Learning to CommYOUnicate

You're on your social media feed and scrolling through an onslaught of cute animal videos, badly-angled selfies, a text-filled post full of grammatical errors and misused #hashtags, and this month’s trending meme. It was a usual day on the internet world.

You stopped your thumb over ashared news article link claiming that a famous celebrity just died from a terrible accident. 

You were shocked. Without a second thought, you shared the post and expressed your condolences with a lot of crying emojis.

Minutes later, your friend sent a private message, telling you that the celebrity didn’t die. You didn’t double-check or even read the whole article itself before sharing it.

Oops, you just contributed to the spread of misinformation. 

What you just read is my feeble attempt to apply what I learned about feature writing during Cemex Philippines’CommYOUnicate Workshop on News Writing and Photography in the Era of Fake News.

With fellow public information officers like the staff of PIA-7 and communication students, we had the pleasure to learn from independent journalist and 2014 Persephone Miel Fellow Ana Santos and award-winning photojournalist Raffy Lerma.

Eyes were glued on one of the resource speakers, Raffy Lerma, as he discussed about photography basics.

I've attended quite a number of seminars since college days but this was one of those that kept me awake and made me regret every bathroom break. 

Among the workshop freebies were these fantastic(ker) stickers! I love the puns.

THE MORNING SESSION: Feature Writing and Fake News

Early in the first session, the charming and eloquent Ana Santos let us close our eyes as she read excerpts from different feature articles.

Fromthe mountains of Kalinga with a century-old tattoo artist and to the war-torn Marawi alongside soldiers, it felt like I traveled through the stories. She said that’s how you can tell if it’s a good write-up: the writer should be able to take you there.

The exercise helped usunderstand her points that feature articles should be captivating, poignant, and moving. In writing a great feature article, it has to be deeply rooted and carries weight.

“It should move you. That’s the power your writing should have. You get a lot of these from closely-observed details,” she shared.

She differentiated news and feature articles, gave feature article examples and creative tips and techniques.

Ana Santos give us tip and techniques on creative writing.

There were other fun exercises throughout her session such as writing our individual stories in ten words or less and identifying fake news from real news.

It was also a pleasure to hear her many insights and colorful behind-the-scenes from her experience as a journalist.Her energy was infectious.

 There were good questions from the audience like on writing features on marginalized sectors or sensitive topics, or interviewing people.

“Be respectful in how you frame the narrative. Be a person first," she answered.

On the second part of her session, we identified fake news and its different faces. Since it’s already a challenge to point out what fake news is, giving them names is a start.

I particularly kept in mind her differentiating misinformation and disinformation. You can tell them apart in the intent. When you unintentionally share false information, it’s misinformation. There is still room for you to correct that. However, when you deliberately share fake information, knowing fully well that it is false, it falls under disinformation. The latter is what generators of fake news intent to do.

Why do fake news exists? Fake news happen because people make money from it, said Santos.

It also has grave affects or implications. Santos explained it with one of Mocha Uson’sposts. You can get the gist of ithere. (insert hyperlink https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/186105-pcoo-mocha-uson-misleading-marawi-photo)

If the Marawi refugees, who have been stuck in evacuation centers for the entirety of the siege since May 23, read that post and think it’s true, they will feel excited and want to go home. What if they try and find a way to sneak in past the military? She raised that this is very dangerous since there are still undetonated bombs and remaining rebels hiding in the city. Movements are still limited and some soldiers have accidentally set those bombs off.

I realized from her insight that fake news can deeply and negatively impact on real people and cause potential harm.

Santos imparted the5 Cs of Fact Checking: Context, Credibility, Construction, Corroboration and Compare. (insert link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf8mjbVRqao)You can take these five points in mind to analyze the information if is fake news or not. 

AFTERNOON SESSION: Basic Photography and the Power of Photojournalism

Raffy Lerma shared his adventures as a photojournalist.

Raffy Lerma began with his beginnings on the photojournalism journey and his experiences. He worked at the Philippine Daily Inquirer in Manila for 12 years and recently became an independent photojournalist focusing on documenting the Philippines’s war on drugs.

He showed us the basics of photography and even opened up his cameras to show the internal parts.

Seeing him expose his camera to us was quite a distressing sight for me knowing it could cause damage to it! He assured us that it’s fine (well, he’s a professional after all) but he still warned us that we shouldn’t expose the camera like that especially under direct light.

He showed his shots during the 2015 SEA games to show how we wonderfully worked out the shutter speeds. He also presented photos by other journalists so we can further understand how the aperture, depth of field and ISO worked.

Later on, he discussed on the power of photojournalism like how it build the opposition that lead to US withdrawal during the Vietnam War.

He also showed his photo entitled,  “Lamentation” showing Jennelyn Olaires holding her husband Michael Siaron. The viral photo that looked like Michelangelo's Pietà bannered on Philippine Daily Inquirer last  January 24, 2016.

He told us about the night behind this emotional photo. This lead to his sharing on his first six months coverage on the war on drugs and his perceptions of it. Many still bash this photo for allegedly being fake or staged to Lerma’s frustration.

