Citizen Disaster Reporting

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Running Head: CITIZENS DISASTER REPORTING ON SOCIAL NETWORKINGSITES

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites:

A proposal for a Citizen Journalism Site in the Province of Pampanga

A Thesis Presented to the

College of Arts, Sciences, and Education

Holy Angel University

In partial fulfillment of

the Requirements for the degree of

Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts

Baluyut, Lacel, O.

Celeste, Lovelaine, G.

de la Cruz, Manuel Sebastian, B.

Diwa, Ricar Joy Angela, D.

Gutierrez, Catherine, P.


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Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites 2

Acknowledgment

The researchers wish to express their gratitude first and foremost to

our Lord who kept us safe and sane, provided us patience, and gave us

strength and knowledge to conduct this study.

Our gratitude extends:

To our family and friends who have been helpful and supportive during

this whole process of research.

To our adviser, Mr. Justin Emmanuel Dizon, who extensively

recommended suggestions to make our study better.

To our panelists, Ms. Anne Marie Lewis, Ms. Gloria Miranda, and Mr.

Nigel Ian Laxamana, for giving important points for us to tackle on during the

time of research. Without their insights, this thesis would not be possible.

To our thesis instructor, Ms. Leslie Manalo for the support and for all

the considerations you have given us.

To our respondents, who have shared with us their experiences and

opinion on Citizen Journalism. The experiences they shared showed us how

a citizen, without preference on age, gender, or status, can be of great help

to his community.


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We dedicate this study to all the victims of past disasters in the

Philippines.


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Table of Contents

Abstract . . . . . . . . 5

Introduction . . . . . . . . 6

Methodology . . . . . . . 20

Results and Findings . . . . . . . . 26

Conclusion . . . . . . . . 44

Recommendations . . . . . . . . 46

References . . . . . . . . 53

Appendices

APPENDIX A-B: Sample Letters

APPENDIX C-L: Transcript of Interviews

APPENDIX M: Interview Schedule


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Abstract

Citizens Disaster Reporting on Social Networking Sites: A proposal for

a Citizen Journalism Site in the Province of Pampanga is a qualitative study

that aims to explore the role of citizen journalism particularly in disaster

reporting. An in-depth interview was conducted to online journalists; editors

and citizen journalists who experienced the Habagat in 2012 were asked for

their views on the phenomenon of Citizen Journalism.

Since citizen journalism has become the new medium in reporting

information, the researchers aim to know the essence of providing information

of citizens through social networking sites, and how citizen journalism can

help in preventing disasters and hazards.

Findings revealed that it is important to have a citizen journalism arm

especially in the local setting. It strengthens the reporting and circulating of

information especially in emergency purposes. Citizen journalists become the

source of information and at the same time partners of the media industry.


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Social Media have undeniably changed how people communicate with

each other. It is clearly replacing the traditional form of media in information

dissemination and disaster response (Benson, 2009). Major news networks in

the Philippines today engage the public in the creation of news through

different platforms.

The characteristics of Social Media enable the Filipinos to

communicate effectively, removing the bias of the traditional media. The

researchers discovered that this bias arise from the hierarchical structure of

television and other traditional media.

News such as the London bombings, the killing of Osama Bin Laden,

the reportage of the Cyclone Nagris in Myanmar all came from social media,

uploaded by citizens that have witnessed the events on ground zero.

In the local setting, the news of the ruthless killing of 57 people,

including Media workers in the Maguindanao massacre was broken by a

citizen (Quinn and Kierans, 2010). When the typhoon Ondoy ravaged parts of

Metro Manila, traditional forms of media and government efforts were

paralyzed, as communication lines were broken. Concerned Filipino citizens

in and out of the country tapped the social media in order to improve disaster

relief and rescue efforts (Gutierrez, 2010).


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In this study, the researchers explore in general citizens reporting in

social media and citizens reporting of disasters in social media in particular.

This study explore past disasters in the Philippines where citizen journalism

efforts became effective. In particular, the researchers focus on the Habagat

2012, which significantly affected the province of Pampanga to answer the

research questions:

RQ1) How important is the role of the Citizen in reporting news

affected by disasters?

RQ2) How does citizen reporting in Social Media affect traditional news

reporting?

RQ3) What are the possible consequences if a local government unit

does not have a citizen journalism arm?

This study employs a qualitative study in order to understand the

phenomenon that is citizen journalism. The researchers conducted interviews

with key personalities in disaster mitigation, news reporting and weather

experts in and out of the country.

The researchers conclude the study with a proposal plan for a

localized citizen journalism site that will be open up a new avenue for

information exchange among the people of Pampanga. Currently, there is no

active online citizen journalism arm in the province.

Definition of Citizen and Citizen Journalism


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Marshall McLuhan predicted a global village where citizens, through a

universal medium can overcome geographic barriers (1964). We are entering

a so-called digital age where real time communication is easier and more

reliable (Banda, 2008).

A digital citizen refers to a person utilizing information technology (IT)

in order to engage in society, politics, and government participation. K.

Mossberger, et al. define digital citizens as "those who use the Internet

regularly and effectively." In qualifying as a digital citizen, a person generally

must have extensive skills, knowledge, and access of using the Internet

through computers, mobile phones, and web-ready devices to interact with

private and public organizations.

With the adoption of this new media, citizens were able to make their

own choices when it comes to gathering and disseminating information. The

lack of useful information coming from traditional media sources paved way

for the start of Citizen Journalism (Clark, 2009).

Citizen journalism allowed a large number of citizens to contribute and

share in more journalistic procedure, comprising news commentary, yet it

failed to interpret the contribution by some representative cross-section of the

over-all citizenry. (Bruns, 2009)

Citizen journalism is a label popularly known as a form of media that

involves reader participation. (Terdiman, 2004). It also feeds the public

hunger for what was called intensely local, people-centered news.


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Citizen journalism is a form of journalism which is fast evolving wherein

ordinary citizens have initiatives to report news or express their views and

insights about the events happening in the community. It is considered as

news of the people, by the people and for the people. Citizen journalists are

considered to be free lancing citizen reporter and independent at the same

time. They are not forced to have journalistic processes or methodologies and

most of the time they function even without editorial oversight. Citizen

journalists usually do the gathering, processing, researching, analyzing and

publishing of news and information. These people utilize differenttechnologies possible with the use of Internet (Ross & Cornier, 2010).

Citizen Journalism is built through personal nature of writing.

Community members are not trained to write following the standards of media

objectivity. Articles can be written in first person or third person point of view.

