Category: Paper Chase

All set for Data Journalism PH15!

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IT’S ALL SYSTEMS go for the launch on Monday, July 13, of Data Journalism PH 2015, a project of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF), with support from the World Bank-Philippines.

The event will be held at the HIVE Hotel and Convention Place in Quezon City with a panel of distinguished speakers — Commissioner Heidi Mendoza of the Commission on Audit, Budget Undersecretary Richard ‘Bon’ Moya, Kai Kasiser and Rogier van den Brink of the World Bank.

Mendoza will discuss the ground-breaking work of the COA, in partnership with civil society organizations, on their Citizen Participatory Audit (CPA) project.

Moya, who coordinates the government’s Open Data Task Force, will focus on the story of Open Data and Open Government initiatives in the Philippines.

Kiser will tackle the topic, “Open Roads: Transparency and Accountability in the Roads Sector.”

After the project launch, 34 journalists and bloggers from 11 media agencies will participate in a three-day training seminar to be conducted by OKF and PCIJ.

Through an open search for teams of content providers and techies with data-story proposals, the following participants were selected:

1. From BlogWatch:

* Noemi Lardizabal-Dado, known as @MomBlogger on social media, believes in making a difference in the lives of her children by advocating social change for social good. She is the editor of Blog Watch Citizen Media and the features editor of thePhilippine Online Chronicles, a platform for alternative viewpoints and a synthesizer of ideas.

* Jane Uymatiao is a citizen advocate and resource speaker on digital citizenship and social media crisis communication. She co-founded Blog Watch, a citizen advocacy group, and actively engages different stakeholders via social media on a wide range of economic, social and political issues.

* Carlos Maningat is a Manila-based labor researcher. He works on data stories that cover labor, official development assistance (ODA) and financialization.

2. From Interaksyon:

* Patricia Aquino is a correspondent at InterAksyon.com. She is on general assignment.

* Edilvan Falcon is a senior web developer at InterAksyon.com. He is working on his master’s degree in Computer Science at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

* Orlando Garcia is the Information Technology editor at InterAksyon.com. He has been a journalist for over 20 years, having started at Jingle Magazine.

3. From The Philippine Star:

* Alexis B. Romero has been covering national security for The Philippine star since 2010. He started his journalism career in 2006 as a reporter for BusinessWorld, where he covered finance, the Office of the President, the energy sector, House of Representatives and defense.

* Helen M. Flores is a reporter of The Philippine STAR covering politics and science issues. Aside from her regular beat, she also writes stories from survey data of the Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia. Flores graduated from Centro Escolar University-Manila with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication major in journalism. She completed her master’s degree in Communication at the University of Santo Tomas.

* Jan Victor R. Mateo, 24, is the education beat reporter of the Philippine STAR. He is a graduate student of development communication, and has an undergraduate speech communication from the University of the Philippines. He is a participant of the 2010 Study of the US Institutes on New Media Journalism held at the Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

4. From the Calbayog Post:

* Rommel L. Rutor is a multi-platform Journalist based in Samar, works for Print, Radio, TV and Online, he is on his 20th year in the profession this year. A prime mover of local issues in his own right, he desires to provide more in-depth stories to the public, and be a catalyst of change in Samar.

* Jennifer Sumagang – Allegado graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Arts major in Communication Arts from the University of the East, Manila. Has been in the media work for more than 12 years now, correspondent of Calbayogpost.com and a radio broadcaster in the City of Calbayog, Samar.

* Jose Gerwin Babon is a media practitioner and communication instructor at the same time.

5. From inquirer.net of the Philippine Daily Inquirer:

* Frances Mangosing is a multimedia reporter for INQUIRER.net for four years. She mostly covers defense, disasters and weather.
Nestor Corrales is a multimedia reporter for INQUIRER.net. He writes breaking news and covers urban transportation, politics, among others.

* Dan Paurom is the one-quarter of INQUIRER.net’s social media team. He consumes reports based on big data almost daily.

6. From The Financial Times-Manila:

* Hannah Dormido, 25, is a senior production editor for the Financial Times. She specialises on visuals and is currently a QGIS sorceress in training.

7. From BusinessWorld:

* Christine Joyce S. Castañeda is a researcher from BusinessWorld Publishing Corp. since July 2014. She finished her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines – Los Baños in April 2014.

* Kia B. Obang, earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from the University of the East in 2013. She has been with BusinessWorld Publishing Corp. since June 2013, starting off as a Research Assistant before being promoted to Researcher in December 2013.

