Photo Contest on Disabled People

From the International Journalists' Network:

The International Labor Organization, Disabled People’s International, and Irish Aid are sponsoring a photo contest for photographers in all Asian and Pacific countries. The theme of the contest is “Decent work for persons with disabilities.” Entry deadline: November 21.

Entries must be digital photos of disabled people either in the work environment or advocating for their right to work. First prize will receive US$1,000, second prize is US$500, and third place receives US$250. The contest is open to residents of Asia-Pacific countries who are at least 18 years old. The awards will be announced November 29 at a ceremony in Bangkok.

For more information: http://asiamediaforum.org/node/757.

International Investigative Reporting Award

From the International Journalists' Network:

Investigative journalists or teams whose reports have spanned at least two countries can submit their work for a biennial award from the Center for Public Integrity. Deadline: February 15.

The center’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) Award recognizes quality reporting on international issues that span borders. Two winners each receive US$10,000 and five finalists receive US$1,000.

This is a global competition and journalists from all types of media can enter. The center says it will recognize the winners at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference, scheduled for September 10 to 14, 2008, in Norway. Travel and lodging are not included.

For more information: http://www.publicintegrity.org/icij/award.aspx.

Conference on Radio Broadcasting

From the International Journalists' Network:

Next year’s RadioAsia conference in Singapore will give professionals the chance to network ad discuss issues facing radio, especially the implications of new technology. The event is scheduled for June 16 to 18.

The Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC), the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) and the Singapore Exhibition Services (SES) are among the organizers of RadioAsia 2008. The theme: “Radio on the Move: The quest for new markets, audiences, platforms and technology.

The conference is meant for beginning to mid-career people who wish to develop a greater understanding of the radio broadcasting market. To learn more, contact Jaspal Singh at Jaspal@amic.org.sg or visit (PDF format) http://www.amic.org.sg/new/files/radioasia2008.pdf.

Media online resources

From the International Journalists' Network:

The Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) has compiled a database of more than 600 resources related to media assistance, including books, manuals, papers and reports. Access to the database is free and open to anyone.

CIMA, a project of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in Washington, D.C., is looking to expand its resources and is calling for suggestions. The titles listed in the database are not necessarily available via CIMA or online. CIMA also has published four of its own reports on media law, economic sustainability of media, professional development and journalism education. Those are available on the CIMA Web site.

To search the bibliography, visit http://www.ned.org/dbtw-wpd/textbase/searchMediaBib.html. To suggest a resource to be added to the bibliography contact CIMA@ned.org. For more information about CIMA, visit http://www.ned.org/cima/cima.html.

Bill Gates: Let's Reduce Global Inequity

Yes, the world's richest man for the last 10 years is seriously concerned about the millions of people in the world who live in poverty. Bill Gates addressed Harvard's Class of 2007 last June 7 and he encouraged these "privileged" individuals to help the world's poorest. According to him, "Don’t let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives."

Read on:-)

Remarks of Bill Gates
Harvard Commencement, June 7, 2007

President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates:

I’ve been waiting more than 30 years to say this: “Dad, I always told you I’d come back and get my degree.”

I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor. I’ll be changing my job next year … and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.

I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, I’m just happy that the Crimson has called me “Harvard’s most successful dropout.” I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class … I did the best of everyone who failed.

But I also want to be recognized as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school. I’m a bad influence. That’s why I was invited to speak at your graduation. If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today.

Harvard was just a phenomenal experience for me. Academic life was fascinating. I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadn’t even signed up for. And dorm life was terrific. I lived up at Radcliffe, in Currier House. There were always lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things, because everyone knew I didn’t worry about getting up in the morning. That’s how I came to be the leader of the anti-social group. We clung to each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people.

Radcliffe was a great place to live. There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types. That combination offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean. This is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn’t guarantee success.

One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975, when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the world’s first personal computers. I offered to sell them software.

I worried that they would realize I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me. Instead they said: “We’re not quite ready, come see us in a month,” which was a good thing, because we hadn’t written the software yet. From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with Microsoft.

What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence. It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging. It was an amazing privilege – and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on.

But taking a serious look back … I do have one big regret.

I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world – the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.

I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics. I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.

But humanity’s greatest advances are not in its discoveries – but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity – reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.

I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country. And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries.

It took me decades to find out.

You graduates came to Harvard at a different time. You know more about the world’s inequities than the classes that came before. In your years here, I hope you’ve had a chance to think about how – in this age of accelerating technology – we can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them.

Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause – and you wanted to spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impact in saving and improving lives. Where would you spend it?

For Melinda and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have.

During our discussions on this question, Melinda and I read an article about the millions of children who were dying every year in poor countries from diseases that we had long ago made harmless in this country. Measles, malaria, pneumonia, hepatitis B, yellow fever. One disease I had never even heard of, rotavirus, was killing half a million kids each year – none of them in the United States.

We were shocked. We had just assumed that if millions of children were dying and they could be saved, the world would make it a priority to discover and deliver the medicines to save them. But it did not. For under a dollar, there were interventions that could save lives that just weren’t being delivered.

If you believe that every life has equal value, it’s revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not. We said to ourselves: “This can’t be true. But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving.”

So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it. We asked: “How could the world let these children die?”

The answer is simple, and harsh. The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize it. So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.

But you and I have both.

We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism – if we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities. We also can press governments around the world to spend taxpayer money in ways that better reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes.

If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world. This task is open-ended. It can never be finished. But a conscious effort to answer this challenge will change the world.

I am optimistic that we can do this, but I talk to skeptics who claim there is no hope. They say: “Inequity has been with us since the beginning, and will be with us till the end – because people just … don’t … care.” I completely disagree.

I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with.

All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing – not because we didn’t care, but because we didn’t know what to do. If we had known how to help, we would have acted.

The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity.

To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact. But complexity blocks all three steps.

Even with the advent of the Internet and 24-hour news, it is still a complex enterprise to get people to truly see the problems. When an airplane crashes, officials immediately call a press conference. They promise to investigate, determine the cause, and prevent similar crashes in the future.

But if the officials were brutally honest, they would say: “Of all the people in the world who died today from preventable causes, one half of one percent of them were on this plane. We’re determined to do everything possible to solve the problem that took the lives of the one half of one percent.”

The bigger problem is not the plane crash, but the millions of preventable deaths.

We don’t read much about these deaths. The media covers what’s new – and millions of people dying is nothing new. So it stays in the background, where it’s easier to ignore. But even when we do see it or read about it, it’s difficult to keep our eyes on the problem. It’s hard to look at suffering if the situation is so complex that we don’t know how to help. And so we look away.

If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution.

Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring. If we have clear and proven answers anytime an organization or individual asks “How can I help?,” then we can get action – and we can make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted. But complexity makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares — and that makes it hard for their caring to matter.

Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have — whether it’s something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bednet.

The AIDS epidemic offers an example. The broad goal, of course, is to end the disease. The highest-leverage approach is prevention. The ideal technology would be a vaccine that gives lifetime immunity with a single dose. So governments, drug companies, and foundations fund vaccine research. But their work is likely to take more than a decade, so in the meantime, we have to work with what we have in hand – and the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behavior.

Pursuing that goal starts the four-step cycle again. This is the pattern. The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and working – and never do what we did with malaria and tuberculosis in the 20th century – which is to surrender to complexity and quit.

The final step – after seeing the problem and finding an approach – is to measure the impact of your work and share your successes and failures so that others learn from your efforts.

You have to have the statistics, of course. You have to be able to show that a program is vaccinating millions more children. You have to be able to show a decline in the number of children dying from these diseases. This is essential not just to improve the program, but also to help draw more investment from business and government.

But if you want to inspire people to participate, you have to show more than numbers; you have to convey the human impact of the work – so people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected.

I remember going to Davos some years back and sitting on a global health panel that was discussing ways to save millions of lives. Millions! Think of the thrill of saving just one person’s life – then multiply that by millions. … Yet this was the most boring panel I’ve ever been on – ever. So boring even I couldn’t bear it.

What made that experience especially striking was that I had just come from an event where we were introducing version 13 of some piece of software, and we had people jumping and shouting with excitement. I love getting people excited about software – but why can’t we generate even more excitement for saving lives?

You can’t get people excited unless you can help them see and feel the impact. And how you do that – is a complex question.

Still, I’m optimistic. Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever. They are new – they can help us make the most of our caring – and that’s why the future can be different from the past.

The defining and ongoing innovations of this age – biotechnology, the computer, the Internet – give us a chance we’ve never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease.

Sixty years ago, George Marshall came to this commencement and announced a plan to assist the nations of post-war Europe. He said: “I think one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it exceedingly difficult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisement of the situation. It is virtually impossible at this distance to grasp at all the real significance of the situation.”

Thirty years after Marshall made his address, as my class graduated without me, technology was emerging that would make the world smaller, more open, more visible, less distant.

The emergence of low-cost personal computers gave rise to a powerful network that has transformed opportunities for learning and communicating.

The magical thing about this network is not just that it collapses distance and makes everyone your neighbor. It also dramatically increases the number of brilliant minds we can have working together on the same problem – and that scales up the rate of innovation to a staggering degree.

At the same time, for every person in the world who has access to this technology, five people don’t. That means many creative minds are left out of this discussion -- smart people with practical intelligence and relevant experience who don’t have the technology to hone their talents or contribute their ideas to the world.

We need as many people as possible to have access to this technology, because these advances are triggering a revolution in what human beings can do for one another. They are making it possible not just for national governments, but for universities, corporations, smaller organizations, and even individuals to see problems, see approaches, and measure the impact of their efforts to address the hunger, poverty, and desperation George Marshall spoke of 60 years ago.

Members of the Harvard Family: Here in the Yard is one of the great collections of intellectual talent in the world.

What for?

There is no question that the faculty, the alumni, the students, and the benefactors of Harvard have used their power to improve the lives of people here and around the world. But can we do more? Can Harvard dedicate its intellect to improving the lives of people who will never even hear its name?

Let me make a request of the deans and the professors – the intellectual leaders here at Harvard: As you hire new faculty, award tenure, review curriculum, and determine degree requirements, please ask yourselves:

Should our best minds be dedicated to solving our biggest problems?

Should Harvard encourage its faculty to take on the world’s worst inequities? Should Harvard students learn about the depth of global poverty … the prevalence of world hunger … the scarcity of clean water …the girls kept out of school … the children who die from diseases we can cure?

Should the world’s most privileged people learn about the lives of the world’s least privileged?

These are not rhetorical questions – you will answer with your policies.

My mother, who was filled with pride the day I was admitted here – never stopped pressing me to do more for others. A few days before my wedding, she hosted a bridal event, at which she read aloud a letter about marriage that she had written to Melinda. My mother was very ill with cancer at the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message, and at the close of the letter she said: “From those to whom much is given, much is expected.”

When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been given – in talent, privilege, and opportunity – there is almost no limit to what the world has a right to expect from us.

In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue – a complex problem, a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it. If you make it the focus of your career, that would be phenomenal. But you don’t have to do that to make an impact. For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and find ways to cut through them.

Don’t let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.

You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time. As you leave Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had. You have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have. And with that awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience that will torment you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with very little effort. You have more than we had; you must start sooner, and carry on longer.

Knowing what you know, how could you not?

And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now and reflect on what you have done with your talent and your energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world’s deepest inequities … on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.

Good luck.

Photo credit: Genesis of Aids

STATEMENT FROM THE FILIPINO PRESS CLUB-DUBAI

I'd like to share with you a forwarded message from the Women's Feature Service (WFS) e-group regarding the controversial articles written by Ms. Malu Fernandez. The following is the statement of the Filipino Press Club-Dubai.

Ms. Malu Fernandez's travel columns "From Boracay to Greece" (People Asia, June 2007) and "Am I being a diva? Or do you lack common sense?" (Manila Standard Online, July 30, 2007) continue to draw negative reactions from Filipinos here in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

While we, the Filipino Press Club in the UAE, believe in press freedom and the wide latitude given to writers in expressing their conscience, we believe that Ms. Fernandez and her editors overstepped the bounds of responsibility with these stories.

The incident recounted in her flight via Dubai to Manila in which she berated fellow Filipinos (who had already endured the misfortune of working away from their families) on board Emirates for wearing "cheap" perfumes had no significant bearing to her story.

This particular anecdote did not provide any form of entertainment, learning opportunity or even delightful trivia to the readers. To suggest all Dubai-based OFWs smell awful because they are unable to afford expensive perfumes like the one she's wearing is high-brow snobbery.

It is the same snobbery stamped on the psyche of some members of the Philippine society's elite that has caused the yawning gap between our rich and poor, and the economic exodus of which millions of us Filipinos have now become a part.

To enlighten Ms Fernandez and her editors, Consul General Maria Theresa Taguiang from the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi cited unofficial estimates (as of December 2006, submitted to the Philippine Congress) that there are now 250,000 Filipinos in the UAE. Of that figure, 24 percent are professional workers, 35 percent are skilled, 24 percent unskilled and 16.89 percent household workers (housemaids, personal drivers, nannies, cooks, tutors, gardeners, among other household staff).

More local as well as foreign companies in the UAE are employing Filipino workers because of their proficiency in English and admirable work ethics.

A print medium that aspires for relevance in today's competitive media world cannot hide under the skirt of press freedom for its licentiousness to insult a group of people. One's freedom to poke her fingers begins where someone else's nose begins.

Ms Fernandez's unrepentant response to the barrage of angry reactions from OFWs and their loved ones ("I obviously write for a certain target audience and if what I write offends you, just stop reading"), simply adds fuel to the fire.

A nation like the Philippines that aspires for renewal and regeneration needs a responsible press with a high level of sensitivity to all sectors that comprise it.

We strongly demand that the publishers of People Asia and Manila Standard Today to take full responsibility and do the right thing: give Ms Fernandez and her editors a disciplinary action and apologise to the people insulted by these articles.

