Netizen journalists

By Marifi Jara

(I meant to finish the draft for this piece in time for the 51st anniversary of The PUNCH last month but got waylaid by other issues. Here goes)

Not many may be aware of the fact that The SUNDAY PUNCH is the first community newspaper in the Philippines to go online in 1997.

(Boss E., our publisher, was significantly  influenced  in that step forward by the late Raul L. Locsin, founder of BusinessWorld,  the first national newspaper in the Philippines and one of the first  in south east Asia to have an internet edition. Locsin was honored in 1999 with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts.)

This is an important piece of Philippine journalism and internet history that I proudly include in my Online Journalism lesson portfolio.

The internet has proven to be a medium without borders as it allows us to communicate to practically anyone anywhere in the world. After the government institutions, academe and multinational corporations, journalism was the next sector to realize and embrace the power and potential of this technology.

Just like in traditional forms of mass media, the internet, perhaps more so, allows the press the right of freedom of speech as provided under Article 19 of the United Nations’ Bill of Rights and in the case of Filipinos, Article IV, sec. 7 of the Philippine Constitution.

At the same time, this freedom is not absolute – it should, by no means, imply a disregard and disrespect for the rights of others.

The dynamics of journalism has been tremendously changed by the internet, but just as in the older forms of media, the fundamental values of fairness, accuracy and quality still hold true.

And The SUNDAY PUNCH always strives to live by those journalism standards.

While we have laws and informal guidelines from global and national organizations, self-policing is ultimately necessary given the nature of the internet. We, just like every other online citizen-or netizen-is called to a sense of responsibility and accountability for what we put up on the internet.

The SUNDAY PUNCH also encourages what we call “citizen journalism” through our Online Forum.

(Our online edition, based on our monthly hits, actually has a much bigger and wider readership base than our print edition. But just as in the case of most newspapers worldwide, a business model that relies solely or majorly on internet-based advertising income is still unripe.)

The PUNCH’s Online Forum is a virtual community of Pangasinenses whose voices matter as much as those on the ground.

Reading the Online Forum, one certainly cannot miss the passion in the voices. The contributions, regardless of the issue or standpoint, is often ardent.

This kind of passion somehow rouses critical thinking, one of the very roles that the journalism profession is called to fulfill.

Our netizen journalists are helping shape The PUNCH’s continuing history and, by extension, the history of our province.

We have barely scratched the surface of the internet’s possibilities. But we have begun.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/roots/)

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments