User:Blogwatch

ABOUT BLOG WATCH

Media coverage of past elections in the Philippines has often been criticized for its superficiality. Reporters often focus on personalities rather than issues and platforms. Mass media has the responsibility to accurately report the political and technical aspect of elections and plays a vital role in informing voters and holding candidates, political parties, and election authorities accountable. The better the caliber of media coverage, the more credible the election results will be.

In a recent Yahoo! & Nielsen Release of the "First-Ever Internet Habits Study for the Philippines", more Filipinos, especially the youth, are favoring the Internet more than television and print as news sources. There is an estimated 20 million Internet users in the Philippines, and 42 percent of them read blogs. Thus, it cannot be denied that new media are gaining more and more influence in readership every day. Voter demographics according to Nielsen:

- About 50 percent are below 35 years of age, about 70 percent below 45 years - With little or no consciousness of EDSA I, or of Philippine Political History - Mostly urban – about 48 percent live in cities and towns - Mostly poor – 30 percent poverty incidence in the Philippines - Mostly exposed to media and are cynical towards politics and politicians, according to public opinion polls

Bloggers play an important role in the election coverage because they have an existing community that can virally disseminate information among their readers as well as to other internet users, especially on the social networks which comprise 51 percent of Internet users in the Philippines.

It was timely that earlier in the year, three bloggers, namely Noemi Lardizabal, Marck Ronald Rimorin and Pierre Tito Galla were invited by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) for a training seminar on “Covering Elections in the Era of Internet and Automation,” which was supported by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). A total of nine bloggers have now attending this training seminar. It was then that the idea for a citizen journalists' movement for the 2010 elections was born.

Now, with barely five months left before the May 2010 Elections, the urgency of voter education and training is clear. It now falls to media organizations and informed citizens to build public confidence in the coming polls.

Blog Watch is a bloggers' initiative aiming to cover underplayed stories that traditional media cannot cover due to limited resources and time. Aside from interviews and articles, Blog Watch will utilize various multimedia platforms to convey these stories through photos, videos and podcasts.