Quezon City, Philippines — ACFJ conducted a two-day media workshop, entitled “Meet the Media: how the media works, serves and empowers,” for four Aurora NGOs last 2-3 April 2012. The participants from BATARIS, JPAG, KALINGA, and PAMANA were given lectures on specific fields in media by different Ateneo faculty, and alumni.
The first day of the workshop was composed of a series of lectures. Mr. Beaver Flores, Ateneo faculty and project coordinator, and Mr. Bernardo Marino, Sr., general secretary of JAPG (Justic and Peace Action Group) formally opened the event, stating the role of Ateneo and ACFJ as educators on how the NGOs could possibly use the media as a tool to spread their advocacies.
Dr. Violet Valdez, executive director of ACFJ gave an introductory lecture on the role of communication in everyday life, and the situation of Philippine media today. Valdez’s lecture was followed by the workshop proper.
The first speaker was Arlene Burgos, ABS-CBN’s new media manager, and an ACFJ MA Journ Batch 1 alumna. She discussed about the news media, and how news is now dynamic. Information is easier to transfer and share because of the technology people have today.
The second session was facilitated by Ms. Krissa Villa, designer and creative partner of Ideas for Good. Villa presented the history of “printed media,” and gave a few pointers on what makes a design bold, and “effective.” She also introduced several computer programs that would aid in making designs for different kinds of outputs.
The two afternoon sessions were composed of the radio broadcasting workshop and the photography workshop. Mr. Jose Ma. Carlos, lecturer at the University of Santo Tomas’ Department of Communication and Media Studies, discussed the importance of radio media, its wider audience, and its news format.
The final session for the first day was conducted by Mr. Alex Baluyut, ACFJ faculty and editor of Press Freedom 2.0. Baluyut stressed on knowing the community as a prerequisite of taking photos about the community. Baluyut also encouraged the participants to take photos by saying that “[the participants] are the source” of the story. Aside from these, Baluyut also gave a background on the routines of working as a newspaper photographer, and some pieces on information regarding new media as a platform for news exposure.
