When the Headliner, a newspaper published by FREE, a loose,
tactical alliance of Mindanao journalists, ventured into
public journalism it began with a series of community dialogues
to touch base with citizens and find out what they think
of the peace process and what they can probably contribute.
The result was the holding of a Candidates' Forum and Covenant
Signing before the May 2001 elections wherein citizens were
able to articulate their own views about how government
and citizens should work together for peace. The outcome?
A community-based monitoring and feedback mechanism called
the People's Forum for Sound Governance.
Headliner, together with several radio stations and a local
TV channel opened its pages and airtime to allow citizens
to continue the discussion while at the same time providing
them a running guide as to when the next forum would be,
how they can participate, how they can become involved.
Iloilo City is a laid-back urban sprawl in the Western
Visayas. It is grappling with myriad urban problems like
drug use, traffic congestion, pollution, squatting and a
contentious news media.
It is also host to a small newspaper called The Visayas
Examiner. The editors and reporters of the newspaper, however,
felt that they were just grinding out the news without a
sense of how this impacts on the community. Until people
came to their offices to complain about emissions from a
nearby hospital's incinerator. As a result of that visit,
the paper sponsored neighborhood roundtable discussions
on the effects on people's health of incinerator emission
by bringing in environmental experts to talk with reporters
and citizens.
To the editors' surprise, demand increased for more discussions
and people were asking the paper to put in their ideas and
recommendations, this time for addressing local issues such
as traffic jams, the relocation of squatters, and preserving
the city's cultural heritage. The Visayas Examiner responded
by expanding its public journalism section to include a
series on good urban governance practices to let its readers
know that some things in their city also work.
I can go on talking to you about this kind of journalism
that enables, educates, empowers, liberates, strengthens
a sense in leaders and citizens alike that they can solve
local problems, and strengthens democracy. Unfortunately
for me, and fortunately for you, I don't have the whole
day to do so.
Remember, however, that people will always find it a lot
easier to criticize the news media for their failings than
to take shared responsibility for transforming what is decidedly
one of the most central, and critical, institutions in public
life. It is thus crucially important for citizens and leaders
of the community alike, whether in government or not, to
look at the journalists brave and daring enough to explore
new ways of practicing their craft, with less jaundiced,
if not kindly, eyes.
It may be too early at this point to gauge the impact of
public journalism on the lives of citizens and journalists;
what is important to remember is that first steps to a long
journey have been taken. It will be up to all of us to see
that those steps do not falter along the way.
Red Batario is the President and Executive
Director of the Center for Community Journalism and Development
(CCJD), a facility for journalists working with citizens,
communities and institutions for social change. He is also
a freelance journalist who writes frequently for local and
international publications like Filipinas Magazine in the
US West Coast. He may be contacted at redb@pacific.net.ph
This article was excerpted from a paper presented by the
author during the Southeast Asian Journalists' Workshop
on Good Urban Governance, October 12, 2002 at the Concorde
Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
