Last Saturday, the online newsmagazine Pinoy Weekly and several other groups convened the Pinoy Citizen Journalism Seminar at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

Here is the presentation I shared with the participants:

Click here to download this presentation.

And some post-seminar notes:

Citizen journalism has long been put to good use in the Philippines, from as far back as the late 1800’s. It is now up to Filipinos to keep this tradition by using the internet and social media to be the media. Yes, to be the media.

Of course, those who wish to engage in citizen journalism must familiarize themselves and grasp the basics of journalism.

As far as tools are concerned, we can not ignore the growing use of social media by Filipinos. These social media — blogs, microblogging, social networking, podcasts, video, RSS, mobile internet — are gaining popularity especially in the cities and urban centers, and among the articulate middle class. The availability of these social media is a bane for citizen journalism because we have readily available media for citizen journalism efforts.

People’s organizations can and must seize social media to spread word about their advocacies and to reach through citizen journalism efforts the over 15 million Filipinos who now have access to the internet. Another view is that internet-based media complements the traditional forms long used by citizen journalists and people’s organizations.

To appreciate the expanding use of new, social media by Filipinos, refer to the following study by a global advertising company:

Below are more references on citizen journalism and new media:

Online references

Citizen journalism in practice

Live or recorded broadcasts

Live mobile video broadcasts