(Bentley et al., 2005)

Jessica Clark in Public Media 2.0 (2009) outlined the practices in

Citizen Journalism:

Ubiquitous video

Professional and amateur video alike are migrating online to sites.

Nonprofessional online video is becoming part of broadcast news and

newspaper reporting; live streaming and podcasting are routine aspects of

public events.


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Pervasive gaming

Gamingplaying computer, web, portable, or console games, often

connecting with other players via the Internethas become as ubiquitous as

watching TV for young people.

Social networks as public forums

Durable social-networking platforms such as Facebook allow

multifaceted media relationships with one person, a few or many people.

Accessible metrics

Ranking and data-gathering sites make it easier for media makers to

compile and compare their audiences and for outsiders to more easily judge

and note success.

Locative media

GPS enabled mobile devices such as cellular phones allow access and

upload geographically relevant content, and a new set of hyperlocal media

projects are feeding this trend.

Powerful databases

Databases also now serve as powerful back-ends for managing and

serving up digital content, making it available across a range of browsers and

devices.


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Distributed distribution

News feeds, search engines, and widgets are allowing content to

escape the traditional boundaries of the channel or site. Users are coming to

expect access to anywhere, anytime searchable media.

Hackable platforms

Open source tools and applications are becoming increasingly

customizable. Media makers can tailor platforms, sharing tips across a broad

community of developers, and users can pick and choose how they will

interact with content.

Cloud content

Applications, media and personal content are migrating away from

computers and mobile devices and onto hosted servers into the cloud of

online content. On the one hand this offers simplicity, easy sharing, and

protected backups; on the other, it threatens control and privacy.

Citizen Journalism Practices in Foreign Countries

In 1999, young Korean Journalist, Oh Yeon-Ho launched a media

revolution based on these words: Every citizen is a journalist. It all started

due to frustration for one-way journalism and unable to make an impact on

Korean media through traditional means. The result was OhMyNews that was

launched in 2000. Its an Internet-based publication wherein 727 citizen


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reporters offered to supply commentary from their own perspective and direct

news as well. Four years later, OhMyNews had more than 32,000 citizen

reporters and gain worldwide respect. (Bentley et al., 2007)

In January 2008, Kenya was experienced ethnic violence cause by

irregularities of the election. During the violence, there are television stations

decided to footballs and air soap operas. On the other hand, spreading and

inciting of violence were aired in some vernacular stations. Actual reflection of

events left a gap in some print media in the said country. This gap was

occupied by false information, fanning the flames of violence. Kenyas top

blogger, David Kobia, Ory Okolloh, Juliana Rotich and Erik Hersman

established a citizen-journalistic platform that would allow the sharing of

public information with the use of available communication means. (Banda,

2008)

Cyclone Nargis disaster which happened in Myanmar in 2008, is one

of the worlds most repressive regimes, which killed 140,000 people.

Disasters in the said country were unreported and hidden from the outside

world. But citizen journalists utilized the tools in disseminating information and

telling stories from inside repressive regime (Downman, 2008).

Citizen Journalism Practices in the Philippines

In southern Philippines, the Maguindanao Massacre in November 2009

was considered as the worst election-related violence in the country. 60

people were killed including 30 journalists. It was also the deadliest single


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attack on journalists anywhere in the world. A patroller of ABS-CBNs Bayan

mo, I-patrol mo, gave prior information (Quinn and Kierans, 2010).

Disaster Risk profile of the Philippines

Disaster is defined as a sudden calamitous event bringing greatdamage, loss, or destruction (Merriam-Webster, 2013). The Philippines lie on

the western rim of the pacific and lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire that

makes it vulnerable to different types of disasters. Flash floods, typhoons,

storms, earthquakes, droughts, volcanic eruptions, and various hazards.

In 2012, the Philippines topped the list of countries with the most

number of people killed by natural disasters in the worlds disaster data. It

placed second in terms of people affected by natural disasters (CDRC,2012).


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An overview of Natural Disasters from the study of World Bank and the

now defunct National Disaster Coordinating Council (2008) summarizes the

disasters that the Philippines might experience:

Volcano Eruption: Twenty-two volcanoes are classified active by the

PHILVOLCS. Mount Pinatubo eruption is considered as the most recent

major eruption that happened in the country. According to historical data,

Central and Southern Luzon are likely to expect a significant eruption once

every three years.

Earthquakes: The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology

(PHIVOLCS) has recorded 12 destructive earthquakes in the last 40 years.

This does not include the recent Bohol Earthquake that left thousands of

families displaced.

Flooding: Floods are triggered by typhoons, tropical depression and

continuing heavy rains. Man-made causes such as dam failures, blockage of

waterways by garbage and improper design of street drainage significantly

increases the chance of flooding.

Tropical cyclones: The geographic location of the Philippines makes it

vulnerable to tropical cyclones. The western Pacific Rim is where most of the

tropical cyclones build up. An average of twenty typhoons hit the country

during the rainy season.


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Disaster Reporting and Social Media in the Philippines

Reporting of disasters in the Philippines is usually done through

television (Quinn & Kierans 2010). Due to the nature of disasters, lack of

information can aggravate the harm caused to the affected community. It can

increase the residents level of anxiety or lead them to make dangerous

choices in the belief that they are doing the right thing. It is important for the

affected community to know where they can get support before, during and

after a disaster (Ginetti et al., 2011). In a related study of Gutierrez (2010),

she explored how digital citizens used social media to fill the lack ofinformation that was coming from major news networks.

In times and places where media fails to reach a community to inform

them about an impending disaster, the tolling of church bells forewarned

people. In some areas, a town crier or bandillo , designated by barangay

officials, informed residents. Remote areas were not informed, as these

means of information dissemination is not available (Espinas, 2013).

Government efforts to harness Social Media to forewarn people about

disasters started in 2012 with the launch of National Operational Assessment

of Hazards or Project NOAH. It is an interactive website run by the

Department of Sciences and Technology and PAGASA. It reports regular

updates on typhoons, isolated thunderstorms, flood alerts and acts as a

database for hazard maps. (DOST, 2013). During the past tropical cyclones,

complains were made about the difficulty in accessing the PAGASA website.

Berse and La Via (2013) acknowledge this in their study on the aftermath of


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Typhoon Yolanda. The suggested that more localized assessments are

needed to cover capacities and vulnerabilities at the community level in order

to complement government efforts such as NOAH.

Social Media was tapped as an information resource during the height

of the Typhoon Ondoy in Manila. Networks to the Rescue (Gutierrez, 2010)

shows how a civic society was formed out of the need for another source of

information to enhance the rescue and relief operations. Twitter was used to

collate the data and inform affected communities as power lines were cut off.

Filipinos who were overseas or otherwise unable to physically participate in

relief efforts organized benefit events and disseminated announcements

about organizations that accepted donations. This form of crowd sourcing

complemented the efforts of the government to reach the people who were

inaccessible to them.

The same study argues that two traditional dimensions of the

Philippine culture, which are bayanihan and pakikipagkapwa , have an

important role in the use of social networking sites during times of calamities.

Blogger Aristotle Cruz during the height of the 2012 Habagat,

mentioned in his blog, a Diary of an absentee employee (2012), an Internet

connection is more important than having an electric or water supply. NoInternet connection means a very limited source of real-time updates.

He also mentions on the article that news on TV does not help promote

critical analysis and dwells on the trivial matters. Some TV stations are


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obsessed with how much in donations they have raked in without asking,

when will we get to that point when donations will no longer be necessary

(Cruz, 2012).

Another web forecasting service in the Philippines that is becoming

popular for web users is the Ks weather and more, run by Karen Berthelsen

Cardenas. It started out when she decided to migrate her posts about the

effects of the Typhoon Ondoy from her personal account to a public account.

She recounts that she felt that the people needed an alternative sources of

weather since the most accessible medium at the time was the Internet.

Through crowd sourcing, she gets real-time updates about the weather

that the mainstream media fails to report otherwise.

Cardenas points out the Me society when comes to taking care of the

environment. The people who live with nature and depend on it for their

livelihood are concerned about the weather. The middle-class city dweller is

only concerned about how the bad weather might be an inconvenience to

them. The page does not mean to replace the mainstream media or official

agencies. Cardenas makes sure to verify her sources before posting and lets

her readers know if the report is not fully verified. Members follow the rule that

if they post something, they should post the source, or mention that it is their

own guess or opinion (Quimpo, 2012).


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Uses and Gratifications Theory

Elihu Katz predicted the change in mass media landscape more than

fifty years ago. His Uses and Gratifications Theory (1959) argued that the

question was not What do media do to people? rather, What do people do

to media? This posed an important question that was monumental in

communications research. Uses and Gratifications Theory assumes that even

the most potent media has no influence on the individual that has no use for it.

Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian Media Theorist further acknowledged

this in his study, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964) when

he coined the phrase, the medium is the message. A medium affects the

society not only by the content but also by the characteristics of the medium

itself.

A study on blogging conducted by Huang et al.,(2007) outlined five

motivations for posting: information-seeking, commenting, socialization, life

documenting, and self-expression.

Diffusion of Innovation

Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated

through certain channels over a period of time among the members of a

social system. An innovation is an idea, practice, or object that is perceived to

be new by an individual or other unit of adoption (1995, Rogers).


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The proponent, Everett M. Rogers mentions that innovation occurs in

four stages: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and

confirmation.

Knowledge of the innovation comes to the individual and he gets

interested and actively looks for information about it in the Persuasion stage.

Rogers perceive the Decision stage as the most difficult to acquire

empirical evidence because of its individualistic nature. It is on this stage that

the individual decides whether to adopt or reject the innovation.

The individual utilizes the innovation and seeks more information about

it in the Implementation stage.

On the final stage of Confirmation, the individual finalizes the decision

to continually use the innovation.

This theory predicts that new medium such as the Internet and the

mp3 format will displace traditional media if audiences recognize that they are

advantageous.

Combining these two theories, the phenomenon of Citizen Journalism

is viewed as an innovation, a new medium where web users social needs of

information seeking, commenting, socialization, life documenting, and self-

expression are fulfilled.


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Methodology

This study employed a qualitative and Glassers (1965) constant

comparative data analysis. The researchers one piece of data (e.g. one

statement or one interview) to other data that was either similar or

contradictory. The data collected were then classified to themes and

subthemes. Initial themes were discarded and new themes emerged as the

analysis progressed.

Because of the risk of disasters that can happen in Pampanga and the

lack of active citizen journalism arm in the province, this study seeks toanswer the following questions:

RQ1) How important is the role of the Citizen in reporting news

affected by disasters?

RQ2) How does citizen reporting in Social Media affect traditional news

reporting?

RQ3) What are the possible consequences if a local government unit

does not have a citizen journalism arm?

The researchers draw on Elihu Katz (1959) Uses and Gratifications

Theory and

Everett Rogers (1962) Diffusion of Innovations Theory to have an

exploratory analysis on the phenomenon of Citizen Journalism.

Description of Sample


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Purposive sampling was used to determine the respondents. The

respondents must meet one or more criteria for inclusion in the sampling.

Criteria used in the purposive sampling of this study were the following:

Experienced the disasters brought by the 2012 Habagat in

Pampanga

Published local news as a Citizen Journalist

Managed and edited news stories on Citizen Journalism

websites

Maintained a blog

Traditional Media (TV, Radio, Print) Journalist who covered the

2012 Habagat in Pampanga

New Media Journalist who covered the 2012 Habagat in

Pampanga

Expert in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management programs

in Pampanga

New Media Weather Forecasters

Snowball sampling was also used to tap hard to reach contacts. In this

method, respondents with whom contact has already been made use their

social networks to refer the researcher to other people who could potentially

participate in or contribute to the study ( 2000, Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S.)


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Overall, 15 respondents participated in this study. All of the

respondents did not object to having their names disclosed.

Robert Speta is an Broadcast Meteoreologist currently based in Japan.

He is an expert in weather forecasting in the western pacific belt. He founded

the website, westernpacificweather.com and works for NHK, a news

organization in Japan.

Arlene Burgos is the Social Media Head of ABS-CBN.com. She took

charge of Bayan Mo, i-Patrol Mo during the typhoon Ondoy and the 2008

presidential elections.

Pamela Asuncion works as an editor at GMA7. She maintained a blog

on multiply.com.

Natashya Gutierrez works as a multi-media reporter at Rappler.com.

She covered the effects of the Habagat in 2012 in Candaba, Pampanga.

Vince Golangco is a radio DJ and the Editor-in-Chief of

Wheninmanila.com. Wheninmanila.com is a community of bloggers and

boasts of over one million views per month.

Justin Dizon works as a New Media professor. He used to work as a

local TV news reporter and has a first-hand experience in the effects of the

Habagat 2012.


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Cecil Yumul is a practicing broadcast and print journalist in Pampanga.

She worked as an expert in Disaster mitigation and a trainer for Red Cross.

She occasionally dabbles into writing for the online medium through the

website, e-Kabalen.com.

Michael Raymon Pangilinan is a visiting lecturer at the University of

Tokyo. He is a Kapampangan culture advocate and has conducted a study in

the effects of the Pinatubo eruption and continual flooding to the indigenous

Aetas of Pampanga.

Raymond Del Rosario is the Head of the CDRRMO of the City of San

Fernando Pampanga. He has first-hand experience in the rescue and relief

operations during the Habagat 2012.

Charis Aira Manio was a former researcher in CLTV 36. She worked

on contributions of Citizen Journalists on Alerto, Alisto Ako.

Megan Claire David works as an area coordinator at Smart

Communications. Her writing experience involves both traditional and new

media.

Ralf Laurence Bonifacio is a student-leader. He has contributed

several reports on CLTVs Citizen Journalism arm, Alerto, Alisto Ako. He is a

resident of Masantol, Pampanga where flooding is prevalent.


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Marcelo Batac Lacap III is a student-filmmaker and a Kapampangan

culture advocate. He maintains blogs and also contributed reports on Alerto,

Alisto Ako. He is a resident of Masantol, Pampanga.

Kyle Yabut is an Information Technology student. He maintains a

photography blog and an active social media user.

Kyle Francisco is a fashion blogger and an active online

contributor.

Instruments

Interviews with qualified respondents were used to answer the

research questions. A semi-structured survey questionnaire was used to

interview the subject. An appendix of the interview guides follows the

References section of this paper. It must be noted that although an interview

guide was used, the researchers often pursued a divergent line of questioning

in order to elicit a comprehensive response from the subject.

The interviews were recorded using a digital voice recorder and stored

in various electronic formats and locations.

Procedure

The researchers hand-mailed and e-mailed study information to our

potential respondents. This is to explain the purpose of the study and to

formally request an interview. Once the respondents agreed to have the

interview, the researchers conducted the interviews face to face, through


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phone or personal correspondence. Interviews varied from 15-30 minutes in

length and were conducted from December 13, 2013 to February 3, 2014.

They were mostly conducted face to face while the others were through

personal correspondence and Skype video calls.

Transcription of the interview was made after each interview.

Responses in Kapampangan or Tagalog language were translated to English

to conform to the structure of this paper. An appendix of the transcription of

each interview follows the References section of this paper.

Data Analysis

Responses were categorized into recurring themes and subthemes

according to their similarity. These were compared in order to find significant

relationships between categories. Initial themes were discarded and new

themes emerged as the analysis progressed. The themes were synthesized

into a coherent theoretical framework.


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Results and Findings

The year 2013 has posed a lot of challenges for the Filipino. Aside

from the lingering problem of poverty, insurgency and corruption, the country

has also faced a lot of natural disasters. From the expected yearly torrential

rains and flooding to the unexpected ones the Bohol Earthquake and the

Super Typhoon Yolanda (International Name: Haiyan) which devastated parts

of Visayas.

The spirit of Bayanihan once again echoed throughout the country.

Various sectors of the society have utilized the power of Social Media that in

turn made the relief, rescue and rehabilitation operations easier.

The purpose of this study is to highlight the role of the citizen using

Social Media to disseminate information about a disaster. It also aims to show

how the medium was used to further improve the situation.

THEME 1: DIFFERENCE FROM TRADITIONAL NEWS SOURCE

Subtheme 1: Interactivity

Through the comments, or reply sections of various SNS platforms

such as Twitter and Facebook, the audience can give direct feedback to the

author of the posts. Carlos Celdran, a cultural activist and a media personality

in a TV interview (2013) said,

One thing good about Social Media, since the information

is coming from the ground up, and not from just one


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direction all going down to the people, once upon a time,

all information and media only came from one direction. I

wasnt allowed to talk to back to my newspaper. But now,

on Social Media, I can talk back to the person giving me

the news.

Subtheme 2: Immediacy and Real time interaction

All of the respondents cited immediacy as one of the important

features of Online News. Vince Golangco, Editor-in-Chief of

Wheninmanila.com, a site that publishes stories written by individuals without

any journalistic background said,

You will get your news on Twitter or FB (Facebook) share

or on Instagram before you hear it on the actual news.

Information dissemination is faster now, people function

faster, the world functions faster, and a lot of times, for

people to move faster the use the Internet.

A similar study in 2010 on the Relief Operations via Twitter during the

Typhoon Ondoy highlights the importance of real-time interaction:

Information was sent and received as soon as it was

twittered or encoded in a status update. Thus, the

information was perceived as timely, and individuals

locked into the network responded in a similarly timely


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fashiona key factor in disaster relief, which is driven by

immediate response (Morales, 2010).

Subtheme 3: Precision

On the same study cited above (Morales, 2010), precision in giving

information about the situation was considered a feature given to Social

Media saying that the person tweeting was in the ground (where the calamity

happens) and was in the position to know. Marcelo Lacap III, a resident of

Masantol, Pampanga comments on the accuracy that traditional media have

portrayed on news:

E la pa tinud king pamag-balita king albug king balen mi. Patse

e makalbug, sabyan da, makalbug. Patse naman adua ng bulan

makalbug, sabyan da, ala ng albug. (Traditional media was

never accurate in providing the information about the flooding in

our town. When it is flooded, they report that it is not. When we

have two months worth of flood, they report that it has already

subsided.)

Also, the format of tweets, a post limited to 140 characters

ensured that only the relevant information was posted.

Subtheme 4: Interoperability

Social Networking Sites allow sharing/re-tweeting to other sites and

profiles. Social News Head for ABS-CBN Arlene Burgos, recounts the


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beginnings of BMPM which started through SMS. Now, BMPM has an app of

its own, a website, a Twitter and Facebook account where citizen journalists

can submit their photos, videos, and other materials for news.

THEME 2: PLATFORMS USED

This section gives a brief background on Social Networking Sites that

play an important role in disseminating information in times of disasters.

Subtheme 1: Twitter

RockEd Philippines, a non-governmental organization was able to

effectively communicate the needs of affected areas in Metro Manila during

the height of typhoon Ondoy. Through their Twitter account @rockedphils,

they were able to locate and rescue people that had their power and

communication lines cut off.

Subtheme 2: Facebook

The Philippines was named Facebook capital of the world due to its

number of Facebook users (Digital Media Asia, 2012). Facebook continues to

be an essential part of citizen disaster reporting due to its user-friendly

interface and the potential network.

Subtheme 3: YouTube

YouTube started out as a video-sharing website for entertainment.

Later, web users adapted its use for disaster reporting.


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THEME 3: MATERIALS SENT

All of the respondents said that most of the reports they read are either

in the form of a tweet, photos, or videos. However, personal accounts, which

are written in the manner of diary entries are sometimes accepted and

published as well. Natashya Guttierez, from Rappler who reported the

flooding in Candaba due to the Monsoon rains in 2012, says she picked up

the news from tweets that emanated in the area.

Concerned citizens like Ralph Laurence, a student leader at Angeles

University Foundation and a citizen journalist in Macabebe utilized the use of

SMS in providing information to local and national networks.

Gusto ko makita yung sitwasyon ng mga tao .Yung ginagawa

ko nagtetext ako sa mga networks, CLTV, GNN, ABS-CBN,

GMA na may mga lugar na hindi naaabot ng mga ganong klase

ng media kahit CLTV pa yan o GNN lang yan. Sa

pamamagitan nun nalalaman ng mga media ng mga local media

na meron pa lang lugar na ganito na kelangan ng tulong.

I want to see the situation of the people. What Im doing is Im

texting networks, CLTV, GNN, ABS-CBN, GMA that there are

places that are unreachable by media even CLTV and GNN.

With that, media are informed, local media are informed that

there are places, which are in need of help.


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THEME 4: INFORMATION VERIFICATION

This section aims to describe the system of information verification in

Social Networking Sites. It shows that although the medium for disseminating

information has changed, the method of verifying whether a post is accurate

and reliable is still the same.

Arlene Burgos told us how this is done in Bayan Mo, i-Patrol Mo, ABS-

CBNs citizen journalism arm,

Yung sinasabi sa citizen was to put it as much details as they

could na makakatulong dun sa pagbubuo ng report. Halimbawa,

kung magpapadala ng picture, as much as possible, as a

journalist, inilalapit mo yung form na ipinadadala nung citizen

dun sa form na edible o kumbaga usable na para sa isang

news article ! So tinuturuan mo sila na pakilagay po kung ano

yung nangyari d'yan sa picture. Sino po yung naririyan. Anong

oras po nangyari yan. Saan po yung insidente.

We tell the citizens to put as much details as they could to

complete the report. For example, when they send pictures, as

much as possible, as a journalist, you try to adapt the style that

the citizen sent to a more edible or usable style in a news

article ! So you teach them what to put on the picture. What is

happening on the picture? Who are involved? What time did the

incident happen? Where did it happen?


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Wheninmanila.coms Vince Golangco checked the information through

other well-known websites. He makes sure that it has been featured or

tweeted on two or three websites before publishing.

Rapplers Natashya Gutierrez in verifying info during disaster said,

Obviously if it's not real, most people would say, ay hindi po,

hindi po yan totoo (that is not true). For most part especially

disaster, I'd like to think that no one's trying to play joke in such.

But then we'll give the citizen journalist the benefit of the doubt

but also we have to verify if it's true. One more thing, calling

them. Messaging them and saying can we call you, can we talk?

THEME 5: DISADVANTAGES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

In spite of the advantages cited, there are still instances wherein

people using social media fail to provide precise information that leads to

some sort of panic or inappropriate actions.

Natashya Gutierrez mentioned the responsibility of a citizen journalist,

Well I think kung citizen journalist ka, (If you are a citizen

journalist), you also have responsibility to disseminate correct

information. Hindi dahil hindi ka professional journalist pwede

kang mag-imbento ng kahit ano (It doesnt mean that you are

not a professional journalist, you can invent anything)


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A former reporter of CLTV 36, Justin Dizon narrated a particular event

wherein an act of false information dissemination led to panic,

Naging problema yan nung panahon ng mga habagat, may

namatay dahil sa misinformation. (It became a problem during

the habagat, someone died because of misinformation)

Someone shouted that Mt. Pinatubo was erupting. May

nataranta sa palengke. (Someone panicked in the market)

Everyone in city of San Fernando, vendors were closing their

stores, they were running. May inatake, may namatay

(Someone had a heart attack, someone died) and that is

something stupid. That was very irresponsible citizen journalism.

Someone would share, someone would text na memakbung ya

ing Pinatubu (Pinatubo erupted) knowing that Kapampangans

are very mindful of the said situation or said condition and Mt.

Pinatubo eruption is very traumatic for us Kapampangan.

Mr. Robert Speta, a broadcast meteorologist at NHK, a Television

station in Japan said,

The down side is there are a lot of people out there.

Unfortunately they like to use tactics or they just dont know howto properly analyze weather information .


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THEME 6: POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT HAVING A CITIZEN

JOURNALISM SITE

Marcelo Lacap said,

If a local government unit like Angeles City doesnt have its own

citizen journalism, its limiting the interactivity of the people

within the entity of the people.

Kyle Francisco said,

Siyempre sa isang governing body importante sa kanila yung

feedback of whats happening in their community. Feedback on

what they can improve tungkol sa service nila and on what is

really good about it is important.

Of course in a governing body, feedback on what is happening

in the community is important. Feedback on what they can

improve on their service and on what is really good about it is

important.

THEME 7: POSSIBLE DISASTERS THAT CAN HAPPEN IN PAMPANGA

Pampanga is one of the provinces which was greatly devastated

during 1991 Mt. Pinatubos eruption. In the year, 2012 another calamity hit the

province particularly the areas near the Pampanga river basin. Aside from the

said disasters, CDRRMO Head Mr. Raymond del Rosario enumerated other


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possible catastrophes either natural or man-made that might be experienced

in the province of Pampanga.

Among others so aside from the flash flood na high acceptable

particularly in Southern portion of the city, vulnerable tamu rin

king earthquake. Bakit? Philippines is located at the Pacific Ring

of Fire sasabyan da ne so king city of San Fernando or

Pampanga although alang outline ken ne pero ing peka malapit

ken is West Valley fault or the former Marikina fault and the

Digdig fault in Zambales, Pangasinan etc.. So istung ginalo la

ren bisa tat ali panamdaman ta ya rin. Like for an instance in

1990 during the earthquake, itang megpalasak ketang Haiyat

Hotel ampo ketang school king Nueva Ecija, penamdaman ta la

ren. Fortunately alang milyari keni so nanu mo ing buri kung

sabyan ngeni kasi ali naman keng mangayi ku pero even the

PHIVOLCS director pane yang mag earthquake disaster

preparedness. Why? Sasabyan na ing Marikina fault o ing ngeni

West Valley Fault hinog ne kasi keng for so long a time for

almost 100 years eya gagalo na supposedly ding egana-ganang

fault lines dapat gagalo la banta magrelease lang energy.

Unfortunately up to this time ala pa yatang recorded na ginalo la

so nang buring sabyan istung ginalo ya masikan. Its expected

up to well magnitude 8. 9 counting so ing konsiderasyun ketang

distance na ning City of San Fernando keng Manila


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panamdaman taya 7.2 intensity. Bohol is 7.2, could you just

imagine itang meging impact na keng Bohol and city of San

Fernando. In consideration ketang earthquake nung milyari

keng unpopulated area wala lang, natural phenomenon la rin.

Malyayari la ren. Pero nung malyari ya ketang populated lugar

like City of San Fernando or Pampanga in general so

considering marakal la infrastructures marakal tau huwag na

lang dun.

Among others so aside from the flash flood which is high

acceptable particularly in Southern portion of the city, we are

also vulnerable in earthquakes. Why? Philippines located at the

Pacific Ring Of Fire, so in City of San Fernando or Pampanga

although there are no outline, still the closest is West Valley

Fault or the former Marikina Fault and the Digdig Fault in

Zambales, Pangasinan etc ! So once the fault moves, we might

feel them as well. Like for instance in 1990 during the

earthquake, the one which destroyed Haiyat Hotel and a school

in Nueva Ecija, we felt the effect. Fortunately nothing was

damaged here. So whats my point here? Now, even the

PHIVOLCS director always conducts earthquake disaster

preparedness. Why? They are saying that the Marikina Fault or

West Valley Fault, is already inactive for so long a time. For

almost 100 years, the fault is not moving, which supposedly all


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fault lines must move in order to release energy. Unfortunately

up to this time, there are still no records that this fault ever

moved. So what does it mean? Once it moves, its expected to

be intense, up to around magnitude 8. 9 counting. Considering

the distance of City of San Fernando from Manila, we might

experience a 7.2 intensity. Bohol is 7.2, could you just imagine

the possible impact in Bohol and City of San Fernando? If it

happened(earthquake) in an unpopulated area, its as if nothing

happened. Its considered a natural phenomenon. But if ithappens in a populated place like City of San Fernando or

Pampanga in general, considering there are lots of

infrastractures, I hope it wont happen here.

Keng City of San Fernando and most of Pampanga is

particularly downstream, vulnerable la rin ketang awsan dang

liquefaction. Siguro ekayu pamilyar kareni, liquefaction meaning

uling flood prone ing metung a lugar so itang underground

masasaturate ya ing danum ketang lalam. Since ing

composition na ning soil kening San Fernando and the rest of

Pampanga tang awsan dang sandy, so uling madanum kaybat

sandy pin itang composition na ning lupa, istung ginalo ing

gabun, o earthquake lumbug ya. So similar ketang awsan dang

sinkhole pero ali ya actually makanita pero magcollapse ya kasi.

Liquefaction, flooding, earthquake of course detang aliwa


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detang natural na sinabe ku syempre aparte lapa retang human

o manmade, vehicle accidents, terrorism, fire.

In City of San Fernando and most of Pampanga is particularly

downstream, it is also vulnerable with what we call liquefaction.

Maybe youre not that familiar with this liquefaction. In a flood

prone area, the water underground is being saturated. Since the

composition of soil in San Fernando and the rest of Pampanga

is sandy, at the same time soggy, once the soil moves or an

earthquake happens, it is possible that it will sink. It is similar

with what is called a sinkhole but it is not actually like that, but

still, the ground will collapse. Liquefaction, flooding, earthquake

of course there are others apart from natural which Ive said,

and those are human or manmade like vehicle accidents,

terrorism, fire.

THEME 8: AREAS IN DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT

Mr. Raymond Del Rosario also mentioned the four thematic areas in

disaster management.

Ang DRRM (Disaster Risk Reduction and Management) atin

yang 4 thematic areas. One is prevention mitigation, two is

preparedness, three is response and four is the recovery and

rehabilitation.


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(Disaster Risk Reduction and Management) has 4 thematic

areas. 1 is prevention mitigation, 2 is preparedness, 3 is

response and 4 is the recovery and rehabilitation.)

THEME 9: GOVERNMENT EFFORTS DURING DISASTERS

CDRRMO Head, Mr. Del Rosario narrated some activities that the

CDRRMO is currently doing in order to prepare the people in any possible

danger particularly during disasters.

Tuturu mi la reng tao keng eskwela pati mamye kaming lecture

disaster preparedness. Sasabyan mi ot bakit kelangan

magprepare. Pagsadyan mi ing kalamidad o disasters explain

mi karela ita. Kaybat tuturu mi la makananu magreport,

makananu itang proper way of reporting.

We are educating the people in the school and we are giving

lecture about disaster preparedness. We tell them why they

need to prepare. We are preparing for calamities or disasters,

explaining it to them. And then we are teaching them on how to

report, what is the proper way of reporting.

Tuturu mi la ninu ba dapat ing pagsabyan. Nanu la ring hazards

ning lugar, kaybat prepared ka, atin kang kit nanung laman na.

Tuturu mi lang first aid, tuturu mi lang bandaging, rapid

explication, improvised explication. Banta potang datang ya, na

ali naman sana, on their own dapat ila ing first responders.


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Pane ming sasabyan ita, remember you are the first responders

ikayu pang atsu, ikayu pang magresponde.

We are informing them whom to talk to. What are the hazards of

the place and then you are prepared. You have a kit but what

does it contain? We are teaching them about first aid,

bandaging, rapid explication, and improvised explication. So

that when disaster comes, which I hope not, on their own, they

need to be the first reponders. We are always telling them,

remember you are the first responders. Youre there, it is you

who will respond first.

Bubuuan mi la kanyan ing kanya-kanya dang barangay

response team at buri mi sana suportan ne ning mabilog na

mikasarili yang rescue team ing barangay. So nung ali mu ing

barangay nu atin pang establishments o organization na bisang

mu rin sarili dang team join mi la rin .Sawpan mi la train mi la.

Ing counterpart namu suportan do retang kelangan da meaning

retang personal protective equipment da retang tao, deng

respondents dapat dinan dala. Gloves, goggles, ing basic.

We are forming response team in every barangay and we wantthe support of all, that a barangay will have its own rescue team.

Not only the barangay, if there are establishments or

organizations that would like to have their own team, well join


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them. Well help them. Well train them. The counterpart is they

will support the needs, meaning personal protective equipment

of the people, the respondents. They should provide gloves,

goggles, and the basics.

On the other hand, former Red Cross Trainer and disaster mitigation

expert Ms. Cecil Yumul comment on the actions of the government during

disasters.

Nung mepile ya ing baranggay, ali na buring sabyan inutil ya,

kasi maglevel up ya. Nung meparalyze ya ing level, munta ya

king provincial. Nung eya mu naman megfunction ing provincial,

atin kang regional level. Istung meparalyze ya ing operation ka

rin atin kang national level. (Once the barangay is paralyzed, it

does not mean that they are ignorant because it will rise up. If

that level (barangay) was paralyzed, it will go to provincial. If it

will not function in the provincial level, you have regional level. If

the operation was paralyzed, you still have national level.) So

therefore, it is not a blame game. It is just widening the

responsibility when one is incapable

THEME 10: CITIZENS ROLE AND RESPONSE DURING DISASTERS

Mr. Raymond Del Rosario said,

Maragul ya ing part ng citizen kasi ala naman ing DRMM nung

alang climate change. Ala namang greenhouse effects na


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kasalanan na rin ning tawu, kaya mika climate change, papali

ing yatu.... So nanu ita, itamu as individual, most of us family in

a community, gawan tana ing part tamu. Pekasimpleng part a

gawan. Manaman kang tanaman, ugse me kung nukarin me

dapat ugse ing kekang basura, kung eme gagamitan ing sulu

patdan me, magtipid kang danum, small things.

Citizen has a huge role because there is no DRMM if theres no

climate change. There is no such thing as greenhouse effect if

not because of the actions of people. That is why theres a

climate change, the earth is getting warmer ! So we individuals,

most of us family in a community [sic] should do our part. The

simplest actions to do are plant trees, throw garbage in the right

place, if youre not using lights turn them off, save water, small

things.

As for Ms. Cecil Yumul,

Anggang minor ka pwede kang magvolunteer. Kasi ing

responsibility ene man asusukad king edad. (Even if you are a

minor, you can volunteer. Because responsibility is not

measured by age.) It is not even age that matters, its about presence of mind, it is about strength, it is about courage and

the willingness to give ones life for other people ! When you


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really want to be totally responsible, you make sure that all of

the time.

Limitation of the research

This study employed a qualitative research method that elicited

individual experience in detail, but the sample size cannot be generalized to

the thousands of web users in Pampanga. Although there are a number of

researches on Internet use in the Philippines, there is a lack of quantitative

research on Internet use and Media Literacy in the provinces.

At the time this research was conducted, Gutierrez Networks to the

rescue (2010) is the only known research on the relationship of Citizen

Journalism and Disaster Reporting in the Philippines.

Only a few studies on disasters and its effects were conducted in

Pampanga. Their focus is mostly on the effects of the Pinatubo eruption and

lahar.

Further studies on New Media use in Pampanga must be conducted in

order to aid future researchers in understanding the importance of being

localized.


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Conclusion

It is evident how citizens participation is important in shaping todays

news. Major news programs have acknowledged this that is why they ask for

peoples opinions on news items that vary from trivial to national matters. In

the national setting, major news networks incorporate citizen news

contributions to their nightly news programs. A trending topic in Twitter last

night can become a headline in todays news.

Social networking and technology has enabled the common man to

engage in a public debate. This was rarely, if not impossible to experience

this in the traditional media setting, which is hierarchal in nature. Audiences

were viewed before as information receivers. Because of this new technology,

audiences are now perceived as information seekers and providers.

The diffusion of innovations theory explains this phenomenon.

Adoption of new technology in the country is fast progressing. When Internet

access was introduced in the country, it was confined to computers and was

priced high. Today, mobile phones have the capacity to connect to the

Internet. Information dissemination and communication have been easier,

faster and cheaper. More and more people are going online to rekindle old

connections or make new ones.

In terms of news reporting, the reporter does not need to have a crew

and huge equipment to deliver a report. The reporter can be armed with just a

mobile phone with a camera and an Internet connection and deliver the report


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in real-time. With this new technology, the reporter need not to be a

professional broadcast journalist, he/she can be a citizen who happens to be

at the ground zero where the news is happening.

The researchers conclude from the findings that social networking can

significantly affect disaster relief and rescue operations if used properly. Most

of the respondents pointed out the importance of being educated.

Pampanga is one of the most disaster-stricken areas in the Philippines.

It is ironic that social media is rarely tapped in order to improve the disaster

education in the province.


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Recommendations

More localized studies

The researchers recommend more studies in the areas of disaster

mitigation and Internet use in Pampanga. Most of the related literature that

focus on disasters in Pampanga are few and are not recent. Future

researchers will benefit from understanding localized studies on the habits of

Internet users.

Citizen Journalism Site in Pampanga

Because of the unique characteristics of Citizen Journalism the

researchers recommend developing an independent Citizen Journalism site

that can be run by students from different parts of the province.

The researchers will rely on the guidelines and process set by The

Journalism Foundation in their guide, How to Build a Local Site (2012). In this

guide, they recommended the use of Wordpress.com because of its ease of

use, stability and security.

The researchers will be the primary editors of this website and as the

readership grows, more editors will take in charge.

The website will have its Facebook and Twitter accounts where

headlines and hyperlinks to articles will be included in order to increase

visibility of the website.


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The editors must screen all comments from readers in order to prevent

spam messages, unsolicited advertisements and malware. However, the

editors must give way to healthy public debate by presenting important

arguments.

Domain name

The domain name of the website should be a term familiar with

disaster response and reporting, such as 911pampanga.wordpress.com or

saupkabalen.wordpress.com

Language

The editors will encourage contributions in the Kapampangan

Language but will also accept contributions in English and Filipino. The

reason behind this is the decline of the Kapampangan language in the past

years. Michael Pangilinan observed this in his study, Assessing the Current

Status of the Kapampangan language (2012).

Rules and Guidelines

The site will adhere to the same basic rules that Mymissouran.com

developed for their Citizen Journalism site (Bentley et. al, 2007):

1. No nudity

2. No profanity

3. No personal attacks


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4. No attacks on race, religion, national origin, gender or sexual

orientation

It is the responsibility of the editors to verify and scrutinize the articles for

libel and plagiarism before publishing. The editors can do minimal editing for

grammar and spelling in order for the articles to have a journalistic appeal.

Content

The editors will be in-charge of publishing articles, information, photos

and videos. The focus of the content should be limited to information on

disaster mitigation and preparedness, disaster reports and relief efforts.

Rebelmouse application will be used in order to automatically collate

related data and hashtags on the website.

Uploading process

Contributions will be received via private messaging on the sites

Facebook account and e-mail address.

Promotion

The researchers consider the proposed citizen journalism site as an

innovation. According to the Diffusion of Innovations theory, knowledge of the

innovation comes first in the process of diffusion. The researchers will

promote the site by means of social networking sites. Designated

assignments every week will be given to citizens to encourage participation

at the local level.


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Partnerships

The researchers seek to have partnerships with civic societies in

Pampanga such as the local Red Cross, the Aguman Sulat Kapampangan-

Kulitan Inc. and the Center for Kapampangan Studies to expand resources for

news and information.

Partnerships with local barangay and municipal units on disaster

response will also be sought by the researchers in order to get real-time

updates in their respective communities.

The researchers will also seek partnerships with local media

institutions in order to increase reach and visibility.


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Stage 1

Design the webpage

Stage 2

Determine possible agenciesto tie up with

Stage 3

Present the study and the

website to the agency

Stage 4

Lay out rules and guidelinesfor the website

Stage 5

Advertise the website incooperation with the partners

Stage 6

Launch Beta phase of thewebsite and parallel Social

Networking accounts

Stage 7

Publish articles


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Stage 1: Designing the website

The initial stage of the proposal is designing the lay out of the website.

The lay out and features of the website should be organized as to give the

intended users easy navigation.

Stage 2: Determining the agencies to partner with

The partners could be civic organizations and media institutions that

could help in promoting awareness of disasters and the website itself.

Example of these institutions are Red Cross, local television networks and the

Pampanga Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office.

Stage 3: Presenting the study to the agencies

The researchers will present this study and the findings on how having a

localized citizen journalism site can greatly improve disaster mitigation and

preparedness.

Stage 4: Lay out rules and guidelines for posting

Rules and guidelines will be grounded on Mymissouran.coms own rules

and guidelines for posting. However, the partners can add more guidelines if

the need arises. The rule that is added should be agreed upon by majority of

the partners.


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Stage 5: Advertising the website

Awareness of the website can be done through local and online ads, TV

and Radio interviews, through the help of partners.

Stage 6: Launching the Beta phase and parallel Social Networking sites

The Beta phase could last from one month to one year, depending on the

publics awareness of the existing website.

Stage 7: Publishing of articles

Articles on preparedness and prevention will be the first articles to be

featured in the website. Although there are no imminent disasters in the

province, awareness of such could help to prevent them.


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References

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www.dost.gov.ph/projectnoah

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Sage Publications

Diary of an absentee employee. Cruz, A. (2012). Retrieved from:

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absent.html


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www.wiki.smu.edu.sg/digitalmediaasia/Digital_Media_in_Philippines

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citizen journalism case study of the 2008 Cyclone Nagris Disaster. Brisbane:Griffith University

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University of the Philippines Press

Ginetti, J.,Dagondon, B., Villanueva, C., Enriquez, J., Temprosa, F.T., Bacal,

C., Carcellar, N. (2013). Disaster-induced internal displacement in the

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Analysis' in Social Problems, Vol 12 No. 4. California: University of California

Press

Gutierrez, X.Y.Z., (2010). Networks to the Rescue: Tweeting Relief and Aid

during typhoon Ondoy. Washington D.C: Georgetown University

Huang, C.Y., Shen, Y.Z., Lin H.X., Chang S.S., (2007). Bloggers Motivationsand Behaviors: A Model. Journal of advertising research

Karen Cardenas Weather Girl. Quimpo, K., Retrieved from:

http://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/6320-karen-cardenas-weather-girl

Katz, E. (1959) Mass Communications Research and study of popular

culture. New York: Barnes and Noble

Labucay, I.D. (2011) Internet Use in the Philippines. In: Annual Conference ofthe World Association for Public Opinion, 21-21 September 2011, Amsterdam,

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One Month after Yolanda: what we need to do. La Via, T and Berse, K.

(2013) Retrieved December 12, 2013 from www.rappler.com/moveph/

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Pangilinan, M.R . (2012) Kapampangan Endangerment:Assessing the current

status of the Kapampangan Language. Lecture presented at the Museo ning

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APPENDIX A

Holy Angel UniversityCollege of Arts, Sciences and Education

December 19, 2013

Arlene BurgosHead, Social and Mobile MediaABS-CBN Corporation

Dear Ms. Burgos:

Good day and we hope this letter finds you well.

We are fourth year AB Communication Arts students of Holy Angel University. Weare presently working on our thesis entitled: Citizen ! s Disaster Reporting onSocial Networking Sites: A case study on the Habagat 2012 . Our aim in doingthis research study is to determine the role of citizen journalists in the reporting of themonsoon rains last August 2012. This will be our basis in our proposal to have acitizen journalism site in Pampanga in order to improve disaster risk reduction andresponse in the province.

Being the Head of ABS-CBN ! s Social and Mobile Media, we hope that we could getin touch with you for an interview. We could do this via Skype, email, phone call, orwe could go to you personally.

We have chosen ABS-CBN because it is one of the leading news organizations inthe Philippines that provide platforms for citizen journalists to deliver their newsonline. It is in this regard that we would like to ask for your assistance for our study.

We hope that our letter merits your approval towards our study.

Sincerely,


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APPENDIX B

Holy Angel UniversityCollege of Arts, Sciences and Education

January 9, 2014

Robert SpetaBroadcast Meteorologist NHK World

Dear Mr. Speta:

Good day and we hope this letter finds you well.

We are fourth year AB Communication Arts students of Holy Angel University.We are presently working on our thesis entitled: Citizen !s Disaster Reportingon Social Networking Sites: A case study on the Habagat 2012. Our aim indoing this research study is to determine the role of citizen journalists in thereporting of the monsoon rains last August 2012.

This will be our basis in our proposal to have a citizen journalism site inPampanga in order to improve disaster risk reduction and response in theprovince.Being a Broadcast Meteorologist, we hope that we could get in touch with you

for an interview. We could do this via Skype, email, phone call, or we couldmeet you personally.

We believe that your views and comments are significant to our study and tofurther our knowledge in disaster risk reduction. We would also like to haveyour opinion on having a localized Citizen Journalism site in the province.We hope our letter merits your approval and support towards our study. Anyhelp extended will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,


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APPENDIX C

ARLENE BURGOS

Researcher: Can you give us a background and briefly summarize the

history of Bayan mo, Ipatrol mo?

Arlene Burgos: Yung Bayan mo, Ipatrol mo na nakikita natin ngayon, ang

una niyang form is boto mo ipatrol mo nung 2007 wala pa 'ko rito. Ang ginawa

nila nag open sila ng 4-digit number na kung saan pwedeng magtext yung

mga tao. So nung ginawa nila 'yun during the election, may mga nagrespond,

may mga nagsusumbong. 2007 ito ah. Hindi pa uso yung, hindi pa ganyan

yung pagtingin natin sa cellphone kung pa'no natin tinitignan yung cellphone

ngayon. Tapos pagdating ng 2009, ayan andidito na 'ko no'n. Nung ni-launch

yung Bayan mo, