind map.
• The oral presentation and mind map will be scored by the rubrics.
 Topic 2: Topic: The Use of the Internet as Tourism Support
Everybody in the group must read the following articles: “Tourism in Southern Cebu gets digital
boost from Talk ‘N Text, Internet.org”
Source: MyCebuPartners (2015, August 12). Tourism in Southern Cebu gets digital boost from
Talk ‘N Text,
Internet.org. Retrieved http://mycebu.ph/article/southern-cebu-tourism-digital-boost/Pinlac, M.
(2007, July
6). Power to The People?
Answer the following guide questions and discuss your answers as a group:
1. How did the Internet help in promoting tourism in Aloguinsan, Cebu?
2. How did it improve the lives of the local community?
3. If you could apply the Aloguinsan digital experience to your community, what local tourist
spots, culture, or practices would you promote? Why?
Synthesize your answers by creating a mind map. The mind map may be drawn and written on
cartolina or Manila paper, or be done through presentation software. Discuss the answers as a
group and be sure that the reporters are ready to present the mind map to class.

EVALUTION (15 MINUTES)

• The reporter from each group present a 1 minute update about their mind map.
• Each group’s mind map will be presented next meeting in which each group will b given 2-3
minutes. During the presentation each group shall answer the pertinent questions and present
the process and content of the mind map.
• The oral presentation and mind map will be scored by the rubrics.
 Topic 3: Topic: Phishing
Everybody in the group must read the article “Inside job? Senior citizen loses P159,000 via
unauthorized online transfer”.
Source: Inside job? Senior citizen loses P159,000 via unauthorized online transfer
Dizon, D. (2015, September 19). Inside job? Senior citizen loses P159,000 via unauthorized
online transfer.
Retrieved http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/09/18/15/inside-job-senior-citizen-loses-
p159000-unauthorized-online-transfer on 20 September 2015.
Answer the following guide questions and discuss your answers as a group:
1. How can you tell if someone is phishing on your account?
2. How did Mr. Malibiran lose his money in the bank? Narrate the incident.
3. Do you think online banking is still safe? How can you avoid becoming a victim of
phishing?
Synthesize your answers by creating a mind map. The mind map may be drawn and written on
cartolina or Manila paper, or be done through presentation software. Discuss the answers as a
group and be sure that the reporters are ready to present the mind map to class.
________________________________________________________________________

EVALUTION (15 MINUTES)

• The reporter from each group present a 1 minute update about their mind map.
• Each group’s mind map will be presented next meeting in which each group will b given 2-3
minutes. During the presentation each group shall answer the pertinent questions and present
the process and content of the mind map.
• The oral presentation and mind map will be scored by the rubrics.
 Topic 4: Topic: Human Trafficking
Everybody in the group must read the article about human trafficking
Source: Cook, A. & Heinl, C. (2014, May 3). Human trafficking in Asia going online. Retrieved
http://
www.eastasiaforum.org/2014/05/03/human-trafficking-in-asia-going-online/ on 15 September
2015.
Answer the following guide questions and discuss your answers as a group:
1. Was there progress in the fight to stop human trafficking after ASEAN signed the
Declaration Against
2. Trafficking in Persons, Particularly Women and Children?
3. What is the percentage of child victims of human trafficking in the ASEAN Region?
4. How does the Internet contribute to the increased number of human trafficking cases?
Do you think that the
5. Internet can be used as a tool to victimize people? Explain your answer.
6. Suggest at least 3 ways to help stop human trafficking.
Synthesize your answers by creating a mind map. The mind map may be drawn and written on
cartolina orManila paper, or be done through presentation software. Discuss the answers as a
group and be sure that the reporters are ready to present the mind map to class..
_________________________________________________________________________

EVALUTION (15 MINUTES)

• The reporter from each group present a 1 minute update about their mind map.
• Each group’s mind map will be presented next meeting in which each group will b given 2-3
minutes. During the presentation each group shall answer the pertinent questions and present
the process and content of the mind map.
• The oral presentation and mind map will be scored by the rubrics.
Power to The People?
Posted by: cmfr
Posted on: July 6, 2007, 1:25 pm

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On the rise of citizen journalism

Power to The People?
By Melanie Y. Pinlac
MODERN TECHNOLOGY has brought about changes in the landscape of news media. Today, another
new journalistic form is challenging the norms of traditional journalism. This new form—citizen
journalism—is challenging the notion that only trained and professional journalists can come up with
reliable news reports.
Advocates of this new form want to escape from the mainstream media’s alleged monopoly over
information and to give this power to inform to ordinary citizens. Advocates say that citizen journalism
provides the public a source of news other than the mainstream media.
In MediaShift, a weblog that tracks the effects of new digital technologies on media, editor Mark Glaser
defines citizen journalists as “people without professional journalism training (using) the tools of
modern technology and the global distribution of the Internet to create, augment, or fact-check media
on their own or in collaboration with others.”
Citizen journalism initiators also think they could thrive without the principles that serve as the
foundation of traditional news media. One of these principles, objective reporting, is something citizen
journalists could live without, they say.

A break from tradition

In an interview published in Japan Media Review (http://www.japanmediareview.com), Oh Heon-Yo,
founder of the South Korean website OhmyNews, said citizens without journalistic practice (or citizen
journalists) should not be expected to write straight, objective articles.
”We not only break the concept of ‘who reporters are’, but also… the formula of ‘reporters are
supposed to be like blah, blah, blah,’” he said. “Articles, including both facts and opinions, are
acceptable when they are good.”
Oh, a former reporter for the alternative magazine Mal, launched the pioneer citizen journalism site in
Asia, OhmyNews (http://www.ohmynews.com/) in 2000. This is in answer to the discontent that citizens
feel about conservative news media and their desire for a space where they could talk about
themselves. In his interview with Wired.com, Oh explained, “We wanted to say goodbye to 20th-century
journalism where people only saw things through the eyes of the mainstream, conservative media.”
The site started with only four reporters. Today, it has 53 staff members and approximately 38,000
citizen reporters. These citizen reporters are paid according to the ranking of their stories—”basic,”
“bonus,” or “special.”
Other than giving ordinary Koreans the chance to be reporters, OhmyNews was said to have opened
new ground for political reform in the country. For example, it helped then candidate Roh Moo-Hyun
win in the 2002 presidential elections. According to reports, OhmyNews allegedly gave Roh the
attention conservative press denied him.
Today, other Asians like the Japanese have attempted to build their own citizen journalism-inspired
websites.
Filipino initiatives
In the Philippines, the idea of transforming ordinary Filipinos into citizen journalists is slowly gaining
acceptance. Perhaps because of the low Internet penetration rate and the high web maintenance fee,
most citizen journalism sites in the Philippines are owned by bigger or mainstream media organizations.
This is different from other countries where citizen journalism thrives in stand-alone web sites like
OhmyNews.
Some examples are the Sun.Star’s “Citizen Watch” and GMANews.TV’s “YouScoop”.
Sun.Star Network’s “Citizen Watch: The Arroyo Presidency” invites ordinary readers to post analyses and
stories on develop-ments involving President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s admi-nistration. This is apart
from their regular Sun.Star website, where daily news reports are written by the newspaper’s pool of
professional reporters. “Citizen Watch” was launched after the success of the “Arroyo Watch” project in
2005. The “Arroyo Watch” weblog was formed to track the updates regarding the “Hello, Garci” scandal.
The “YouScoop” of GMANews.TV, on the other hand, tries to involve citizens in online journalism by
giving them a free hand in uploading pictures and videos that they think are newsworthy.
Not just online
Another noticeable feature of Philippine citizen journalism is that it is not limited to the online medium.
Acknowledging the success of online citizen journalism in other Asian countries, big media companies
have realized the potential of citizen-driven news media. Besides fulfilling a social responsibility—that is,
empo-wering the people through news—they are also able to cover areas where media companies do
not have regular reporters.
Today, the Philippine traditional media—print and broadcast—have used citizen journalism in short
