Wednesday, July 09, 2008 2 young reporters join media summit in Manila By Edmund B. Sestoso
TWO youth reporters who are members of the Kabataan News Network (KNN) from Dumaguete Bureau joined the National Youth Media Summit held in Manila recently and organized by Probe Media Foundation Inc. (PMFI) and the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).
Wiem Marie Bonganciso of Silliman University (SU) and Joel Aba of Negros Oriental State University (Norsu) were two of the participants who underwent an intensive four-day workshop to learn about forms of violence against children and to produce tri-media outputs on the issues.
The other young media practitioners came from Baguio, Camarines Norte, Metro Manila, Cebu, Capiz, Dumaguete, Davao, Cotabato, and Kidapawan.
The participants are campus journalists, photographers, video producers, and producers of radio programs in their own schools and localities.
The event's resource speakers included experts from child protection groups, such as Unicef, Save the Children, Center for the Welfare of Children (CWC), Parenting Foundation, End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (Epcat-Philippines), Christian Children's Fund, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Media experts from print, radio, and video production gave insights on how the youth could tell powerful stories. Participants were also briefed on the ethical guidelines in interviewing children.
With just a half-day spent for field work and interviews and one day for post-production, the participants produced a total of 15 journalistic outputs: four print stories, two photo essays, five radio programs, and four video documentaries dealing with anti-child pornography, anti-child exploitation, corporal punishment and foster care, all of which have pending bills in the Congress.
