The Philippine Online Chronicles

1. The primary principle underlying POC is aggregation. Each article must have at least three different sources. Less than that and it’s not an aggregation but a debate.

2.    POC strives to give a voice to those who are usually unheard. An issue can have more than two sides. Try to present all sides of the issue, especially the side not emphasized by traditional media.

3.    POC is also a gateway to our other portals. Remember to backlink to relevant WikiPilipinas and Filnet articles as much as possible.

• Link other terms in your article to the appropriate articles on Wikipilipinas or Filnet.

4.    When looking for photos or videos on the Internet, always keep copyright law in mind. Only take material that is licensed under Creative Commons or GFDL and comply with the terms of the license. Remember to label the images with the correct description and copyright information/CC license, as for example:

• [Description of photo]. Photo by [creator] of [source website]; licensed under Creative Commons License [CC license]-[version number].

5.    Articles must be at least 300 words because that is the minimum in order to be detected and crawled by Google bots. There’s a reason for the word count. You might argue with me, but you won’t be able to argue with the bots, so try to comply with the limit.

• A really long article may be broken down into several shorter parts just as long as each part complies with the 300-word minimum. Each part may be counted as one separate article.

6.    Pay special attention to your lead. It should generally be written in a news style and should contain the required “5 wives and 1 husband” (who, what, where, when, why and how). More creative or editorial style leads may be allowed in cases of news features or editorials.

7.    Except as otherwise specifically stated, the content of this website is licensed under Creative Commons License BY-NC-SA PH 3.0.

8.    Always keep in mind that a POC article is not limited to words. It should be accompanied by all relevant multimedia, i.e., photographs, videos and audio, as much as possible.

9.    Compliance with the basic rules of subject-verb agreement and correct word usage should go without saying. If you are unsure about the words to use, do consult a dictionary or a thesaurus. (I use http://www.merriam-webster.com and http://thesaurus.com. http://www.foreignword.com has a language dictionary.) In extremis, ask me.

10.    Be coherent. Sentences and paragraphs should lead to one another in harmony. Don’t be afraid to mix and remix words, sentences and paragraphs until you get it right. Writing is a little bit like composing; there should be no wrong notes.

11.    Write simply. There’s no need to use highfalutin’ words when you can get your meaning across using simpler ones. To repeat an old journalism maxim: “Write to express and not to impress.”

12.    Master your content. Verify your facts, especially dates and names. Don’t write anything that you can’t explain or justify. And do remember to link to your references.