MANILA – Members of the media and vloggers must work together to combat the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation during elections, veteran journalists said on Friday. 

Joyce Pañares, training director at the Philippine Press Institute (PPI), said she welcomes the idea of having vloggers attend trainings and seminars alongside journalists so they could share best practices in the field. 

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 “We are very open to that. Hindi lang sa PPI, even sa other training partners, sa PCIJ for example, nakapag-conduct na actually sila ng training on media and information literacy with vloggers and influencers.

 “Sa totoo lang, hindi lang naman media ang may monopolyo ng pagfa-fact check, hindi lang yan ang trabaho natin. Trabaho nating lahat yan. Kung tutuusin, lahat tayo, ordinary citizens ke-vlogger ka or influencer ka, estudyante ka, teacher ka o media ka, mayroon tayong kakayahang maging mapanuri,” she said.  

Pañares stressed that vloggers and journalists are crucial in information dissemination during elections.  

“Napakahalaga ng ating role dito in making sure that democratic processes are upheld, na ang resulta ng eleksyon ay malinis at credible,” she said.  

Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism’s training director, Rowena Paraan, echoed Pañares’ sentiments.  

For Paraan, the collaboration of newsmen and vloggers should not only happen during elections as both are sources of information.  

“Andiyan na sila. Part na sila ng information ecosystem and they are actually playing a big role. Marami sa mga tao ngayon, they actually look at vloggers at iba pang content creators for information. So hindi mo sila pwede i-etsapwera, dedmahin,” said Paraan.  

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While newsrooms train journalists and how to report issues, vloggers should also be involved, she said. 

 “Isama natin sila sa mga discussions, we did that sa PCIJ and we have done learning exchanges between content creators and journalists and ang ganda ng conversations actually. Lumalabas doon kung paano dapat magtulungan pati ang sama ng loob nila sa isa’t isa,” she said. 

 OTHER ISSUES

Meanwhile, during the discussion with regional media councils, representatives from each group said they continue to face harassment, low compensation, and discrimination in coverage. 

 Some members of the media are also facing libel complaints because of their coverage. Paraan said newsrooms should work together and recognize these problems. 

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 “Kapag yung isang journalist nag-iisip ka twice para magsulat ng issue, ibig sabihin may problema na kayo sa press freedom. Kapag ang isang journalist natatakot, kung may colleague ka na kinakasuhan ng libel... Kapag may community na nakakaranas ng panggigipit, then may problema ang buong community, it’s the problem of the whole media,” she said. 

 “Kaya dapat magtulungan, dapat sama-sama kayong humarap sa mga problema kasi kapag ang isa kinasuhan, yung isa hinarass, yung isa pinatay – problema niyo lahat yan kasi ang impact niyan hindi lang sa isang tao na ‘yun, ang impact niyan sa buong media,” she said.