The Philippine Online Chronicles

What happens in a world where everyone can be a journalist?

Marlene Garcia-Esperat was a wife, and a mother who began her career as a Chemist working for the regional office of the Department of Agriculture in Maguindanao province, Mindanao. Later, she would be instrumental in exposing anomalies in the Department of Agriculture writing for the Midland Review, a weekly newspaper in Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao as a columnist. She also anchored a regular radio show.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reported that in the early 1990s, Esperat was able to uncover anomalies in her laboratory budget. For example, the annual budget was PHP400,000, but only PHP175,000 was released.

In 2004, Esperat accused Arroyo Administration senior Department of Agriculture officials like National Food Authority boss Arthur Yap, and Undersecretary Jocjoc Bolante of the questionable purchase of 700 million worth of fertilizers. Marlene Esperat, fearing for her life, wrote to former President Macapagal-Arroyo in February 2005.

Do you know what happened next?

On 24 March 2005, while Marlene's family was having dinner, Gerry Cabayag walked up to the Esperat home, and greeted Marlene.  Cabayag bought a cigarette from the Esperat family store.  Then Gerry Cabayag shot Marlene Esperat in the head.

Bang!

One shot was all it took.

Marlene Esperat was dead.

A break in the case led to Estanislao Bismanos, and Randy Grecia, who helped the gunman, Gerry Cabayag murder Esperat. The three were convicted for the murder of Marlene Esperat. Surely, these people didn't have motive and means enough to kill Esperat. At least, not on their own. The alleged masterminds in the Esperat case were officers of the Department of Agriculture, who have not been convicted nor arrested.

We can draw many lessons from the Esperat Case. It is a reminder of the Culture of Impunity, and cynicism that exists in the Philippines. Certainly, Esperat's murder was not the first, nor the last. Though the masterminds in Esperat's murder remain free, her case is in fact one of the rare ones where the killers have been found guilty.

Esperat was not a journalist by training nor profession. Like many who blog, in many cases we are neither journalist by profession, nor training. Yet Esperat found a good story. And like Esperat and journalists, bloggers too write stories. Whether those stories are political in nature like an advocacy for Better Internet, Child Protection, The Freedom of Information act, the Reproductive Health bill, or so many other issues that we choose to care about, it is inherent in what we write about to speak facts. The facts come from the who, the why, the where, the when, and the how, and they come naturally, even as we blog, tweet or Facebook our opinion on these issues of the day.

A columnist too can not simply write an opinion without basis of fact.

And these stories aren't limited in politics, or issues of political nature.

Whether we blog about food, travel, technology or even entertainment--- the core--- of the writing, what we wrap our opinion or thoughts upon still rely on the core fundamental truths of 4Ws, and H, does it not? The basic principles of journalism is a bedrock by which, we all have in common whether it is a blog, a photo essay, a podcast, a streaming video, a tweet or a Facebook status.

The beauty of our age is that anyone can simply become media. The tools are there for anyone to pickup. And we've seen an explosion of blogs, of youtube content, of podcasts, and an explosion of social media. In traditional media, we've seen an explosion too of newspapers, because production of newspapers is in many cases, as cheap as hosting.

Traditional media doesn't hold exclusivity to a good story. Neither does social media have any exclusive right to the truth. Good stories are found everywhere. We see it on our tweet stream. We see it walking down the street. We see it when a foodie samples a restaurant's dish, or that food stall down the street. We see it when a traveller chronicles her adventures exploring the world. We all share a certain responsibility on what we publish.

Marlene Esperat died because of her stories. So did countless others in the Philippines.

What happens in a world where everyone can be a journalist?

Libel is libel, whether one is a blogger or a journalist or on twitter. And it is another reason to write verified facts, and to be clear on those facts.

Is a tweet worth libel?

When does a Facebook status become libel?

These are interesting philosophical questions, and one I fear those writing the law envision differently simply because they don't understand what this online world is, or don't realize that decriminalizing libel is something that would affect every Filipino's right to freedom of speech, and right to due process of law.

One day, we may find someone tweeting about a crime happening. The person may twitpic it. And one day that person may find himself dead, simply because of a tweet.

Murder is murder, whether the murdered is a journalist, or a blogger or twitter. A bullet does not differentiate whether you make your living as a journalist or play the amateur blogger or whether you play citizen journalist.

Is a tweet worth your life?

This happens in a world where anyone can become a journalist. A good story is a good story whether the story was written by a journalist or blogger. Whether the story was published by a great metropolitan newspaper, or the Web daily, or a single tweet, it is still a story. Good stories whether written by a journalist, or by a blogger demand that the facts are correctly researched and presented properly. Even good opinion writing should stand on the foundation of truth, and pillars of fact. Whether journalist or blogger, whether it is political, technology-related, whether the piece is on glamour, or entertainment, the foundation remains the same. Good stories demand we get our facts straight: the who, the what, the where, the when, and the how.

Good stories are important in a War against a Culture of Impunity.

Good stories make good journalists.

Good stories make good bloggers.

Good stories make good tweets.