Doing its best for convergence to work

One of the early players in online journalism in the Philippines is sunstar.com.ph. It’s design needs some improvement, its content some refinement, but SunStar has become one of the first, if not the leading media organization in the country that embraced new media and experimented with the concept of convergence.

It started with Sun.Star Cebu, a community newspaper in the central Philippine province of Cebu. SunStar Cebu is the oldest of the chain of Sun.Star newspapers and has been publishing since 1982.

The paper’s success led its owners to open “franchises” around the country. It later evolved into a network of provincial/community papers, a network bigger than many other publications. In the late 1990s, it started a website that “converges” all its publications under one portal, then known as SunStar Exchange.

From just a provincial/community publication, SunStar became a website that covers areas not usually covered by bigger publications. It became a source of leads and information for many journalists. Then it started publishing photographs on its homepage, and lately video accompanying its stories.

SunStar may not have the resources available to publications like the Inquirer, Philippine Star, ABS-CBN or GMA News to sustain costly multimedia content, but this “provincial” publication has shown, in almost two decades now, that being big is not necessarily an ingredient for success.

The success of SunStar lies in its network of people around the country that make local stories available to an international audience. In recent years SunStar has shown that it can compete with bigger media outfits in terms of hits and page views with the convergence of resources on a platform that reaches out to a global audience.

With a better design, prominent use of its multimedia content and bigger photographs, this publication has a long way to go.

Investing in convergence

In 2004 media moguls like Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. of the New York Times and Rick Camilleri of CanWest Global Communications Corporation of Canada declared that “convergence is the future.”

Everyone agreed and made attempts at their own interpretations of “convergence.”

Newspapers like the Inquirer in the Philippines tried to come up with an online radio (and ended up establishing a radio station) and a video magazine, which later became a full-blown television show.

Television and radio stations set up online news sites and tried to “copy” what print media has been traditionally doing.

Many of these attempts failed. One can look at the quality of stories these sites are producing.

There was a lot of debate about what “convergence” means.

Larry Pryor, interim editor of the Online Journalism Review and Japan Media Review and a professor in the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, said a definition was vital.

“If we all have a different concept of what convergence means, we are making it difficult to progress,” he said.

“Convergence is what takes place in the newsroom as the editorial staff works together to produce multiple products for multiple platforms to reach a mass audience with interactive content on a 24/7 basis. Anything less is not journalism convergence, in my view,” Pryor 2004 added.

While media executives see convergence as something that must be done for business to survive, Pryor looks at it as a change of attitude “in the newsroom” among “editorial staff” who must “produce multiple products” “with interactive content” for “multiple platforms.”

It is easier said than done. It requires a change of mindset among journalists. It requires retooling reporters. It requires a lot of investment in training and technology.

Media owners, who seem to only think a good return of their investments, immediately embraced the idea and echoed Sulzberger’s declaration. Websites sprouted like mushrooms after the rain. Reporters were asked to not only write but also take pictures and video without the proper training and understanding of what they are doing.

It was too late for many to realize that mushrooms are not created equal, or are of different species. The experiment mostly resulted in disasters. Investments went down the drain.

Convergence (root word: converge) can only happen if there is something to converge. One definition says it “the combining of different forms of electronic technology, such as data processing and word processing converging into information processing”.

Problems can occur if one forces to converge something out of nothing. There must be different forms first before these forms can converge into something new.

The problem in countries like the Philippines is when media owners/editors (who want to save on the cost of production or do not want to put money where their mouth is) require traditional print reporters, who do not even know how to handle a point-and-shoot camera, to become photographers, or for photographers, who do not even know the difference between a subject and a predicate, to become writers.

Problems come up when reporters and editors become overnight radio commentators (via podcasts) spewing opinions that color their objectivity or the fairness of their coverage, or when website managers dump all content – text, graphic, video and audio – together on the site without consideration on what their audience need.

Innovation is a must for local and regional media to compete in the globalizing media market. Journalists need to adapt to the changing trend in journalism. The playing field is changing fast and new rules are being formulated. The players, media owners and individual journalist alike, must prepare. It is not advisable to just plunge into the game without understanding the rules and studying the field. There must be a strategy for winning. It means money, money that may not come back if not spent wisely.

Will people pay for content on the Web?

It depends. I paid for some apps for my iphone and downloaded the “Adventures of Tintin” game. I downloaded a few issues of The New Yorker because it’s much cheaper than buying the magazine. But will I read the Inquirer or the Philippine Star online if it’s not free? Maybe not, unless I find something that will compel me to do so. And that something is content that will have the same attraction to me as the “Tintin” game or the short stories of the New Yorker.

It has always been said that “content is king” and what drives people to one’s website, newspaper, magazine or TV program is the quality of content. That may not be true. The most watch TV channels are not necessarily that ones that are delivering the best programs. The most read newspapers, magazines and tabloids are not necessarily the better ones.

What will compel people to not only visit a news site but pay for its content? Will the “compelling content” trick still work? What is a compelling content in the first place? What will make a news site survive financially in a connected world where everybody can become a “reporter” or “analyst”? Who will pay, for instance, for stories about the Catholic Church in Asia [I work for ucanews.com] if traditional news sources (priests, bishops and lay people) are writing about it on their blogs and FB posts that are accessible for free?

Media guru Stephen Quinn said that the economics of journalism are “complicated.” He noted that unlike most businesses where people pay for goods or services, “media companies thrive by selling advertising around the free content.” Advertising subsidizes news. He, however, said the “subsidy system” hides the true cost of serious journalism even as it became the source of income for web companies like Google and Facebook in recent years.

The advertising subsidy model, however, only works for popular news sites. The giants get everything. But still they complain about the low price of online advertisements and small click-through rates.

Without advertising, will media survive as an enterprise?

Quinn quoted Tribune Company president Jack Fuller saying that the most stupid thing the American newspaper industry had ever done was to give away content for free on the web. And since then, media companies are on a race for advertisements to survive.

Quinn wrote: “Journalism in the Western Liberal tradition is a unique business in the sense that its product (news) provides a public good or service. Unlike other public-good activities such as education or scientific research, it is not protected from market forces by government support in countries like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, New Zealand, or Australia. (Many European governments subsidize newspapers.) When a huge drop in advertising threatens the financial viability of the news business, the media’s public good role is also threatened. We encounter a paradox: People need news even if they are not willing to pay for it, to be able to function as citizens (for example choosing which party to vote for). But newsgathering is expensive, and becoming even more costly.”

There is no doubt that the changing landscape requires new business models for media to survive. Will there be enough attention to fuel the so-called attention economy in an overcrowded market?

Media sells attention, Quinn wrote. But is there still a place for new “attractions” to get the attention of the audience? Is producing compelling content the answer? Will the advertising subsidy model sustain media?

Tough questions. Now back to the “Adventures of Tintin.”

Not so merry Christmas

(My script for a Christmas report that I will file today.)

Christmas this year is not that merry for many in some parts of the world.

In the southern Philippines, people continue to mourn for their dead, while others are still searching for missing loved ones after a strong tropical storm hit several cities, washing away homes, cars, farms and livelihoods last week.

The number of missing people has been estimated at more than a thousand, while more than a thousand others were reported dead.

In New Zealand, strong earthquakes struck the city of Christchurch on Friday, rattling buildings, sending goods tumbling from shelves and prompting terrified holiday shoppers to flee into the streets. The city is still recovering from a devastating February earthquake that killed 182 people and destroyed much of the downtown area.

In India, Christians in Orissa are seeking protection after a tribal group called for a general strike during the Christmas period in Kandhamal district. They said the strike call “has caused panic among Christians who are planning to celebrate Christmas for the first time in four years.”

In Pakistan, the government is deploying snipers and hundreds of extra police at churches this Christmas to prevent possible attacks on the persecuted Christian minority. The bulk of Pakistan’s tiny Christian community live in and around the eastern city of Lahore, where police said there were 433 churches.

Indonesian authorities are also strengthening their forces nationwide, especially in conflict-prone areas, in a bid to be prepared to act against terror activities prior to, and during, the Christmas and New Year holidays. The police will deploy 83,457 officers, 18,000 of them from the Indonesian Military and related institutions, during the Dec. 23-Jan. 1 operation.