THE FILIPINO PRESS CLUB-DUBAI
(A mutual support group of Filipino professional journalists from the print, broadcast and web-based media in the United Arab Emirates)

Research Fund on the Internet's Social Impact

Professionals interested in studying the social impact of the Internet and related technology can apply for a research grant Oxford University's Internet Institute.

The Oxford Internet Institute (University of Oxford) invites applications from the global South to fill two places in its Civil Society Practitioners Programme.

This visitor programme is intended for Civil Society Practitioners of distinction or outstanding promise who wish to visit the Institute for a period of six weeks between February and December 2008, to undertake research concerning the social impact of the Internet and related ICTs. Visitors are expected to reside in Oxford during their stay, and to participate fully in the intellectual life of the Institute. The successful applicants will receive:

A subsistence allowance of 3800 GBP (7500 USD) to cover research expenses and living costs during their stay in Oxford
A travel grant of up to 1000 GBP (2000 USD) for travel to and from the UK
Applications will ideally be submitted by Civil Society Practitioners in or from the global South, active in the areas of freedom of expression, media reform, media justice, and communications and information policy in the globalized context of the Internet.

Read more about it here.

Bethlehem Film Festival

Here's an announcement from the International Journalists' Network:

Filmmakers worldwide have the chance to participate in the Bethlehem International Student Film Festival (BISFF), scheduled for November 29 to December 2 in the West Bank. Entry deadline: October 1.

The festival accepts short films or videos less than 30 minutes long in the following categories: documentary, narrative, experimental, and animation. Films should explore the festival’s theme for this year: “Land, Peoples and Identities.”

All entries must be subtitled in English and should have been produced no earlier than 2005. First prize is worth US$1,500, second is $1000, and third is $500.

For more information, contact Muayad Alayan at BISFF@annadwa.org or visit http://www.bethlehemmedia.net/festival2007.htm.

Dean Luis Teodoro: Outstanding Journalism Professor

This may be a belated post but I'd like to congratulate my former professor, Dean Luis Teodoro, for recently emerging as one of the four teachers awarded by Bato Balani Foundation, Inc., for his outstanding work as a journalism professor at the UP College of Mass Communication.

Sir, thank you for inspiring me and thousands of your students with your dedication and passion for ethical journalism. Mabuhay po kayo!

It was his former student, Prof. Danilo Arao, who nominated him for the award. Here's Prof. Arao's nomination, copied from his site:

What makes Prof. Luis Teodoro a great teacher? (Please cite specific examples)

Prof. Teodoro is an outstanding educator not only because his past and current students say so but also because he is a recognized practitioner in the discipline he teaches. It is imperative for a journalism educator to practice the profession to establish one’s credibility to his or her students, as well as share practical, relevant and up-to-date information to them. I won’t be where I am now were it not for the teachings of Prof. Teodoro. He has instilled in me the importance of journalism in national development and the need to write about the things that matter, mindful of the professional and ethical standards of the chosen profession. As may be gleaned from his compilation of testimonials written by his former students, friends and colleagues, he not only teaches, for example, Journalism standards and ethics but also maintains their highest standards as he goes about his work as a journalist. One may get several specific instances of his being a great teacher by reading the attached compilation of testimonials titled “What I Remember Most About LVT.”

How does Prof. Luis Teodoro employ innovation, resourcefulness, and creativity in his teaching? (Please cite specific examples)

Unlike other professors who rely mainly on books, audio-visual materials and other academic and journalistic outputs to teach Journalism, he can complement textbook knowledge with what goes on in the field since he is in close contact with other respected journalists, aside from the fact that he is a journalist himself. He would often share with his students how he does data gathering, analysis and actual writing of his well-read column pieces. It was Prof. Teodoro who said that the difference between a college instructor and professor is that “an instructor instructs and a professor professes.” Not surprisingly, he professes his views on the national situation without imposing them on students and a healthy debate normally happens in his classes. He encourages students to speak their mind.

How does Prof. Luis Teodoro exhibit dedication and commitment to the teaching profession? (Please cite specific examples)

His appointment as dean of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication for two terms (1994-1997; 1997-2000) is a recognition of his outstanding performance as a professor. Given his track record, he could have made more money by joining big media organizations but he has chosen to remain as an underpaid teacher of the premier state university, remaining ever humble despite his stellar career as a journalist and professor. He has also accepted the demanding tasks of assessing government policies related to tertiary journalism education by being chair of the CHED Technical Committee on Journalism Education. Prof. Teodoro was the one who facilitated the funding for my project to gather journalism educators nationwide in the historic First National Conference of Journalism Educators in December 2006. He is also unwavering in his support for the founding congress of the Association of Journalism Educators of the Philippines which we hope to organize within the year. Prof. Teodoro therefore has a vision not only to make journalism education better at UP where he teaches but at the national level. For this and so much more, he should be recognized for his selfless efforts through the years.

Read more about the winners here

Fellowship on Children and Disaster Reporting

Although we're now experiencing El Nino (which means typhoon-related disasters MAY not hit us this year), it's laudable that Probe is holding a fellowship program on disaster reporting. Dito kasi sa Pilipinas, madalas lumubog ang barko, malason ang mga tao ng pagkain, magkaroon ng malaking sunog, etc., etc. And children/young people are often the victims of these disasters. Please note that the deadline for application is on August 31.

INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE
Children and Disaster: Philippine Media Response

The Probe Media Foundation, Inc. (PMFI), with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will hold a fellowship program for broadcasters on reporting on disasters and emergencies, with special focus on reporting on children entitled, “Children and Disaster: Philippine Media Response” starting October 2007.

The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries: it ranks 2nd in Asia and 4th in the world. Yearly, the country encounters destructive typhoons, flood, landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or other man-made disasters that leave many dead, missing, displaced from their homes with damages amounting to billions of pesos. Media is quickly on the scene, together with disaster response and coordinating agencies. Reports are broadcast immediately and, most of the time, helped in getting aid and assistance to the affected persons and communities. However, there are also many instances where the manner in which media responds and the quality and sensitivity of the reports are questionable.

The “Children and Disaster: Philippine Media Response” fellowship helps broadcasters widen their understanding and improve their reportage on issues relating to disaster and emergency. It provides safety techniques and coping mechanisms for those who regularly cover these situations. Through UNICEF, the participants are provided with additional support to produce special reports.

The program is for fifteen (15) Filipino media practitioners working in radio and TV news and public affairs departments who are assigned to cover disaster and emergencies in their programs. Directors, Segment Producers and Reporters and writers below 50 years old are encouraged to apply.

Selected participants shall undergo the following activities:
- 3-day workshop in Manila on disaster/emergency, child issues and broadcast techniques (Oct 25 to 27, 07)

- Production of at least eight (8) minutes worth of segments relating to children and the issue of disaster/emergency in their own news/public affairs program (Nov 07 to Feb 08)

- 2-day Closing Workshop in Visayas to present and evaluate the produced and broadcasted segments (Feb/Mar 08)

Participants of the fellowship shall be provided with round-trip travel to the venues in Manila and Visayas for the two workshops, accommodations and meals, training including materials, and production costs for the delivery of the proposed projects/segments. The application form can also be downloaded from www.probefound. com.

Applications close on 31 August 2007.

Email completed application forms: info@probefound. com or probefound@yahoo. com

OR mail to: PMFI – Children and Disaster Fellowship
Unit 505 Sterten Place Condominium, 116 Maginhawa Street, Teacher’s Village East
Quezon City 1101 FAX: (632) 433-0457 TEL: (632) 433-04656

Grant for Photojournalists

Here's a rare grant especially for photojournalists posted in the International Journalists' Network. Take note that the deadline is on Sunday, July 15.

Photojournalists worldwide can still apply for the US$5,000 Howard Chapnick Grant, provided by the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund. Last day to apply is July 15.
Organizers say the grant is intended to encourage and support leadership in “fields ancillary to photojournalism, such as editing research, education and management.”

Activities that could be funded include a long-term sabbatical project, an internship, or a planned program of education. According to the fund’s Board of Trustees, special consideration will go to projects that promote social change or address major questions facing photojournalism.

For the application form and more details, visit http://www.smithfund.org/chapnick.html.

Nominations for Rural Media Prize

Here's an important award that recognizes the contribution of the media in rural areas.

UNESCO is now accepting nominations for a prize that honors innovative ideas that improve communication in rural, developing communities. Deadline: October 1.

The UNESCO-IPDC Prize for Rural Communication, worth US$20,000, goes out every two years to an institution or individual from an UNESCO member state. Nominees should have adopted outstanding measures to promote rural communication during the two years before nomination.

Eligible projects can include newspapers, films, broadcasting, multimedia programs, or other new or traditional forms. The award also recognizes new communication techniques adapted to the rural environment.

Click here for more information.

For other awards, fellowships, or trainings related to the media, visit the site of International Journalists' Network.

GEAD Code Provisions Related to the Media

The Baguio City Council passed Ordinance Number 333, otherwise known as the Baguio City Gender Equality and Development Code (GEAD Code), in October 2005. For those of us who aren't familiar with this landmark ordinance, it has two important provisions (under Chapter II. Penal Provisions) that affect the practice of journalism in Baguio City.

Here they are:

ARTICLE III. JUSTICE, PEACE AND ORDER

Section 54. Non-disclosure of Victims’ and Offenders’ Identities. – The confidentiality of the real names, aliases, personal circumstances, or any other information tending to establish the identities of offenders and victims shall be preserved and shall not be disclosed to the public in any manner to protect their privacy and integrity unless authorized by law or for a lawful purpose. Any purpose who violates this provision shall be penalized with 15 days’ imprisonment or payment of P5,000, or both, at the discretion of the Court. (The offenders may also be prosecuted for Revelation for Secrets under Articles 229 and 230, as the case may be, of the Revised Penal Code.)

ARTICLE V. CULTURAL IDENTITY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE<

Section 58. Prohibition Against Degrading Programs or Publication. – It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to produce or present media reports, programs or advertisements in print, broadcast, electronic, film, or other forms of media, including stage shows or presentations, that degrade or treat indigenous women, minors and children as inferior beings, or which in any manner subject them to humiliation and ridicule. Publishers, reporters, station or program mangers, producers, directors, advertisers, actors, or other persons responsible for the production or presentation of such reports, programs, or advertisements shall be penalized with a fine of P5,000.00 or imprisonment of one (1) month, or both, at the discretion of the Court. The Court may also impose suspension or revocation of the business permit or franchise to operate of the guilty party, in appropriate cases.

It seems that under Section 54, it would now be difficult for journalists to mention the personal circumstances of both victims and offenders. But who would determine that the publication of their names are for a "lawful purpose"?

For me, this provision is particularly important if the victims or offenders are minors. Although I noticed that some broadsheets do not mention the names of minor offenders, I'm disturbed that a few local dailies identify these minor offenders in their articles.

As for Section 58, I wish it included "indigenous peoples" and not just "indigenous women, minors and children" from being presented as "inferior beings, or which in any manner subject them to humiliation and ridicule." Despite this flaw, at least we have this section that would warn people involved in the media to be more careful on how they present indigenous women, minors and children.

Almost two years after its passage, the code's implementing rules and regulations are now being refined. I hope that the IRR will set out clear guidelines that will make these two sections truly effective.

Development Gateway Foundation Photo Contest

Development Gateway Foundation, an international nonprofit organization, is looking for "compelling photographs of socio-economic development in developing countries." If you're at least 18 years old and you have photos that qualify under their four categories, then start sending your entries today. Deadline for entries is on September 21, 2007.

How to Enter the First Annual Development Gateway Foundation Photo Contest

WHO: The Development Gateway Foundation photo competition is open to ALL photographers at least 18 years of age, except employees of the foundation and their immediate families. Your entry to the contest constitutes your agreement to allow your photograph, name, occupation, city and state of residence, to be published as the selected award winner; published or used on the foundation Web sites; and used for the promotion of the foundation including, but not limited to, Web pages, brochures, fact sheets, and other materials. Entrants retain ownership and all other rights to future use of their photographs. The Development Gateway Foundation shall have the right to verify, in its sole judgment, winner eligibility.

WHAT: We are looking for compelling photographs of socio-economic development in developing countries. Four types of photographs will be accepted. 1) The images may show information and communications technologies helping ordinary people. 2) The images may show people making something, selling wares, working in a field, constructing a building or type of infrastructure, or acquiring knowledge. 3) The images could be abstract images representing hope, the future, or capacity building. 4) The photographs may also include images of original artwork from a developing country. Please do not include photographs of groups of people posing.

Each entry must include a written statement explaining how that image is representative of development. Images will be judged on technical excellence, composition, overall impact, and artistic merit.

Entrants must not infringe on the rights of any other photographer or person.

WHEN: Deadline for submitting entries is September 21, 2007.

The top 10 photographs will be posted on the Development Gateway Foundation Web site. All visitors to the site will be able to vote once.

The voting will begin at 12:01 a.m. on October 1 and end at 11:59 on October 8. The winner will be announced on October 9.

Prize: $500.00

Individuals living within the United States will receive the prize as a check by the mail. Individuals living outside the United States will receive the prize as a wire transfer. In this case, the winner must provide information on his or her bank account.

HOW: Each participant may submit up to 3 photographs total. Each digital photograph must be uploaded to the foundation server. Original files of camera-made digital photos must be no larger than three megapixels (3 mb). Acceptable photo formats are TIFF, JPEG, GIF or BMP.

Read more about the contest here.

Courses on ICT and Radio

Isis International-Manila is a feminist non-profit organization working in the area of communication. It offers short courses for women (sorry, pang-women lang sila) interested in web design, basic email and internet use, desktop publishing, radio production and library management.

Interested? Read more about their courses here.

Online Community Journalism

Here's a site that offers helpful information to "journalists, educators, students and citizen journalists" interested in covering virtual communities.

Welcome! This site is intended to clear the noise and get back to the basics of journalism.

We’re all members of multiple communities. They look familiar and easy to understand. But communities run deeper than we might think. So, why bother with this site?

If you understand a community's layers, and you’re willing to explore them, you’ll find stories that ring true. If you know how to find the leaders in a community and can ask better questions, you’ll be more effective and efficient.

Log in to Covering Communities to access its modules on interviewing, framing, even blogging and "third places."

Funding for Media Outreach Projects

Here's another source of funding for individuals or organizations interested in empowering communities through the media. Please take note that the deadline is on Friday, June 15.

Rising Voices, the outreach arm of Global Voices, is now accepting project proposals for the first round of microgrant funding of up to $5,000 for new media outreach projects. Ideal applicants will present innovative and detailed proposals to teach citizen media techniques to communities that are poorly positioned to discover and take advantage of tools like blogging, video-blogging, and podcasting on their own.

As the internet becomes more accessible to more people, as computers become cheaper, and as software applications move from the desktop to the web, the so-called digital divide seems to be narrowing. In its place, however, we see a participation gap in which the vast majority of blogs, podcasts, and online video are being produced in middle-class neighborhoods in major cities around the world.

Rising Voices aims to help bring new voices from new communities and speaking new languages to the conversational web, by providing resources and funding to local groups reaching out to underrepresented communities. Examples of potential projects include:

Purchasing an affordable digital video camera and teaching a group of rural students how to produce an ongoing video-blog documentary about the lives of their grandparents.

Organizing a regular workshop on blogging and photography at a local orphanage. Portions of the budget could be used on cheap digital cameras and internet cafe costs so that participants could describe their local neighborhoods to a global audience with text and photos.

Working with a local NGO or social entrepreneur so that their challenges, successes, and stories are told to a global audience.

Translating our new media curriculum to an indigenous language, like Quechua or Wolof, that is currently not represented in the blogosphere or “podosphere.” Then use the learning modules to encourage bloggers to write in those languages.
The sky is the limit, but unfortunately funding is not. Rising Voices outreach grants will range from $1,000 to $5,000. Please be as thoughtful, specific, and realistic as possible when drafting your budgets.

Successful projects will be prominently featured on Global Voices.

Completed applications will be accepted no later than Friday, June 15. Please email them to outreach@globalvoicesonline.org

Read more about this funding opportunity here.

Wanted: Innovative Digital Media Projects

For techies who have bright ideas on how to "transform community news," this is your chance to get funding for what you have in mind. I guess I should start learning more about web design and related stuff:-)

Do you have an idea that uses digital media, involves new forms of news in the public interest, and focuses on a specific geographic community? If you answered yes to all of the questions above, then your idea is eligible for funding from the Knight Foundation. Submission deadline: October 15.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will award a total of US$5 million to individuals, organizations or businesses from any country to implement a project that will transform community news.

Applications for the “Knight News Challenge” can be submitted from July 1 until December 31. Winners will be announced in the first half of 2008.

The Knight Foundation promotes journalism excellence worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. The Knight Foundation supports ideas and projects that create transformational change.

Read more about the Knight Foundation's project here here.

DZWT Goes Online

I was tuned in this morning to Country 99.9 (DZWR), "the forerunner of folk, rock and country format in the Philippines," when I heard an ad announcing that DZWT is now online. The ad mentioned the site's URL, adding that DZWT can now be heard anywhere in the world. Wow, isn't this great news for kakailians living abroad who'd like to listen to the latest events here in Cordi?

The site offers not just Cordi news but Cordi music as well. As I write this post, I'm listening to a Kankana-ey version of the country song "Someone Else's Star" on DZWT's site. From Monday to Friday between 8:30 to 10:00 in the evening, they play Cordi songs in their program "Aweng Ti Amianan." Apart from playing "translated" versions of popular English country songs, they also play original Ibaloi, Kankana-ey, Ilocano, and other ethnic songs. Check out their program schedule here.

By the way, DZWR (FM) and DZWT (AM) are both run by the Mountain Province Broadcasting Corporation (MPBC), owned by the Diocese of Baguio. MPBC was founded in 1966 by the Belgian Catholic Missionaries Of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM).

To sample DZWT's fare, click here. Happy listening!;-)

Young People and Cultural Diversity

Here's a great site for young people interested in knowing more about other peoples' culture. Taking It Global is one of the biggest online community for young people, with some 140,000 members from all over the world. It has various programs that promote cultural diversity and international understanding.

To share about your own culture, interests and concerns, click here.

Media Literacy Lessons Part 2

The authors of Five Key Questions that Can Change the World assert that the media is basically Big Business. For us to be more discerning consumers of the media, they offer five key questions we should ask whenever we access a media product.

The fifth (although to me, this is the second most important) question we should ask ourselves when watching news or reading an article is this:

Key Question No. 5: Why is this message being sent?
Core Concept No. 5: Most media messages are organized to gain profi t and/or power.

With Key Question #5, we look at the motive or purpose of a media message – and whether or how a message may have been influenced by money, ego or ideology. To respond to a message appropriately, we need to be able to see beyond the basic content motives of informing, informing persuading or entertaining.

Much of the world’s media were developed as money making enterprises and continue to operate today as commercial businesses. Newspapers and magazines lay out their pages with ads fi rst; the space remaining is devoted to news. Likewise, commercials are part and parcel of most TV watching. What many people do not know is that what’s really being sold through commercial media is not just the advertised products to the audience – but also the audience to the advertisers!

The real purpose of the programs on television, or the articles in a magazine, is to create an audience (and put them in a receptive mood) so that the network or publisher can sell time or space to sponsors to advertise products. We call this “renting eyeballs.” Sponsors pay for the time to show a commercial based on the number of people the network predicts will be watching. And they get a refund if the number of actual viewers turns out to be lower than promised. Exploring how media content, whether TV shows, magazines or Internet sites, makes viewers and readers of all ages receptive target audiences for advertisers creates some of the most enlightening moments in the media literacy classroom.

Examining the purpose of a message also uncovers issues of ownership and the structure and infl uence of media institutions in society. Commercially sponsored entertainment may be more tolerable to many people than, say, a commercial infl uence over the news. But with democracy at stake almost everywhere around the world, citizens in every country need to be equipped with the ability to determine both economic and ideological “spin.”

But there’s more. The issue of message motivation has changed dramatically since the Internet became an international platform through which groups and organizations – even individuals – have ready access to powerful tools that can persuade others to a particular point of view, whether positive or negative. The Internet provides multiple reasons for all users to be able to recognize propaganda, interpret rhetorical devices, verify sources and distinguish legitimate websites from bogus, hate or hoax websites.

Media Literacy Lessons Part 1

While searching for media education sites, I discovered Center for Media Literacy. It is an excellent website that provides different modules on how to educate young people about the media.

One helpful resource I found was entitled "Five Key Questions that Can Change the World."

According to the authors, here's the first key question we should ask:

Key Question No. 1: Who created this message?
Core Concept No. 1: All messages are constructed.