messaging and multimedia messaging systems.
In the 2007 elections, ABS-CBN launched a project which was supposedly patterned after the idea of
citizen journalism. “Boto Mo, i-Patrol Mo” gave ordinary voters the power to report unusual and
suspicious activities in their neighborhoods through their mobile phones. ABS-CBN then flashed the
reports on air.
In an interview with PJR Reports, Maria Ressa, ABS-CBN’s head of News and Public Affairs, said, “the
overarching idea for this “Boto Mo, i-Patrol Mo” was empowerment using technology and mass media
in order to ensure the credibility of the elections.” She added that through this initiative, voters were
also given the capability to hold officials accountable.
Beyond writing letters to the editor and contributing to reader-driven columns, some Philippine dailies
want their readers to venture into citizen journalism.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, for example, calls on its readers to “share the good news where you are—
and the bad.” In its Metro Citizen’s Call section, the Inquirer features text and photos sent by concerned
readers which range from personal appeals and criticisms about local governance to alleged illegal
activities in their neighborhoods.
Redefining journalism
Still, the idea of having a press dominated by those who do not have any idea of journalism is absurd for
some journalists. They believe that citizen journalism should follow the basic principles observed by
traditional news media.
According to Vergel Santos, chair of BusinessWorld’s editorial board, the idea that anybody can be a
journalist poses a danger to the profession. He also says such thinking cheapens the profession.
”Journalism calls, not only for the understanding of certain skills, but the acquisition of certain skills at
certain levels. So, being able to build a site and disseminate whatever information you wish to
disseminate to audiences does not constitute journalism,” Santos stressed.
He compares journalism to carpentry. Having the tools for carpentry does not make one a carpenter,
unless one has learned the proper skills needed in the craft, he said.
“I’m not saying that citizens cannot be journalists. If they train, they might be able to do it,” Santos said.
“But to be able to practice journalism without training, I don’t understand how they will do it.”
Danilo Arao, a University of the Philippines journalism professor, says giving readers the chance to have
their comments and stories see print or be uploaded “are good initiatives.” But, he adds, citizens must
be given the necessary skills and knowledge to become journalists.
For example, according to Arao, “Boto Mo, i-Patrol Mo” may have manifested the power of the citizen’s
text messages in helping the network in gathering data but it is not enough to call this citizen journalism.
Arao says what may qualify as citizen journalism in the Philippines is the concept called peryodismong
yapak or “barefoot journalism.” This is where “ordinary citizens are taught how to write stories and
produce community papers.”
And some advocates of citizen journalism seem to agree with Santos and Arao.
Back to tradition
Recently, there had been noticeable efforts by citizen journalism sites to enforce rules normally
associated with traditional journalism. Legal as well as ethical problems caused by unverified and
inaccurate reports that appeared in their sites could have caused this change among advocates of citizen
journalism.
OhmyNews, for example, has been a victim of hoaxes such as a report on the supposed assassination of
Microsoft founder Bill Gates from a fake CNN site. Now, OhmyNews enforces strict registration rules for
citizen journalists and has asked its reporters to disclose details concerning their bank accounts to the
editorial board.
Some websites have also required their contributors to abide by certain ethical rules. Sun.Star’s “Citizen
Watch” asks writers to take into consi-deration the CyberJournalist.net’s Bloggers’ Code of Ethics, a
modified form of the US Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. One provision states that
bloggers, like journalists, should be “honest and fair in gathering, reporting, and interpreting
information.”
Meanwhile, some online citizen journalism sites, especially in the United States, have realized the
importance of news values and other basic journalistic standards. They have already started offering
Journalism 101 classes to interested citizen journalists under their management.
But a single class in journalism cannot provide all the needed skills in becoming a journalist. One must
have constant practice and training.
After all, there is no such thing as an overnight journalist.