In China, Christmas, although not officially celebrated, has become an occasion for shopping sprees and fun-seeking. In Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xi’an and even second-tier Chinese cities, Christmas has become an important celebration for urbanites.

Some Christian leaders, however, are complaining that the government is trying to stop celebrations by religious communities that are not officially sanctioned.

In Korea, an alliance of religious groups opposed to the lighting up of a Christmas tree-shaped tower near the border with North Korea has welcomed a government order to scrap the plan. The alliance said the decision was a good one and warned against reviving the plan again next year. South Korea revived the Christmas tradition last year following two attacks by North Korea that killed over 50 people.

Christmas in Bangladesh is often referred to as Bara Din, which means the “Big Day”. Churches are illuminated with lights and the festive spirit in anticipation of Bara Din while streets and homes start taking on the form of Christmas wonderlands, with trees, branches and lights adorning houses and lining streets.

In northern Thailand, in the mountains of Chiang Mai province, tribal people celebrate Christmas for a whole week. This is the amount of time it takes the PIME missionaries to reach all the Catholic villages of the area. In the city of Bangkok, Christmas is a day to go shopping.

And in Japan, aside from celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Japanese people are celebrating a legend – by erecting huge Christmas trees in the shape of Godzilla! It’s not uncommon to spot Gojira (his native name) towering over the rooftops or popping up in the shopping centers during the annual gift buying rush!

So there you are, despite all the challenges that people face, it’s still Christmas, a time to remember the boy who was born in a manger in a small village in the middle of nowhere who later influenced the history of the world.

Merry Christmas to one and all!

‘Journalism Blues’ on a Sunday afternoon

There’s no choice but spend Sunday afternoon watching “Journalism Blues” as the laundry waits to be ironed and the mess in the room stinks.

Our cigar-chomping, wine-expert teacher suggested that we watch the video, maybe to bring us back to reality if we think that spending time in journalism and enrolling in a multimedia course will bring us a brighter future away from the laundry and the mess we pile the whole week in the room.

I once was a gatekeeper. I always checked my facts and beat
Now nobody cares; they just wanna see me Tweet.
They all want a quick read, news from the Internet
I know times they are a changing, but they ain’t gonna see me sweat

Twenty years ago or so, I entered the world of journalism. I wanted to be a priest until I realized that maybe the Lord wanted me in some other exciting field outside the four walls of the convent.

So I became a purveyor of words. A wordsmith. I pounded on the typewriter, dirtied my fingers every time I dared enter the kitchen where the antique mimeographing machine used to churn out pages of news dispatches that were later in the day delivered to newsrooms around the city by our bicycle-riding messenger.

Then the fax machine came, the computers, the email, the Internet, the blog, social networking sites, and the rest is history.

So now what? Adapt with the times, equip oneself and maybe try to learn how to appreciate a good wine while doing journalism. And yes, maybe improve on my singing talent. One day it might be of use when I decide on singing journalism blues.

So there, Stephen, I have watched the video, wrote this blog and pondered what to do with the future. So pass that wine and let’s party. (Oh gosh! Maybe later after I do the laundry.)

Oh Lord, what’s happened to the news?
Help me keep my head up;
Save me from the jour na lism blues!

‘Getting to Zero’ on World AIDS Day 2011

1. World AIDS Day this year carries the theme “Getting to Zero.”

   Backed by the United Nations, the “Getting to Zero” campaign runs until 2015 and builds on last year’s successful World AIDS Day “Light for Rights” initiative encompassing a range of vital issues identified by key affected populations.
2. 

   WAD2011

   [kapsel]

   November 27, 2011 9:18:40 PM EST
3. Activities during this year’s celebrations promise to be as colorful as the previous years. 
   

   In the United States, a group of young designers created a jacket to highlight its campaign to help a foundation that helps people with HIV and AIDS.
4. 