* Leo Jaymar G. Uy graduated from the University of the Philippines School of Economics in 2013 and is a researcher from BusinessWorld Publishing Corp. since January 2014. He has a strong interest in history – particularly with the economic, social and political histories of East Asia, United States and the Philippines.

8. From Forbes Philippines:

* Lala Rimando is a business journalist with expertise in political economy and understands the dynamics of new and traditional media. She headed the business and other news units of investigative media publication Newsbreak, the online news site of Philippine media giant, ABS-CBN, and social media news network Rappler.com before joining Forbes Media’s Philippine edition as managing editor.

* Paul John Caña is a writer for Forbes Philippines and a contributor for various online and print publications. A Journalism graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman, he is a former newsdesk operations staff of GMA Network Inc. and was also the managing editor of a leading lifestyle magazine.

* Lorenzo Kyle Subido is the data journalist of Forbes Philippines, crunching numbers and scouring data bases online and off for the research needs of the magazine’s visual and text stories. He has a Creative Writing degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman and is keen to hone both his right- and left-brain skills.

9. From Bloomberg TV-Philippines:

* Regina Hing co-anchors the daily morning shows First Up and Starting Gate on Bloomberg TV Philippines. The shows aim to connect the dots for a broad audience–between politics and the economy, between macro and micro, between the movement of billions of dollars in the capital markets to the buying power of OFW remittances. Before joining Bloomberg TV Philippines, Regina was a Senior Producer/Evening Editor on the Business Desk at Channel NewsAsia in Singapore, helping oversee the channel’s coverage of business and financial markets globally. She holds a Masters in Business and Economic Reporting at New York University.

* Katria Alampay is a writer and segment producer for Bloomberg TV Philippines. She graduated from the University of the Philippines Diliman with a B.A. in Journalism and previously worked for almost two years at the Korean Embassy in Manila.

* Alay Magno is a segment producer for Bloomberg TV Philippines’ evening news show In The Loop and weekly talk show on Startups, Igniters. Alay obtained his Masters degree in Finance from the University of the Philippines, where he also studied Computer Engineering before working in the tech industry.

10. From ABS-CBN:

* Marie Mamawal is the currently the Associate Dean of the Journalism Academy, ABS-CBN University. Currently a professor/lecturer at the Communication Department of the College of Liberal Arts, De La Salle University-Taft. Has been an Executive Producer for ABS-CBN Current Affairs’ investigative programs since 1988. Among them “Magandang Gabi Bayan” and “Assignment”.

* Gigi Grande, Multi-platform journalist for ABS-CBN’s Investigative and Special Reports Group, concurrently news presenter for ANC (the ABS-CBN News Channel.) Since 1997, covered a variety of beats including the Defense department, Commission on Elections, the Catholic Church and Department of Foreign Affairs. Produced documentaries for “”The Correspondents”” between 2003-2006. Proficient in English and Filipino, knowledge of Spanish.

* Rowena Paraan is a former Research Director of PCIJ and currently handling Bayan Mo IPatrol Mo, a citizen journalism/crowd sourcing arm of ABS-CBN. A journalist of more than 25 years.

11. From Rappler:

* Michael Joseph Bueza, or Mike, is a researcher/reporter for Rappler. He geeks out on books, maps, and pro wrestling.

* Gwen de la Cruz is a researcher from Rappler’s online disaster platform, Project Agos. She loves to write inspiring stories.

* Gerard Raymond Lim is a researcher for Rappler’s #PHVote. He hopes to teach philosophy someday.

A three-person team from PCIJ that will assist in the seminar completes the list of participants.

The seminar will be followed by months of mentoring for the participants by OKF and PCIJ so they could continue research and development work on their data-story projects. A public presentation of the participants’ completed projects will be held toward the close of 2015. – PCIJ, July 2015

Apply now to be a SEAPA Fellow!

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THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN PRESS ALLIANCE (SEAPA) is now accepting applications to its Annual Journalism Fellowship (SAF) for 2015 focused on the theme “Hunger in the (ASEAN) Community.”

An alliance of independent media organizations from seven countries in the region, SEAPA has selected the theme in the context of the formal launch of the ASEAN Community by the end of 2015.

(The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, the Center for Media Freedom and responsibility, the Thai Journalists Association, and Indonesia’s Alliance of Independent Journalists and Institute for the Study of Free Flow of Information are SEAPA’s founding members.)

Selected Fellows are expected to critically investigate and report on food security issues in the context of regionalization, including policies, initiatives, and their impact on the population, the environment, and human rights.

As ASEAN formalizes its regional community with a strong emphasis on economic cooperation aspects, SAF 2015 aims to highlight the situation of sections of the ASEAN populations that have been or are likely to be left out.