To explore the idea of ‘authorship’ in media literacy is to look deeper than just knowing whose name is on the cover of a book or all the jobs in the credits of a movie. Key Question #1 opens up two fundamental insights about all media –“constructedness” and choice.

The first is the simple but profound understanding that media texts are not “natural” although they look “real.” Media texts are built just as buildings
and highways are put together: a plan is made, the building blocks are gathered and ordinary people get paid to do various jobs.

Whether we are watching the nightly news, passing a billboard on the street or reading a political campaign fl yer, the media message we experience was written by someone (or probably many people), images were captured and edited, and a creative team with many talents put it all together.

The second insight is that in this creative process, choices are made. If some words are spoken; others are edited out; if one picture is selected, dozens may have been rejected; if an ending to a story is written one way; other endings may not have been explored. However as the audience, we don’t get to see or hear the words, pictures or endings that were rejected. We only see, hear or read what was accepted! Nor does anybody ever explain why certain choices were made.

The result is that whatever is “constructed” by just a few people then becomes “normal” for the rest of us. Like the air we breathe, media get taken for granted and their messages can go unquestioned. Media are not “real” but they affect people in real ways because we take and make meaning for ourselves out of whatever we’ve been given by those who do the creating.

The success of media texts depends upon their apparent naturalness; we turn off a TV show that looks “fake.” But the truth is, it’s all fake – even the news. That doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy a movie or sing along with a favorite CD or tune in to get the news headlines.

The goal of Key Question #1 is simply to expose the complexities of media’s “constructedness” and thus create the critical distance we need to be able to ask other important questions.

Children and the Media

I'd like to share with you Pope Benedict's message for the 41st World Communications Day.

Theme: "Children and the Media:
A Challenge for Education"

May 20, 2007


Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. The theme of the Forty-first World Communications Day, "Children and the Media: A Challenge for Education", invites us to reflect on two related topics of immense importance. The formation of children is one. The other, perhaps less obvious but no less important, is the formation of the media.

The complex challenges facing education today are often linked to the pervasive influence of the media in our world. As an aspect of the phenomenon of globalization, and facilitated by the rapid development of technology, the media profoundly shape the cultural environment (cf. Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter The Rapid Development, 3). Indeed, some claim that the formative influence of the media rivals that of the school, the Church, and maybe even the home. “Reality, for many, is what the media recognize as real" (Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Aetatis Novae, 4).

2. The relationship of children, media, and education can be considered from two perspectives: the formation of children by the media; and the formation of children to respond appropriately to the media. A kind of reciprocity emerges which points to the responsibilities of the media as an industry and to the need for active and critical participation of readers, viewers and listeners. Within this framework, training in the proper use of the media is essential for the cultural, moral and spiritual development of children.

How is this common good to be protected and promoted? Educating children to be discriminating in their use of the media is a responsibility of parents, Church, and school. The role of parents is of primary importance. They have a right and duty to ensure the prudent use of the media by training the conscience of their children to express sound and objective judgments which will then guide them in choosing or rejecting programmes available (cf. Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, 76). In doing so, parents should have the encouragement and assistance of schools and parishes in ensuring that this difficult, though satisfying, aspect of parenting is supported by the wider community.

Media education should be positive. Children exposed to what is aesthetically and morally excellent are helped to develop appreciation, prudence and the skills of discernment. Here it is important to recognize the fundamental value of parents’ example and the benefits of introducing young people to children's classics in literature, to the fine arts and to uplifting music. While popular literature will always have its place in culture, the temptation to sensationalize should not be passively accepted in places of learning. Beauty, a kind of mirror of the divine, inspires and vivifies young hearts and minds, while ugliness and coarseness have a depressing impact on attitudes and behaviour.

Like education in general, media education requires formation in the exercise of freedom. This is a demanding task. So often freedom is presented as a relentless search for pleasure or new experiences. Yet this is a condemnation not a liberation! True freedom could never condemn the individual – especially a child – to an insatiable quest for novelty. In the light of truth, authentic freedom is experienced as a definitive response to God’s ‘yes’ to humanity, calling us to choose, not indiscriminately but deliberately, all that is good, true and beautiful. Parents, then, as the guardians of that freedom, while gradually giving their children greater freedom, introduce them to the profound joy of life (cf. Address to the Fifth World Meeting of Families, Valencia, 8 July 2006).

3. This heartfelt wish of parents and teachers to educate children in the ways of beauty, truth and goodness can be supported by the media industry only to the extent that it promotes fundamental human dignity, the true value of marriage and family life, and the positive achievements and goals of humanity. Thus, the need for the media to be committed to effective formation and ethical standards is viewed with particular interest and even urgency not only by parents and teachers but by all who have a sense of civic responsibility.

While affirming the belief that many people involved in social communications want to do what is right (cf. Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Ethics in Communications, 4), we must also recognize that those who work in this field confront "special psychological pressures and ethical dilemmas" (Aetatis Novae, 19) which at times see commercial competitiveness compelling communicators to lower standards. Any trend to produce programmes and products - including animated films and video games - which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray anti-social behaviour or the trivialization of human sexuality is a perversion, all the more repulsive when these programmes are directed at children and adolescents. How could one explain this ‘entertainment’ to the countless innocent young people who actually suffer violence, exploitation and abuse? In this regard, all would do well to reflect on the contrast between Christ who “put his arms around [the children] laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing” (Mk 10:16) and the one who “leads astray … these little ones” for whom "it would be better … if a millstone were hung round his neck" (Lk 17:2). Again I appeal to the leaders of the media industry to educate and encourage producers to safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human dignity and promote respect for the needs of the family.

4. The Church herself, in the light of the message of salvation entrusted to her, is also a teacher of humanity and welcomes the opportunity to offer assistance to parents, educators, communicators, and young people. Her own parish and school programmes should be in the forefront of media education today. Above all, the Church desires to share a vision of human dignity that is central to all worthy human communication. "Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave" (Deus Caritas Est, 18).


BENEDICTUS XVI


© Copyright 2007 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Essay Contest for Young People

The Center for International Private Enterprise is inviting young journalists and students (between 18 to 30 years old) to participate in its international essay contest. Application deadline: May 31.

There are three categories, organized by theme: Citizenship in a Democratic Society, Educational Reform and Employment Opportunities, and Entrepreneurship and Leadership. There will first, second and third prizes for each category, and each of those nine prizes is worth an honorarium of US$1,000.

Join na kayo, young people:-)

Igorot Vote?

Is there such a thing as an "Igorot vote" here in Baguio City?
If there is, who among our local candidates (particulary those seeking a seat in Congress) could benefit from it?

Three weeks ago, I met a group of friends, including a female friend who works as an accountant in the US. She was a youth leader in her barangay when she was still here and she has maintained close contact with young leaders in her community. Our talk shifted to politics and she asked us who is our candidate for representative in Congress. Two said they're going for Atty. Joe Molintas while one was pro-Congressman Mauricio Domogan.

