STOCKHOLM, Sweden – A member of the Baguio Midland Courier editorial staff is one of the eight journalists from the Philippines currently undergoing media training here aimed at initiating change towards a more efficient and sustainable planning and implementation of self-regulation of the media.
Midland Assistant Editor Lita Jane Cadalig joined seven other fellows of the International Training Program (ITP) on Media Development in a Democratic Framework Asia 4 in the training held from March 5 to 15 in Sweden’s capital.
The ITP on Media Development, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and implemented by NIRAS Sweden, aims to enhance the fellows’ knowledge about media and freedom of expression in relation to media policy and self-regulation of the media sector; extend their professional national and international networks; increase their awareness of human rights, gender equality and security for journalists and other media actors; and increase their knowledge and capacity to initiate a structured long-term transformation work within and outside the respective organizations.
At the end of the training, fellows are expected to initiate projects geared towards the promotion and protection of the institutional frameworks which govern self-regulation of the media.
This is the second year the Philippines is participating in the ITP, which has been implemented in Asia for four years. The other ITP participants in Asia are from Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
To contribute to the development of self-regulatory frameworks for the media, fellows from the Philippines this year have aligned their change initiative to the project implemented by the ITP 2021 team, which is the establishment of media-citizen councils in various parts of the country.
This year’s fellows aim to enhance public awareness over the existing local media-citizen councils and mainstream self-regulatory mechanisms by engaging media stakeholders through dialogues and forums.
With a project title: “Media-Citizens Council: Front & Center, “the Philippine ITP 2022 envisions a media-literate citizenry aware of existing media councils as a self-regulatory mechanism geared towards restoring trust in journalism.
“As the previous ITP Philippines team sustains its efforts in establishing media-citizen councils across the nation, the 2022 team aims to enhance public awareness on the existence of such councils,” the group said.
“By promoting media industry collaboration and securing support from various stakeholders, the team aims to improve the visibility of media-citizen councils and bring them, along with the available self-regulatory mechanisms, closer to the public the media claims to serve.”
The team also noted multisectoral participation in media-citizen councils is essential since the councils’ purpose is to interact with the media audience.
Cadalig, who is also the vice chair of the Kordilyera Media-Citizen Council, was with Catherine Valente of The Manila Times, Janvic Mateo of Philippine Star, Bea Cupin of Rappler, Mia Embalzado-Mateo of the Cebu Citizens Press Council and University of the Philippines Cebu, Arlene Burgos of ABS-CBN News, Paul Soriano of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, and Francis Allan L. Angelo of the Iloilo-based Daily Guardian.
Gary Mariano, former chair of the Department of Communication of the De La Salle University, joined the team as its country facilitator. – Press release
April 27, 2024