The Fellows are also expected to critically assess issues of access to information and public participation related to the theme of food security and hunger.

Now on its 14th year, the SAF is a flagship of SEAPA, which has hosted a total of 114 fellows from Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam.

The SAF 2015 program will be held between 9 September to 1 October 2015, including orientation, fieldwork and debriefing sessions.

Interested applicants may apply at saf.seapa.org, or email fellowship@seapa.org.

The application deadline is July 24, 2015.

About the SAF 2015 theme:

As the countdown begins for the launch of the ASEAN Economic Community, questions arise as to whether the vision is merely a political construct and to what extent the peoples of Southeast Asia will factor in this community.

At the most basic level is the threat that ASEAN could be a community dominated by hunger and poverty. The 2007-2008 global food crisis hit most societies badly, not least those in Southeast Asia. It is estimated that, in a region of 620 million people, at least 60 million Southeast Asians are currently undernourished.

This is the despite the formulation of the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework in response to the crisis and its Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security (SPA-FS) for 2009-2013. It coincided with the first Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly on the aim to reduce hunger and poverty in half by 2015.

Ahead of the MDGs deadline, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) released its report “The state of food insecurity in the world 2014).

It said that the prevalence of undernourishment had fallen from 18.7 percent to 11.3 percent at the global level between 1990–92 and 2012–14, with developing countries seeing the problem go down from 23.4 percent to 13.5 percent. Southeast Asian countries recorded a drop of more than 20 percent from a staggering rate of 30.7 percent at the start of the 1990s. Nevertheless, the percentages fail to mask the glaring reality that as many as 850 million people around the world are still chronically undernourished.

Theoretically, food security refers to a concept and practices to fulfil people’s needs for food by considering the dimensions of availability, access, quality, and stability. The ASEAN AIFS can be seen a part of the food security movement that emerged in the 1970s. Many, particularly developing countries, took food security for granted as a way to address hunger and poverty.

On the flip side is the question of who benefits from the policies and practices of food security. Critics say the main beneficiaries are not the people most affected by the threats of hunger and poverty, but big businesses and investors — either from the introduction of large scale agro-industries that lead to land conversions and the use of chemical materials, or the control of supply chains from farming to distribution and marketing. Cases of land grabbing, pollution and environmental disasters, displacement of indigenous peoples and threats to biological diversity are among the negative consequences of food security policies.

In evaluating the success of programs intended for the population, it is also important to assess the indicators used and if adequate information is available on how they impact different groups and individuals differently. There is limited gender disaggregated data in reports and policy documents so far, while critics have pointed out for the need for more social and environmental impact analysis of programs designed to treat hunger and undernourishment.

Journalists reporting on these challenges and malpractices have also come under threat, sometimes from state bodies and corporations in the form of legal threats or censorship, and physical violence by non-state actors associated with either the state or businesses.

The theme encourages journalists in the region to investigate and critically report on the issues surrounding food security policies, initiatives and impact on the population, the environment and other related human rights. Fellows are also encouraged to critically assess questions of access to information and public participation in the context of food security policies and implementation.

Some questions that may be explored are:

* How are the governance and political climate in the country influencing decisions on the food industry and businesses, as well as the management of natural resources?

* How are human rights and gender equality reflected in the formulation and implementation of policies and plans to combat hunger and poverty?

* To what extent is the groups most vulnerable to hunger and poverty involved in policies and the implementation of food security plans?

* What are the experiences of local communities and smallholders in facing the competition with multinational and large businesses?

* How are the national food policy initiatives impacting on the sustainability of the environment and biodiversity?

* How successful and effective is the media in Southeast Asia in reporting on the topic of hunger and poverty and in investigating malpractices and corruption in the context of the food industry?

The Objectives of SAF 2015:

* To generate indepth reports on the regional issue of hunger and food security from the regional perspectives.

* To highlight the challenges of hunger and food security efforts in SEA countries.

* To enhance the capacity of SEA journalists in writing hunger and food security issues through the journalism work experience in neighboring countries.

Expected Results

* Fellows generate journalism work on huger and food-security for publication in their own media outlets and SEAPA’s online spaces.

* Fellows are willing to actively join the network for supporting SEAPA’s campaign initiatives.

Making sense of big data: Data Journalism PH 2015

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THE Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF) in partnership with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) is pleased to announce the launch of Data Journalism Ph 2015. Supported by the World Bank, the program will train journalists and citizen media in producing high-quality, data-driven stories.

In recent years, government and multilateral agencies in the Philippines have published large amounts of data such as the government’s recently launched Open Data platform.

These were accompanied by other platforms that track the implementation and expenditure of flagship programs such as Bottom-Up-Budgeting via OpenBUB.gov.ph, and Infrastructure via OpenRoads.ph and reconstruction platforms including the Foreign Aid Transparency Hub (faith.gov.ph).

The training aims to encourage more journalists to use these and other online resources to produce compelling investigative stories.

Data Journalism PH 2015 will train journalists on the tools and techniques required to gain and communicate insight from public data, including web scraping, database analysis and interactive visualization.

The program will support journalists in using data to back their stories, which will be published by their media organization over a period of five months.

Participating teams will benefit from the following:

* A 3-day data journalism training workshop by the Open Knowledge Foundation and PCIJ in July 2915 in Manila.

* A series of online tutorials on a variety of topics from digital security to online mapping

* Technical support in developing interactive visual content to accompany their published stories

Apply now!

Teams of up to three members (journalists, content producers and/or techies) working with the same print, TV, or online media agencies are invited to submit an application.

Participants will be selected on the basis of the data story projects they will pitch for innovative data investigation focused on key datasets including infrastructure, reconstruction, participatory budgeting, procurement and customs.

Through Data Journalism PH 2015 and its trainers, these projects will be developed into data stories to be published by the participants’ media organizations.

Deadline for applications is June 22, 2015 (midnight Manila time)

Join the launch

Open Knowledge and PCIJ will host a half-day public event for those interested in the program at the end of June in Quezon City. If you would like to receive full details about the event, please sign up in http://bit.ly/publiceventdjph15

About PCIJ and the Open Knowledge Foundation

An independent, non-profit media agency specializing in investigative reporting and multimedia productions, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism is a pioneer in data journalism in Asia. In May 2013, PCIJ launched Money Politics Online, a citizen’s resource and research tool on governance, campaign finance, public funds, and politics that now features over 56 gigabytes of datasets.

Open Knowledge Foundation is an international NGO focused on using
advocacy, technology, and training to unlock information and enable people to work with it in order to create and share knowledge. Its School of Data program has trained thousands of journalists across the world on how to analyze and communicate public data through in-person trainings and online tutorials.

Contact information

To read more about the program and follow the project as it progresses, visit the Data Journalism PH 2015 website or contact:

Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism< /strong>
Email: pcij@pcij.org training@pcij.org
Website: www.pcij.org www.pcij.org/blog http://moneypolitics.pcij.org
Tel. Nos. (632) 434-6193, 4330521, and 436-4711

Open Knowledge Foundation
Email: sam.leon@okfn.org
Website: http://okfn.org

Making sense of big data: Data Journalism PH 2015

mcmangahas Leave a comment

THE Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF) in partnership with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) is pleased to announce the launch of Data Journalism Ph 2015. Supported by the World Bank, the program will train journalists and citizen media in producing high-quality, data-driven stories.

In recent years, government and multilateral agencies in the Philippines have published large amounts of data such as the government’s recently launched Open Data platform.

These were accompanied by other platforms that track the implementation and expenditure of flagship programs such as Bottom-Up-Budgeting via OpenBUB.gov.ph, and Infrastructure via OpenRoads.ph and reconstruction platforms including the Foreign Aid Transparency Hub (faith.gov.ph).

The training aims to encourage more journalists to use these and other online resources to produce compelling investigative stories.

Data Journalism PH 2015 will train journalists on the tools and techniques required to gain and communicate insight from public data, including web scraping, database analysis and interactive visualization.

The program will support journalists in using data to back their stories, which will be published by their media organization over a period of five months.

Participating teams will benefit from the following:

* A 3-day data journalism training workshop by the Open Knowledge Foundation and PCIJ in July 2915 in Manila.

* A series of online tutorials on a variety of topics from digital security to online mapping

* Technical support in developing interactive visual content to accompany their published stories

Apply now!

Teams of up to three members (journalists, content producers and/or techies) working with the same print, TV, or online media agencies are invited to submit an application.

Participants will be selected on the basis of the data story projects they will pitch for innovative data investigation focused on key datasets including infrastructure, reconstruction, participatory budgeting, procurement and customs.

Through Data Journalism PH 2015 and its trainers, these projects will be developed into data stories to be published by the participants’ media organizations.

Deadline for applications is June 22, 2015 (midnight Manila time)

Join the launch

Open Knowledge and PCIJ will host a half-day public event for those interested in the program at the end of June in Quezon City. If you would like to receive full details about the event, please sign up in http://bit.ly/publiceventdjph15

About PCIJ and the Open Knowledge Foundation

An independent, non-profit media agency specializing in investigative reporting and multimedia productions, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism is a pioneer in data journalism in Asia. In May 2013, PCIJ launched Money Politics Online, a citizen’s resource and research tool on governance, campaign finance, public funds, and politics that now features over 56 gigabytes of datasets.

