I didn't have...

...much of a weekend, after working on the formatting of the SONA articles uploaded on Saturday and Sunday, and the additional tweaks for the interactive graphic. I did manage to write a couple of things for Fire Quinito, about the last couple of games of Powerade Team Pilipinas and the UP upset over Ateneo.

Today was a fun day, with the SONA going on. I stayed behind at the office while most of my colleagues got to go out to cover on the field, but I had a fun time manning the PCIJ twitter desk. It was just me and our executive editor, Malou Mangahas in the office, and she actually got pretty into it with the Twitter thing. Awesome. I love how the updates weren't particularly different from the updates I do on the Fire Quinito twitter feed.

(Sample tweet from me: "Angelique Lazo to Sec. Peter Favila: 'Happy SONA!' Happy SONA?!")

Also loved how the media completely embraced the social networks for this event: SONA was second on the trending topics list this afternoon, while GMA News and Sun Star rolled out impressive streaming coverage of the event using different social media tools. Nice.

Oh, and I also spent the weekend researching and writing my first piece for the FHM website. I was hoping it would somehow involve boldstars, but alas! It was about political speeches, in time for today's events.

In the piece, I quoted an excerpt from a Ninoy Aquino speech (which is available on the Internet in nine parts, starting here). I would recommend watching the whole thing, if you have the time, but again let me post my favorite part here:

I am a human being, my friends. I have suffered eight years of imprisonment, I have suffered loneliness like no other man has suffered loneliness in my life, I have been away from my children and my family, and I am financially ruined after eight years. It is only instinctive for a man to look for his peace. I debated with my mind, and I debated with myself, and I debated with my wife and my children whether I should go back to the arena of combat. I felt that I have already earned my peace, I have done my best, I waited for seven years and seven months, and the Filipino people did not react, and they would even give me the impression that they love their chain and their slavery. What can one man do if the Filipino people love their slavery? If the Filipino people have lost their voice and would not say no to a tyrant, what can one man do? I have no army, I have no following, I have no money, I only have my indomitable spirit.

But the letters kept pouring in, and they said, We waited for you for eight years. Will you now abandon us?

Labels: fhm, hehehe, pcij, work

- posted by jaemark @ 7/27/2009 06:16:00 PM   0 comments

Clandestine

As I mentioned last week, I missed the FHM 100 show to go out-of-town for work. The result is this report about the communities in Tanay, Rizal affected by the Laiban Dam project. It was a follow-up on a previous report by the PCIJ on the San Miguel Corporation's clandestine deal for the P52-billion dam project with the MWSS.

Coincidentally, I spent the weekend bitching about another San Miguel clandestine deal, this time about the Beermen acquiring superstar forward Arwind Santos from Burger King in exchange for a plate of roasted highland legumes.

Labels: basketball, pcij, work

- posted by jaemark @ 7/13/2009 10:04:00 PM   0 comments

I wrote...

...a short sidebar for the PCIJ's latest two-part report on the automation project for the 2010 elections, and it made it to the front page of the Manila Times this morning. It's odd because I've been writing online (a lot!) for a long time, and I think this is the first thing of mine ever printed. Like, ever, ever.

The Times version was (poorly) cut, which is always a danger with print media. It's funny though, because the lopped off most of the meat of the story, but left in the Transformers joke.

The full version of the sidebar, which makes infinitely more sense, is online at the PCIJ site. Of course, you also owe it to yourself to read the first and second parts of the report.

UPDATE: Here's Ed Lingao's video on the story, drawing on the second part of the report.

Labels: news and issues, pcij, politics, work, writing

- posted by jaemark @ 7/03/2009 03:28:00 PM   1 comments

PCIJ report on press freedom in Timor-Leste

As Timor Leste turns 7, PCIJ's Ed Lingao takes a look at the state of the country's press and the challenges that journalists still face in the world's youngest democracy.



Read the full story here.

Labels: pcij, video, work

- posted by jaemark @ 5/29/2009 05:23:00 PM   0 comments

Video: PCIJ report on access to information issues

The PCIJ’s Multimedia Producer, Ed Lingao, produced this short video on the issues surrounding the difficulty of accessing information from various government agencies:

Labels: pcij, video, work

- posted by jaemark @ 5/28/2009 09:57:00 PM   0 comments