Goodbye

May 17

It was my last day of internship. I was happy and sad at the same time. Happy,because I finished my internship already. Sad, because I was about to leave the place which became my second home along with the people who willingly taught me what I needed to learn and accepted me for who I am.

Since it was a slow news day, I used my time to lurk in the twitter page and observed how frequent the interaction of the page was. Something that I would miss doing.

For 169 hours of working in the YouScoop team, I learned a lot of things that would be of great help for me in finishing my studies. I experienced a lot of crazy moments, of pressure-filled occasions that I wouldn’t be able to experience in the university.

I really value the verification process now. I really value accuracy and speed. I now used my ethics theories in practice.

I thank everyone who helped me in finishing this milestone in my life.

This experience, written in this blog, will be forever alive in my memory. 

Other Matters

May 16

Everyone still had a hang-over with the results of the second automated elections. 

Going with the flow, we decided to just ask the netizens about hoe they feel about it.

As usual, we also verified scoops from YouScoopers once and a while.

Another Slow News Day

May 15

Slow news day after elections.

What I did was storifying some of the comments we gathered in the social media. I was also asked to compile all memes about Nancy Binay and Dick Gordon which were circulating online for 24 oras.

This is one of the days where I used my very good research skills.

Election Hang-over

May 14

Post-election syndrome

After elections, the next thing everyone was waiting for was the announcement of winners. In this kind of stories, we also had some materials especially photos and videos of proclamation rallies we posted on our sites.

It was a very tiring day but content-wise we also had a lot.

Election 2013

The much-awaited day finally came!

It was May 13, holiday for most people but the most tiresome day for the mediamen.

Since it was elction day, we had a hard time monitoring all the materials the citizen journalists had been sending to us the whole day. We just got flooded with a lot of photos of election-related violations and problems.

It was the hardest day that I’ve experienced during my internship but also the most fulfilling. During the whole course of my shift, I seldom talk to anyone aside from the YouScoopers I called for verification.

But the good thing is I produced a lot of content. Here are some of the examples.

Pre-election, pre-haggard Day

May 12

Talking about preparations

It was pre-election day and I went to work two hours early than my usual schedule.

The election day spirit would be felt in every corner of Stuidio 7 where the Eleksyon2013 special coverage would be done.

We spent the whole day for preparations for the upcoming sleepless coverage the next day.

Funnel Cloud and the Vote-Buying Incident

May 10

One of the memorable scoops I had happened in this day. It was a funnel cloud in Bataan which was also aired in noon time news casts of GMA News TV.

Again, le me was so proud!

In the afternoon, Nadz, the one who was in-charged of the GMA News facebook account sent a message to me saying that a YouScooper sent a photo of a known celebrity doing vote-buying in a campaign rally. (Sorry Ma’am, cannot disclose the info, newsroom protocol)

It was a very controversial issue since the 40-min long video really showed the vote-buying part. I called the sender and asked about the details as we usually do. At the end of the conversation, I asked him his name and he told me that I cannot disclose it for his safety.

At this point, all the things I’ve learned in J 100 (Ethics) echoed in my ears. I know had a responsibility for I swore to the source that his name would be an internal secret in the newsroom.

I am proud to say that I lived to that promise.

Election planning

May 9

Election planning again and again!

We had a small meeting about the nearing election coverage. We listed possible scenarios we might encounter so that if ever, we will be able to do the best thing.

We also started call-outs for election day.

Here is one of my verified scoops posted on Facebook:

The MRT incident

May 8

It was very early in the morning when the desk prompted us asking for scoops about the MRT incident where a person allegedly committed suicide.

Thanks for our fast and reliable YouScoopers, we had a very great material about it, verified by me.

Accuracy above all

May 7

Mayon Volcano just erupted! And I was alone in the station, I don’t know what to do!

GMA Reporter Lia Manalac posted a photo on twitter with a caption saying that Mayon Volcano erupted. 

Since I was alone, I was very hesitant in breaking the news. First, the photo did not look like the volcano erupted and second, I just can’t move my fingers.

Since I was thought hardcore about accuracy in the university, I decided to asked the “weather people” about what happened and they told me that the phenomena was known as ash ejection and not a magmatic eruption.

So I tweeted: “Nagbuga ng abo ang Bulkang Mayon” with the photo of Lia Manalac.

We were not the first to break the news, since ANC beat us by 3 minutes but they said it was an eruption.

My supervisor, Mr. Ederic Eder, commended me for not undermining accuracy over speed.

Lesson learned: Yes, we are now in the age of new media where the competition really tightened. However, accuracy still is one of the pillars of journalism which journalists should carry over any medium for it should cross any development in the media industry.

I saw it on air

May 6

Not that I was boasting, but I was the queen of the YouScoop twitter account.

Since it was a slow news day, I decided to just spark interactions in the twitter page. I also helped in planning for election day.

Despite the fact that news seemed to be asleep, the intensity of the nearing election coverage could be seen in everyone’s faces. This is the thing the I want to experience, big time.

And Alas! for the very first time I was able to watch my verified scoop on air!

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/161252/newstogo/brgy-captain-sa-san-miguel-bulacan-patay-sa-pananambang

Not a typical Sunday

May 5

I usually spent my Sundays sleeping. No matter how toxic my academic load was, I usually didn’t do anything during this day. But this Sunday was an exception, I chose to work.

The newsroom didn’t have its usual perkiness and noisiness  And it was actually a boring day but still, I was able to publish a material in the facebook and website.

Writing about a YouScooper

May 3

It was a fun-day Friday! And my off would be tomorrow.

What I basically did during my whole shift was to write a profile of a YouScooper we met during the workshop.

We were not sure If this would be published in GMA News Online.

Here is what we wrote:

Shot, Sent and Shown: The Ultimate Scoop

by Claudine Complativo and Elizabeth Escaño

How far can a hobby take you?

For Roland Garceron, 41, it took him as far as becoming the citizen journalist who happened to document a speech in connection to one of the biggest news in 2012.

Armed with his cellphone camera and driven by the passion of reporting, Garceron was able to take a video of the speech which the last Department of Interior and Local Government Sec. Jesse Robredo addressed in the first founding anniversary of a non-governmental organization in Cebu.

It never crossed his mind that the video, which shows a blue spotlight cast on the well-loved secretary from Naga, would be the last footage this country would have showing a breathing and alive Robredo.

“Excited din akong kumuha. Scoop ‘to. Nandoon lang ako sa malayo kaya yung kuha ko medyo blue...kitang-kita siya doon,” Garceron said.

In fact, the news about the death of the late secretary reached Garceron through Howie Severino, GMA News Online Editor-in-Chief.  The latter called and asked him to send the footage.

“E walang Internet noon. Takbo ako kung saan-saan para makahanap ng Internet café. Mag-aalas dose na ng gabi, hindi ko pa rin natapos. Sabi ko, ‘Tomorrow morning, Ma’am, aalis kami ng Cebu. Dalhin ko na lang dyan’,” Garceron said.

Who would have thought that the simple gadget he always carries around would also be the reason for him to travel from Cebu to Quezon City.

Garceron is an Aparri-based YouScooper. In normal days, he manages their cellphone store business. He is a member of Kabalikat Civicom and the co-founder of its Aparri-chapter. The said organization is a radio group that helps people in times of calamities and national emergencies through communication.

He is also a volunteer for the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group - Criminal Investigative Support (CIDG-CIS).

Attending the first founding anniversary of the CIDG-CIS led him to be the person behind one of the biggest scoops by a citizen journalist in the history of the Philippine media industry.

A photography enthusiast, Garceron has been a loyal YouScooper for two years now. His first submission was about a typhoon which devastated their province. From then on, he started submitting photos periodically.

Ironically, Garceron never dreamt of becoming a journalist.

To him, being a YouScooper is just a hobby. However, Garceron believes that this hobby is meaningful, as YouScoop allows news from far-flung provinces to reach the whole country.

“Kasi walang media na malapit doon,” he said.

Garceron believes in the importance of citizen journalism, especially in the Philippines, an archipelago where communication can be a problem.

“Kung maraming ma-develop na citizen journalist, mas mabilis na maipaabot yung mga nangyayari sa mga liblib na lugar,” said Garceron.

Of all the citizen journalist platforms available in the country, Garceron saw the opportunity to report what is going on in their province through YouScoop.

“Through social media, through dun sa Internet, nakita ko dun. Then, naka-advertise din sa TV na merong YouScoop,” he added.

Although Garceron lacks a formal training, he also advocates for ethical journalism.

“Hindi lang basta kuha ng kuha ng isyu d’yan o kaya padala ng padala. Titignan din natin yung issue kung baka naman doon sa local official e matatamaan sila. E dapat balanse ka,” he said.

In addition to this, Garceron does not expect anything from the photos and videos he submitted.

“...Walang monetary [na] nakukuha. Unlike dun sa  pagiging stringer, you can receive money kasi binebenta mo. Ginagawan mo ng storya. Pero samin masaya kaming naibabalita yung nangyayari doon sa amin kasi naman, at least, nakilala naman [ang] Aparri,” he said.

This coming midterm election in May 13, Garceron said he will continue finding scoops.

Thought Balloon

May 2

Everyone had a hang-over due to the holiday. Most materials sent to us were basically connected to the Labor Day rallies.

I was very happy because some of our photos and videos were aired in the newscasts. Perks of being a content producer for both online and TV. Sadly, it was hard for us to monitor what photos we verified were used in TV.

When my shift was about to end, a thought balloon came out from nowhere. Yes, we weren’t be able to see our names in the byline or tagline of the news briefs/photo stories we are doing, we cannot credit ourselves when we break news on twitter. But as long as we know deep inside, that we were the ones behind those works, it was paradise.

Yvan Limson, Social Media Producer , and yours truly

Working on Labor Day

May 1

As expected, there were a lot of material coming in from our site, twitter and facebook. I was holding the twitter account so most of the photos posted in there were verified by me.

Aside for verifying, it was also our job to write the one paragraph story attached to it. Basically, it was a lead. Since we mostly do it in Filipino, I had a hard time at first because my training in the university used English as a medium. Luckily enough, I grew up in Bulacan where people were known to be fluent in Filipino.

Because of this, I think the department of journalism should also offer classes with Filipino as a medium. In the real world, most media outfits are using the native language.

Pre-Labor Day Experience

April 30

I started to almost had the monopoly of the twitter account. I posted call-outs or asked questions for interactions. We also prepared for Labor day since we were expecting a lot of news.

Crash course on Inews

April 29

It was a slow news day. Even the desk persons were asking us about news from the internet. Since there were few materials coming in in our site, www.youscoop.tv, on twitter, www.twitter.com/youscoop, and our facebook site, www.facebook.com/youscoopgma, social media producer Justin Joyas decided to thought me how to use Inews.

Inews is a software used by desk persons to write the script of the report. Everyone who has an access to it can view all trhe scripts and the line –up of the stories for the day.  Some producers also prompt us for call-outs through this software.

Meeting the YouScoopers

April 26

The YouScoop team organized a seminar for loyal YouScoopers. As an intern in the department, I also help in last minute preparations of the event.

At 9:00 am, I met the attendees and brought them to the venue in the GMA Network Center Annex.

It was not just a learning experience for the YouScoopers but for interns like me as well. I was able to listen to the talks by GMA reporters such as Cesar Apolinario and Bam Alegre.

I knew it was not a good thing to be a fan girl while working but since we were not in our station, we grabbed the opportunity to take a photo with Mariz Umali and Sandra Aguinaldo.

This is just the beginning

I started to call materials senders already. It was just the same thing that I did in my classes. It was the same process known as interviewing. Since I could say that I’m very much used to it, I never had a hard time doing it in work. I asked the basic questions – 5W’s and I H.

The whole afternoon was spent in attending meetings. After lunch, I was able to present my analysis of the different citizen journalism arms in front of the whole social media team. It was a very great experience for I was able to do what I only saw in movies before. Yes, presentation were not a rare thing in UP but the ambiance in the working place is very different. I was as nervous as a bride at first but luckily, I was able to do my part well.

At 4 0’clock, we were given the privileged to attend the general assembly of the whole GMA News Online department regarding the election coverage. I really had a feeling that it was just like one of the general meetings we had in the organization (UP Journalism Club). Maybe it was because most of the employees were also UP graduates so the kindi] of environment I experienced in the university was closely similar to what GMA had.

Hooray! For the First Day!

April 24

It was a fine day, a typical sunny summer day. At 8:00 in the morning, my hands were laready damp despite the colness of the air coming from the AC vents. Yes, I was extremely nervous because it was my first day of on-the-job training in the YouScoop team of GMA News Online.

First things first, I was asked to observed how the employees work since that basically would be the same thing that I would do in the whole course of my stay in the company.

Before luch, I was asked to do an analysis of the differen citizen journalism arms in the country.

Here is what I wrote:

The power of the citizens’ voice has been increasingly recognized by different media outfits as

seen in the emergence of news sites with user-generated contents such as YouScoop of GMA

Network, Bayan mo, Ipatrol mo (BMPM) of ABS-CBN and move.ph of Rappler respectively.

This trend in the media industry in the country can also be seen worldwide. In fact, US-based

CNN also launched their citizen arm in reporting known as ireport.

In general, the above-mentioned sites for the mobile or citizen journalism has one thing in

common: all contents came from the citizens.

However, the differences in the management and administration of the news sites also echo the

differences in the format of the content found in the said sites. For instance, YouScoop and

BMPM both cater for video ang photo submissions while move.ph also contains articles ranging

from news to features stories.

BMPM’s specialization is about election-related coverages which is also the core reason why it

is founded. However,daily updates is the one that lacking in the site. As of press time, the latest

update on the site is dated April 23 and the video is a feature of an elementary school in Jolo

which is said to be fixed through the help of BMPM. Some other publicity videos are prevalent in

their site.

YouScoop on the otherhand, is not as active venue as BMPM when it comes to election-related

stories. But when it comes to daily stories such as road accidents and fire-related coverages,

the site is practically updated. Besides, a segment for YouScoop is alloted in the main news

programs of the network.

Moreover, move.ph caters not just videos and photos but mainly articles. The strength of this site

is that it is issue-based. When it comes to in-depth discussions of pressing issues, the site

offers good picks in the citizens’ perspectives.

Generally, the three sites abovementioned is not flawless as it is. But the fact that the media

organizations accept the fact that citizens can also be journalist is a good step towards

achieving an active and informed society.

Prologue

Hi! I’m intern Claudine.

For the next 150 hours, I will be an intern of the YouScoop Team of the GMA News Online. For the next 150 hours (or more) I will be doing phone calls, writing tweets, doing call-outs, writing one-paragraph stories, breaking news, doing verification and a lot of verification.

Maybe for the next hour, you will be reading this account of my 169 hours (to be exact) stay in the chilling newsroom of GMA News where everyone is wearing their winter attire in the middle of summer days. Most of the things you will be reading here happened inside that very newsroom where almost everyone are using their Mac computers while sipping a cup of hot coffee secretly placed under the table. Most the things that I did happened while sitting in my comfortable chair when the traffic of Edsa-Orense and Edsa-Balintawak can be seen behind me in the command center.

This is my official account of the days I spent eating overpriced lunch in the GMA canteen.

This is my official account of my internship which I considered as one of the happiest and memorable experiences I ever had.

Note: I wan’t able to get a screencap of all the things that I have done especially the tweets. J