"Domogan's camp fears that the Igorot vote will be divided into two," our friend shared, citing her sources. And if that's the case, it might prove to be a close fight between him and Molintas, she explained. We ended our evening on a lighter topic but the concept of an "Igorot vote" stayed with me for weeks.

A few points before anything:

1. "Igorot" is a generic term which refers to the people from the Cordillera region.

2. Baguio is now a city of migrants, with lowlanders outnumbering Igorots. Ibalois are the original inhabitants of Benguet, of which Baguio City used to be part before it became a city.

3. This is the first time that Congressman Domogan, who is proud of his Igorot roots, will face another Igorot as a contender for a seat in Congress. Although Domogan comes from Quirino, Ilocos Sur, he traces his roots in Mountain Province. Molintas is an Ibaloi from Benguet.

Here are some questions which can only be answered this coming Monday:

1. Will Igorots vote based on their ethnic affiliations or will they go beyond it come election day?

2. Will Ibalois support Molintas? Will Domogan continue to be supported by his kailians from Mountain Province?

3. Who will deliver the votes for either of these two candidates? How close will the fight for the congressional seat be?

May the best candidate win this Monday:-)

Anna Politkovskaya: Journalist Par Excellence

This is a belated post in observance of World Press Freedom Day last Thursday, May 3. But I couldn't pass up the chance to honor Anna Politkovskaya, this year's awardee of the UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. In life and in death, she pursued journalism with passion and commitment. May all journalists be as courageous as Anna in pursuing the truth.

I'm sharing with you parts of an article written by Cristina L’Homme on Anna's heroism entitled Anna Politkovskaya: Murdered Because She Stood Alone.

For the first time this year, the UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize was awarded posthumously, to the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Despite fear and threats, she continued to cover the situation in Chechnya until she was murdered. She used to say “Words can save lives.” She was convinced her testimony could help mentalities evolve. Yet words finally killed her. Anna Politkovskaya was murdered on Saturday 7 October 2006, shot down as she was coming home, on Lesnaya street in Moscow. Her last article on Chechnya, unfinished, was published by her newspaper Novaya Gazeta (circulation: one million) a few days after her death.

To pay tribute to her courage and commitment, the Director-General of UNESCO, on the recommendation of an independent international jury, decided to name her laureate of the UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize posthumously, a first in the prize’s history. The chairman of the jury, Kavi Chongkittavorn, hailed Ms Politkovskaya’s “incredible stubbornness”, which pushed her to continue “chronicling events in Chechnya when the whole world had lost interest in that conflict”. “This prize means a lot to us, her colleagues at Novaya Gazeta. It help us and allows us to continue working,” declared Viatcheslav Izmaylov, journalist at Novaya Gazeta, assigned the investigation on her murder. “It represents recognition and is important for her children.”

...“If all journalists had been as courageous as Anna Politkovskaya, she wouldn’t have been killed,” affirmed the head of the journalists’ union in Russia on the day of her funeral, “because those who killed her would have hesitated at the thought that another journalist would take her place. She died because she stood alone.”

Read more about her heroism here.

The Baguio Midland Courier Is Now Online

The region's first newspaper is now online!

The Baguio Midland Courier's online edition was launched last April 29 to coincide with its 60th anniversary. We can read the feature stories published in their anniversary supplement in their website. Check out What Have We Done to Our City by Leonie San Agustin, A Look at the Northern Youth Vote by Dazzie Zapata, Ibaloi in International Media by Liza Galao, and 60 Things to Do and Places to Visit in Cordi by Mari-An Santos. For those of you who are interested in what the Midland has to offer, just click the link in the News Sources part of this blog.

Congratulations to Sir Charlie, Lea, Dianne, Joel, Melody, Roldan and Aries, and the rest of the staff!

Ford Foundation Fellowships

Here's a great fellowship program for any one of you who's interested in pursuing a graduate degree which you can use to make positive changes in your community.

The Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP) awards graduate fellowships to candidates who have demonstrated social commitment, leadership and academic achievement. The IFP reaches out to a new generation of potential leaders from groups and communities that have traditionally lacked access to higher education and know at first hand the problems facing their countries and communities. Worldwide, IFP is being implemented in 22 countries and territories in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, as well as Russia.

The Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP), in partnership with the Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC), is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for the fifth round of competition.

Applicants are expected to have earned a baccalaureate degree with above average grades, with at least three years of relevant work experience that relates to the proposed graduate study program and to the kind of work or community service that one plans to do after completion of studies.

Applicants are also expected to pursue studies in academic fields that parallel the Ford Foundation's grant making goals to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation and advance human achievement.

Only those working and/or living outside Metro Manila are eligible to apply. Women, members of indigenous cultural communities, and those working with social development organizations are strongly encouraged to apply.

Application Schedule for 2007/2008 Selection
Deadline for submission of full application forms - 31 October 2007

Interview by the National Selection Panel - May 2008

Start of academic year for selected candidates - September 2009

Click here to contact the IFP office nearest to you.

For more information, visit the IFP Philippines website.

Testing the KBP TV Code

The mainstream media have often presented inaccurate information about Igorots, I wrote in an earlier post (read more about it here). Whether it be on print, film, radio, TV shows and ads, we are often made to look funny, ignorant, poor, and dirty, among many other negative traits. Documentaries are more of an exception because most of these give truthful accounts of our life as a people.

Splasher and Bill Bilig have both written about the GMA 7 TV series “Asian Treasures” which again give distorted images of Cordillera culture. Prior to that, Igorots have cried foul in many instances because the media, including Pinoy celebrities, have let them down.

Remember Lucy Torres’ major blunder in their sitcom “Richard Loves Lucy” back in the late 90s? One of the actors in that show was an Amerasian (I think her name was Pwitney Tyson) who acted as housemaid to Richard and Lucy. In one of the episodes, Lucy tells Pwitney, “Mukha ka talagang Igorot,” or something to that effect. You see, Pwitney has dark complexion and kinky hair, thanks to her African-American GI dad. As to be expected, Igorots from all over the world deluged the Internet with their protests which even merited an article in the Inquirer at that time. From Dolphy to Allan K, Lucy Torres to Elizabeth Ramsey, Igoys continue to be victims of ill-informed celebrities, writers, researchers, directors and other members of the mainstream media.

But I have to give credit to megastar Sharon Cuneta for correcting Elizabeth Ramsey when the latter guested on her show sometime in 2006. Ramsey said something derogatory about Igorots' physical appearance and Sharon quickly reproached her, saying Igorots are beautiful.

Why do the media continuously bombard the public with poorly researched products?

I looked up the KBP TV Code and felt hopeful on what its Preamble states. Here it is:

WE BELIEVE

THAT broadcasting in the Philippines encapsulizes and reflects the hopes and dreams of

a freedom loving people(underscoring mine);

THAT broadcasting is a dynamic factor in our country's cultural, social and economic growth and development;

THAT broadcasting possesses a uniquely immediate and lasting impact on the public, which demands a high sense of responsibility, and discerning judgement of morality, fairness and honesty at all times (underscoring mine);

THAT broadcasting has an obligation to uphold the properties and customs of civilized society; to maintain the respect of the rights and sensitivities of all people; to preserve the honor and the sanctity of the family and home; to protect the sacredness of individual dignity; and to promote national unity.