   Designing World AIDS Day Jacket 2011

   daochloedao

   November 27, 2011 6:26:24 PM EST
5. In the Philippines, a multi-sectoral group called on Filipinos to wear red to show that they care for AIDS and HIV patients.
6. Olongapo set for A.I.D.S. Day | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

   Nov 20, 2011 … Manila Bulletin Online aims to deliver breaking news from the … the observance of World AIDS Day in Olongapo City on…

   

   Mb
7. Hong Kong will have a “Turn the City Red” campaign.
8. World Aids Day 2011 – 1st December | Travel Gay Asia

   AIDS Concern Hong Kong launches “Turn the City Red” campaign.

   

   www.travelgayasia.com
9. The Corporate Social Responsibility in the Asia Pacific Region is holding a briefing on Nov. 30 on the “role of the private sector in combatting HIV/AIDS”
10. “

    CSR Asia and AIDS Concern hosting “World AIDS Day 2011 Briefing: The role of the private sector in combating HIV/AIDS” bit.ly/ryfbzL

    Community Business

    November 23, 2011 2:57:30 AM EST

    ReplyRetweet
11. Organizations, including Church groups, around the world are expected to hold activities later this week.
12. “

    Candlelight vigil will mark World AIDS Day: Carlsbad’s Pilgrim Church will host a candlelight vigil and re… bit.ly/u2Kdv7 #twib

    Union Twibune

    November 25, 2011 2:53:43 PM EST

    ReplyRetweet
13. What's Happening: 2011 – Center for the Church and Global AIDS

    San Antonio, Texas–World AIDS Day, December 1, 2011 Hosted by Travis Park United … Church, December 4, 2011 Benefit for AIDS orphans…

    

    Churchandglobalaids
14. World AIDS Day is held on December 1 each year and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. 

    World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the first one was held in 1988.
15. World Aids Day

    World AIDS Day is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against … Do something to mark World AIDS Day, you can al…

    

    Worldaidsday

Victory for Luisita farmers

1. “

   CBCP lauds SC decision on Hacienda Luisita; Says this is a victory not only for Hacienda Luista workers but for all farmers as well.

   News5 AKSYON

   November 24, 2011 4:14:54 AM EST

   ReplyRetweet
2. The party-list group Akbayan, which supported the candidacy of Aquino in 2010, echoed the bishops’ statement.
3. “

   Akbayan said the decision was a great victory not only for the beneficiaries but also for every Filipino farmer…. fb.me/1lUZfQGK4

   Akbayan Party

   November 24, 2011 4:15:05 AM EST

   ReplyRetweet
4. Leftist lawmakers, however, said justice must be served to those who died in the struggle for land.
5. “

   Mga militanteng kongresista, nanawagan ng hustisya para sa mga biktima ng Hacienda Luisita massacre… fb.me/MFNhu20g

   DZMM TeleRadyo

   November 24, 2011 4:11:52 AM EST

   ReplyRetweet
6. Earlier today, the Supreme Court handed down its decision on the case.
7. “

   Supreme Court votes 14-0 to distribute land of Hacienda Luisita.

   Maria Ressa

   November 23, 2011 7:36:39 PM EST

   ReplyRetweet
8. “

   THIS JUST IN: SC orders distribution of 4,916 hectares of Hacienda Luisita to farmers

   ABS-CBN News Channel

   November 23, 2011 10:29:19 AM EST

   ReplyRetweet
9. Some sectors immediately called on President Aquino to implement the court order.
10. “

    RT @ralph11ph: Mr President! SC just ordered your family to distribute the Lands of Hacienda Luisita. Kindly follow the court order.

    Elvie Amiscosa

    November 24, 2011 4:23:15 AM EST

    ReplyRetweet
11. Twitterland came alive after the court decision came out.
12. “

    Im so happy for our farmers! Hacienda Luisita!

    Reggie Rae Arbotante

    November 24, 2011 4:26:42 AM EST

    ReplyRetweet
13. “

    RT @kikopangilinan: We welcome the Supreme Court’s ruling to distribute almost 5,000 hectares of land from Hacienda Luisita to over (cont) tl.gd/ebml4r

    jackie

    November 24, 2011 4:25:58 AM EST

    ReplyRetweet
14. “

    Interesado ako sa reaction ni Kris sa Hacienda Luisita ruling, more than PNoy’s. #fb

    Byron Villegas

    November 24, 2011 4:28:29 AM EST

    ReplyRetweet
15. “

    Farmers of Hacienda Luisita rightfully deserve the SC 14-0 decision. Salute to the farmers! For their sacrifices and persistent actions.#fb

    Tan Canchela

    November 24, 2011 4:23:12 AM EST

    ReplyRetweet
16. “

    RT @inquirerdotnet: ‘Finally justice,’ say Hacienda Luisita farmers bit.ly/voKWVA

    Mika Gonzales

    November 24, 2011 4:16:06 AM EST

    ReplyRetweet

Time for Cervantes and Sherlock Holmes

I LOVE  reading and I love books. I’ve collected thousands of books since I discovered the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and even Bobbsey Twins in the library of my high school in our little town in Mindanao. Robert Ludlum’s “Bourne Identity” and George Eliot’s “Silas Marner” later followed.

In college, I almost failed my philosophy subjects because of Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and Yukio Mishima. Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Milan Kundera later captured my imagination.

Pablo Neruda, Charles Bukowski, Kurt Vonnegut and Hunter Thompson became my bedside companions. Tom Clancy, Graham Greene, Sidney Sheldon, John Grisham, Michael Crichton, lie beside Sionil Jose, Greg Brillantes and Danton Remoto.

There were others that are hidden under my bed with secondhand copies of Penthouse and Playboy.

There were just too many to read. Gone were the days when I can finish a Charles Dickens or a Thomas Mann novel in a week. Of course I have to struggle with textbooks, manuals and other non-fiction works that I collect from Booksale and during the annual book sale of National Bookstore.

This year, with the realization that I need to use glasses to read, I discovered audio books. I went crazy downloading the classics on my iPhone. I have the time and the chance now to enjoy “Don Quixote” and the “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” while commuting to and from the office.

Reading is now only for newly-released books like Paulo Coelho’s “Aleph” and Roy Peter Clark’s “The Glamour of Grammar” and “Help! for Writers.”

Some time ago I worried that I would not be able to read the classics in my lifetime. With technology, however, I am optimistic that there is enough time. Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” will have to come after Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” next week.

The Archbishop is on FB!

THE  Vatican is clearly doing more than just preaching about new media as a tool to bring about change in the Church.

Earlier this year Pope Benedict XVI made that “papal click” to launch the news and information platform News.Va, which sources information from the Vatican’s various print, online, radio and television media.

As well as that, he’s been on Facebook for some while with pope2you.

So it was no surprise to learn that the Vatican has named Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle – or “Bishop Chito” to his fans – as the new prelate of Manila. It’s especially appropriate as Manila is known as the texting capital of the world and one of the top sources of visitors to social media sites.

While some cardinals may still be meditating on what kind of animal new media is, Bishop Chito – and indeed many other Filipino priests and bishops – have already stamped their digital footprints firmly on the internet.

Bishop Chito is an active member of Facebook with 76,875 people liking his page. And as a regular face on TV, he uploads episodes of his appearances on the “Kape’t Pandasal” show on Youtube via the Jesuit community channel.

With his easy familiarity with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and whatever is just around the corner, we expect Bishop Chito to keep his flock fully and digitally updated.

We nearly didn’t have an Apple

Steve Jobs, celebrated around the world as a visionary, was an adopted child. He was born to Joanne Schieble, a young unmarried college student who woke up one day and found out that she was pregnant.

It was the 1950s and the world was different then. Joanne had few options. But instead of aborting the child, Joanne decided to give birth to Steven, and in 1955 had him adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs.

Filipino commentator Bobit Avila is one Catholic who believes there is no need for the government to pass a law allowing the use of contraceptives to control the ballooning population. In this article, he says the life of Steve Jobs “is one of the best examples why we should not abort unwanted children.”

He adds that when the “unwanted children” grow up, God has a special place for them in this world “and Steve Jobs is our best example.”

Indeed, thanks to Mom Joanne for our Macs, iPhones and iPads!