The Code of Ethics by the Photojournalists Center of the Philippines was also brought up. One of the attendees raised the ethical question regarding showing faces of children or the dead. Lerma answered that photojournalism ethics can sometimes be restrictive and ‘we have to challenge that.’ He explained further that it sometimes not to shock people but to go for the reality and expose those things.

There is a thin line between ethics and good intentions. What I understand from Lerma’s insight is to show truth and human emotion that will spark action and dialogue through photojournalism.

We learned further on photo elements and photo captioning.

The rich and productive session ended with a little photography workshop in groups. We were asked to take

One of the photos our group showed was of me flipping my hair. We got insights on this from the speakers like how the background is very distracting and that we could have found a better angle. Shot by FORWARD Publications Editor-in-Chief Delta DyreckaLetegio 

photos that are overexposed, silhouette, graphic, action, and has a depth of field and put captions. Outside our venue was a pool with a great view so it was a good place to take great photos!

Each group presented it and Santos and Lerma gave constructive criticisms on how to make the photos or captions better.

I really appreciate the workshop and it’s one of the best ones I’ve joined. Cheers to Cemex Philippines for holding the workshop and for the eloquent speakers for the amazing experience!

by: Ayin Visitacion 

PIA Cebu : Media Advisory

*KAPIHAN (Wednesday) February 3, 2016 Time : 10:00 -11:AM 
Venue : Department of Health, Narra Conference Room, Osmeña Blvd. Cebu City Brief : The forum will tackle the Zika Virus which has been declared by the World Health Organisation as a "public health emergency of international concern" and what the DOHis doing to protect the country from the virus. 

Other topics to be discussed include activities for World Leprosy Month. Panelists : Medical Officer IV Dr. Eugenia Mercedes-Cañal
Medical Specialist III Dr. Joanri Riveral. 




* PRESS CONFERENCE - Unity Walk for the Passage of the CCT Bill February 3, 2016

Time : 2:00 PM
Venue : Jesus Christ The Rock Of Refuge Foundation Inc. (JCTRORF) Office, Rybacek Bldg.#5 Juan Luna Ave., Mabolo, Cebu City near H Llullier.

         Brief      : Religious group leads unity walk for the passage of the Conditional Cash Transfer Bill 

Contact Person : Pastor Cristobal Encabo 0916-9764058 Pastor Edwin Kiamko 0925-5685468

APEC2015- Police underwent communications seminar

The police department is already all up and about in the preparations for the upcoming international event, putting Cebu again the world map.

Police were interviewed no less by Cebu Media during a simulated hostage taking. #mediarelations 

Security Task Force Group  of the Police Regional Office (PRO7) underwent a three day Communication Development Seminar  in  preparation for  the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2015 Summit.

More than 50 officials and commissioned officers from the four provinces of Central Visayas participated in the seminar held at Camp Sergio Osmena.

Police Community Relations Division head PSupt Marciano Batiancila said the training is aimed to enhance the communication skills of the police officers to that they can effectively deal with the participants of the summit.

Tapping the services of the Philippine Information Agency – Cebu , the group were taught essentials on Public Speaking and Media Relations.

PSupt Remigio Sedanto, of PCRG Camp Crame said, the activity is necessary for the policemen considering that the majority of the event is conducted here in Cebu.

“Our PNP must know how to act well in dealing with the delegates, in dealing with the media and all the other sectors,” Sedanto said.

PIA Cebu Infocen Manager Rachelle Nessia, reminds the participants  on certain bodily gestures that shows confidence when one is speaking with delegates and visitors.

In Media Relations, PIA Cebu Information Officer 1 Ferliza Contratista explained to them the nature of media.

“The police and media may have different means but have the same aim which is to serve, a harmonious relationship  is beneficial to the public,” Contratista said. 

There are expected more than a hundred media from Cebu, national and international who will be covering the different events of APEC from August 21 to September 14.

During the workshop, members of the Defense and Police Press Corps (DEPP), were the actual reporters during the simulation exercises.

DEPP are composed of the reporters from the different media organizations in Cebu covering the police beat.

Towards the end, DEPP members gave out tips to the police on how they can co exist and have a “partner” relationship.

“Speak in the dialect if being interviewed by a local reporter and specially if its an emergency scenario,” according to DEPP Vice President Arnold Bustamante of CCTN and DyHP.

On the other hand, King Anthony Perez of TV5 also remind them about telephone etiquette.

“We always understand terms such as ongoing operation, we just want initial details, so just be polite in saying that’s all you have to report for now,” Perez said.

PO3 Janice Tamayo  of Station 3 Cebu City Police Office said, that one of the ways of establishing good relationship with media is to let them understand also how the police works.

“We also learn that we get there respect and trust when we feed them,  with the right information since they are also pressured to report on time,” Tamayo said.

There are expected more than a hundred media from Cebu, national and international who will be covering the different events of APEC from August 21 to September 14.

The Philippines is hosting APEC 2015, a series of over a hundred meetings that culminates in the Leaders’ Summit in Manila this November 18-19. The hosting is in fulfillment of the country’s commitment as a member economy and at the same time raises its stature in the international community.

Hosting APEC 2015 allows the Philippines to showcase its vibrant and dynamic economy and top tourism destinations, widen opportunities for attracting foreign investments, and strengthen trade ties especially with other member economies.