Reading further about General Standards, item number two under the subheading “Support to Nationalism and Development,” caught my attention.

2. All stations shall actively provide for the continuing expression of the Filipino national identity, and shall encourage the development and preservation of traditional and

indigenous forms of culture.

The penalty for violating provisions under the General Standards ranged from P7,000 to P30,000 fine, reprimand, and suspension, depending on how frequently the rule was violated. The maximum penalty is recommendation for cancellation of permit to operate for the guilty station.

Wow, I haven’t heard any “employee, blocktimer/announcer, or station” being penalized for making fun of their fellow Pinoys for having a different culture and way of life.

Just how effective is the KBP and for that matter, the KBP TV Code, for promoting “nationalism and development”?

Maybe we should try filing a complaint about TV programs that violate this rule to see how their system works? What about the Asian Treasures episodes on the lost tribe of the Cordi as our first "test case"? :-)

Photo credit: http://www.abante-tonite.com/

Watch "An Inconvenient Truth" for Free at SM Cinemas

Here's something for all of us to do on Earth Day, April 22, Sunday. Minsan lang may libre sa SM!:-)

Watch "An Inconvenient Truth" FOR FREE!On Earth Day, April 22, 2007 (Sunday), SM Cinema, together with DENR, Earth Day Network Philippines, and Magnavision, invites you to watch FREE SCREENINGS of "An Inconvenient Truth" at 1PM, 3PM, and 5PM at the following theaters:

1. SM MALL OF ASIA - 5560104-05
2. SM MEGAMALL - 6331901, 6384270
3. SM NORTH EDSA - 92954524. SM MANILA - 5239240/05
5. SM SAN LAZARO - 7862487-88
6. SM CENTERPOINT-STA. MESA - 7161416, 7160647
7. SM FAIRVIEW - 4176811, 93507498. SM SOUTHMALL - 8066888, 8066782
9. SM PAMPANGA - 8311000 loc 1610-11, (045) 9637681-85
10. SM CLARK - (045) 6255844-45
11. SM BAGUIO - 8311000 loc 1625-26, (074) 6197838/39/41
12. SM CEBU - 8311000 loc 1637, (032) 2313876
13. SM DAVAO - 8311000 loc 1605-06, (082) 2976998
14. SM BACOLOD - (034) 7081010, 8311000 loc 1650

Come celebrate Earth Day at SM Cinemas. Bring your friends and family on April 22 and watch "An Inconvenient Truth" FOR FREE! Spread the word and discover what you can do for your planet.Feel free to pass this email to your office mates, friends, and family. "Kelan ka pa ba naman pwede manglibre ng sine na pangmaramihan?" For more information, visit www.smcinema.com / www.climatecrisis.net

What Blogging and Networking Can Do

The past several days have been truly exciting for me in terms of getting acquainted with blogging, bloggers, and what new technology can do. In my attempt to know blogs about and by Igorots, I stumbled upon From the Boondocks by Bill Bilig. It’s one great site for researchers on Igorots and Cordillera studies in general. There are topics on Igorot achievers, places to see in the region, contributions of mountaineers in Philippine history, and other interesting themes. He also analyses government reports with depth, providing proper context into these reports.

On February 21, Bill wrote a stirring post about a statue of a Peeing Igorot Man at Barrio Fiesta in Baguio. Wow, was he fuming mad that there’s these statues of an Igorot man urinating against a post with a sign that says “Bawal umihi” and a security guard catching him on the act. Igorots are not savages, he wrote.

And look at what one post can do! Igorot netizens began exchanging emails calling for immediate action on the issue. Last March 1, Splasher emailed me to share the news that the infamous statue is gone. In a matter of EIGTH days, the management of Barrio Fiesta responded to the call for its removal. (Bill wrote a review of events in his blog).

I have always believed that the Net holds numerous opportunities for people to link and collaborate. And for members of minority groups like us who are often inaccurately written about by the mainstream press, cyberspace can be our best avenue for advocacy work. What I just didn’t expect is that I’d witness its immense power in just a matter of days. Simply amazing. Time to Fiesta! (pun intended)

This is how this post should look like - clear of urinating men, whether they be sculptures or living, breathing men.

The scene looks a lot better, right?

Happy Women's Day!

Congratulations to the winners of the search for the Ten Outstanding Women of Baguio City who were awarded this morning at the Convention Center.

In celebration of Women’s Month, I’m featuring Igorota Foundation, one of the first organizations in the Cordillera region to advocate for women empowerment. Now on its 20th year, Igorota is silently but passionately working to improve the lives of women in different areas in the region.

Today is extra special for Igorota as one of their staff was chosen one of Baguio’s Ten Outstanding Women. Corazon Pindog, or Manang Cora, was recognized for her significant contribution in the area of Community Service.

Here’s more on Igorota.

One of the more recent projects that Igorota spearheaded is the formulation and passage of the Gender Equality and Development (GEAD) Code in Baguio City. Another important project was the delineation and management of ancestral domains in the municipalities of Tinoc and Hungduan in the province of Ifugao.

Igorota’s ongoing project is the formulation of Ancestral Domain Sustainable and Development Protection Plans (ADSDPPs) in Tinoc and Hungduan, Ifugao; Bauko, Mt. Province, and; Atok and Kibungan, Benguet. It is also working closely with the Baguio City Government in implementing the provisions of the recently approved GEAD Code.

Vision: Women’s holistic development for self-sustaining communities.

Mission: To empower women through transformative trainings, education, advocacy, and organizing.

Among its goals are the following:

Provide advocacy and educational tools through Igorota Magazine and other information-education campaign materials.

Contribute to raising awareness and policy formulation on gender and Cordillera issues through the Learning Resource Center.

Develop advocates for gender-responsive communities.

Respond to women and gender issues in the community.

Enable women to assert their reproductive rights.

Enable women to participate in community development through socio-economic activities.

Sustain the sources of women’s life forces.

Enable communities to claim and assert their indigenous rights and responsibilities.

Igorota's four programs:

Gender and Development: A response to women’s situation and geared towards personal, group and community development through the provision of practical and strategic gender interventions. It aims to enable women to be aware of the socio-cultural and political conditions that affect their roles, choices, images and relationships; and to facilitate responsive actions as a result of their awareness and consciousness.

Ancestral Domain: A response to the issues of unpeace and underdevelopment in the region based on the inability of indigenous peoples to fully exercise their rights over their ancestral domains. This program aims to attain self-sustaining communities through indigenous women’s initiatives for peace and development.

Publication: The Igorota Magazine and other journals serve as a fora for the expression and exchange of ideas and experiences on women and Cordillera issues for the identification of various solutions to problems, and for the development of a collective Cordillera consciousness and identity from the women’s perspective.

Learning Resource Center: Serves as a venue for roundtable discussions on gender, women and Cordillera issues. The LRC also undertakes research and information generation.

Cheers to all Igorota! Cheers to all women!