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‘I additionally realized that I don’t want to decide on which is best – print reporting or digital. Each are important: the self-discipline of multi-layer verification practiced in writing for print and the artistic potential supplied by the digital platforms in reporting complement one another.’
“A journalist’s job is to make the necessary attention-grabbing,” Rappler’s Mindanao coordinator Herbie Gomez shared this quote with fellows throughout our in-person coaching on the Rappler workplace in December 2023.
Little did I do know that these phrases would resonate with me all through this system.
Once I was nonetheless a reporter at a digital media company assigned to cowl metropolis corridor tales in Cebu for nearly two years, I held the notion that readers my age most well-liked gentle, enjoyable, and entertaining matters over discussions of metropolis council periods, budgets, and metropolis ordinance deliberations.
For some time, I believed I used to be solely writing for the aged and those that actually cared about how town was being managed. This perception in some way discouraged me from being extra artistic in my storytelling, and for some time I adhered strictly to a plain construction in writing these tales.
As I labored on tales for Rappler’s journalism fellowship program, I in a while realized to make the most of numerous shows and strategies to enrich my textual content stories. I started appreciating the usage of graphs, embedding social media posts, and incorporating extra pictures into my tales.
Writing for a digital information group gave me the liberty to think about and actualize how I needed my story to be offered. This allowed me, I consider, to seize the curiosity of readers my age and make necessary matters extra partaking. All of those with out sacrificing my outdated readers.
One instance of that is my two-part long-form story with the titles: (1) How social media possession dispute stirred Cebu Metropolis politics, and (2) How a former Cebu Metropolis gov’t Fb web page turned a “propaganda” software. These tales tackled how the dearth of social media-use coverage places authorities social media accounts vulnerable to abuse and misuse.
The screenshots I embedded in these tales aided the readers to simply see and respect what explicit particulars and Fb posts, for that matter, I used to be stating.
It was due to this expertise that I additionally realized that I don’t want to decide on which is best – print reporting or digital. Each are important: the self-discipline of multi-layer verification that’s practiced in writing for print and the artistic potential supplied by the digital platforms in reporting complement one another.
The coaching
Alongside this realization, this system additionally paved the way in which for my first expertise with intensive investigative reporting coaching.
From lectures on fact-checking, utilizing spreadsheets for information gathering, and understanding the present state of media within the nation, to conducting investigations and long-form writing, I had the privilege to study from veteran journalists within the trade.
I went via greater than two drafts for my long-form, and am immensely grateful to all of the coaching mentors on the Rappler/Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship for his or her constructive criticism and for stating areas for enchancment.
Rappler’s head of analysis and investigative Chay Hofileña, whom I take into account as my mentor, gave me sensible suggestions that helped me lots in coping with difficult and intimidating sources.
This was along with serving to me notice how you can deal with the story correctly and sew it in a means that it has a transparent deal with the narrative I needed to inform. She made me notice that even complicated matters may be defined merely with good storytelling.
I respect the Rappler staff’s willingness to lend their assets and experience. The coaching was intensive because it not solely lined discussions on disinformation and how you can deal with it, but in addition taught me how you can use the instruments wanted for fact-checking.
From truly on the lookout for doubtful content material and knowledge to writing an equal fact-check article for it, it was actually a enjoyable but difficult process, I need to say.
The fellowship has facilitated my private progress and positively influenced my profession growth, equipping me with new abilities and offering the chance to work with, and be mentored by, a few of the finest within the area.
My heartfelt appreciation additionally goes to my fellow journalists who participated in this system, too, for the assist and studying we shared. It was an honor to work with them.
I’m amazed by the tales that our batch, the third batch, has produced, and I’m sure that even after the coaching program, the fellows will proceed to write down tales that matter. With the intensive coaching, becoming a member of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship is really an unimaginable alternative for any journalist of their profession. – Rappler.com
Wenilyn Sabalo is a neighborhood journalist presently affiliated with SunStar Cebu and is an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow of Rappler for 2023-2024.