Open Knowledge Foundation is an international NGO focused on using
advocacy, technology, and training to unlock information and enable people to work with it in order to create and share knowledge. Its School of Data program has trained thousands of journalists across the world on how to analyze and communicate public data through in-person trainings and online tutorials.

Contact information

To read more about the program and follow the project as it progresses, visit the Data Journalism PH 2015 website or contact:

Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism< /strong>
Email: pcij@pcij.org training@pcij.org
Website: www.pcij.org www.pcij.org/blog http://moneypolitics.pcij.org
Tel. Nos. (632) 434-6193, 4330521, and 436-4711

Open Knowledge Foundation
Email: sam.leon@okfn.org
Website: http://okfn.org

Coalition prods Congress: Pass FOI before EDSA’s 30th

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THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION Act is on the cusp of passage into law, if only the House of Representatives will work with a little more speed and focus on the bill in the next nine months.

Should that happen, an FOI law might well be the best Christmas gift that the 16th Congress and the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III could offer the citizens.

In a statement issued today, May 12, the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition of over 160 civil society organizations and leaders urged Congress to rush action on the FOI bill, and assure its passage into law by February 2016.

The Coalition said an FOI law could serve as “the perpetual pillar and legacy of the democracy that Filipinos claimed and restored under the leadership of Aquino’s late mother, Corazon ‘Cory’ Aquino.”

Next year, the nation will mark the 30th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolt.

Already 103 countries worldwide with combined population of 5.8 billion have adopted FOI and access to information laws, starting with Sweden in 1776 and ending with Mozambique in 2014.

Will the Philippines have its FOI law soon, much later, or never at all? That is the big challenge to President Aquino and the 16th Congress before they bow out of office in June 2016, the Coalition said.

Members of the Coalition have been campaigning for an FOI law over the last 14 years, or since the 12th Congress and three presidents ago.

To monitor the status of the FOI bill in the House and the Senate, according to its reasonable timetable, the Coalition has launched a project, “Congress Action on FOI Tracker.”

The FOI Tracker will provide the public with timely and regular updates on the status of the FOI Bill, including a periodic assessment of the lawmakers’ action on the passage of the bill, based on the substantive quality and integrity of their work, according to the Coalition’s timetable.

While the FOI law is well positioned for passage, it still teeters between birth and death, should the leaders and members of the House fail in their task, according to the Right to Know Coalition.

It said a few good things must happen for the FOI bill to become a fulfilled promise and solid legacy of the Aquino administration:

* The House Committee’s consolidated version of the bill must be sponsored in plenary, and interpellation and debate substantially started between now and June 11, when the second regular session adjourns sine die.

* The period of interpellation is done, the bill is approved on second reading, amendments are finished, and the FOI bill is approved on third reading in the House between July 27, 2015 (when Congress starts its third regular session) and November 2015.

* The bicameral conference committee of the Senate and House has finalized a reconciled bill and its report is ratified in both chambers by December 2015.

* The Enrolled People’s FOI Bill must have been presented to the President for approval by January 2016.

* President Aquino signs the enrolled bill into law in February 2016, just in time for EDSA’s 30th anniversary.

By this timetable, the Right to Know Coalition said it will monitor and judge the action of the House, the Senate, and the President vis-à-vis the FOI bill, a major and popular advocacy of the Coalition’s 160-member organizations over the last 14 years.

A broad range of organizations signed the Coalition statement, including the Makati Business Club, FOI Youth Initiative, National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace (NASSA) of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Philippine College of Physicians, Code-NGO, Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), Focus on the Global South-Philippines, Libertas, Transparency and Accountability Network, Center for Migrant Advocacy, Partido Manggagawa, Ang Kapatiran Party, Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka (PAKISAMA), PAL Employees Union, Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Peace Women Partners Inc., STOP the War Coalition Philippines, Save Agrarian Reform Alliance, Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), Action for Economic Reforms (AER), Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD), Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), and Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).

The eminent persons who also signed the Coalition statement include former House Deputy Speaker Lorenzo R. Tañada III; Dr. Wilfrido Villacorta, member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission and co-sponsor of the Right to Information provision; Prof. Edna E. A. Co of the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies, Dr. Nicole Curato of the Centre for Deliberative Democracy & Global Governance, University of Canberra; Dr. Sylvia Estrada Claudio of the UP Department of Women and Development Studies; and Prof. Aileen San Pablo-Baviera of the UP Asian Center.