Uplifting the discourse on the role of radio in the post-truth era and the safety of the media, the DZMC - Young Communicators' Guild (DZMC-YCG) conducts the 10th edition of its annual Radio Conference (RCon), held at the PUP Theater, College of Communication, Sta. Mesa, Manila, May 5.
With the theme "Maniobra: Unveiling the Illusion Behind Public Deception", this year's RCon revolves around ways on combating fake news and lies manipulated as alternative truth, the usage of other contemporary upgrades to enhance journalism repertoire, and ensuring the safety of media practitioners.
The event featured three speakers, with Mara Cepeda opening up the event with her pre-recorded talk as the resource speaker. In her discussion, she said that the media should be more flexible to make the news more accessible to the public.
"To regain public trust, Filipino newsrooms really need to innovate on storytelling, and follow where the audience is," Cepeda uttered, giving social media platforms such as Tiktok and Facebook as prime examples.
As the first official physical speaker in the program, DZMM reporter Robert Mano tackles the "post-truth era," where he discussed how lies can be considered as truth due to personal emotions and biases.
"When the alternative facts replace actual facts, and feelings have more weight than evidence, truth can be manipulated as never before," Mano said.
He also echoed Cepeda's point that in order for newsrooms to survive the post-truth era, they need to stand out among other platforms which use manipulated truths to connect with their audience.
"We need to stand out. Pero hindi ibig sabihin na ire-reformat mo kung anong meron ka. Kailangan mo lang ire-awake yung audience mo, yung branding mo noong 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago, kailangan baguhin nang kaunti para maging believable, modern, and connected yung output natin sa audience," Mano added.
The Pamantasang ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) alumnus Mano also introduced modern technologies that can be handful in delivering stories to the contemporary audience, such as the TikTok radio and AI-generated RadioGPT.
Another suggestion that Mano wants the audience to pursue is the deliverance of Solutions Journalism - whereas it is a journalism that also tackles solutions to the problems discussed in the story.
Mano added that Solutions Journalism is a great way to expand the media's role of being a "watchdog" into becoming a "guide dog" for the public as well.
"Hindi na tayo doon sa hanggang watchdog lang. The challenge to us now, as journalists, is hindi na watchdogs. Ano tayo dapat din? Guide dogs. Gina-guide na natin ‘yung audience natin sa katotohanan," Mano articulated.
Meanwhile, RCon's second speaker, Sherrie Ann Torres started her talk by inviting representatives from each school's audience to a chain-of-story activity that she provided.
Torres persuaded the media practitioners in the event to not solely rely on politicians or political candidates' statements, but to know the locals' position on them during field coverages.
"Hindi lang si kandidato ang kinakausap natin, dapat kapag kampanya, kapag halalan, and even sa regular coverage natin, as much as possible, kapag tayo nasa field, matuto kayong magtanong sa mga locals," Torres said.
She also noted that background checking on candidates, as well as on the settings on the coverages, are all important for more effective journalism
"Bago ang coverage, mag-aral ka. Pag-aralan mo yung kandidato. (...) Hindi ka susugod sa isang lugar na hindi mo alam kung anong mayroon doon," Torres enunciated in her talk.
Mano and Torres were also given the chance to respond to questions by the audience in the Q&A forum.
This is the first face-to-face RCon by DZMC-YCG since the pandemic, after handling the event for two years in a remote setup.
Article: Axell Swen Lumiguen
Graphics: Cathlyn De Raya
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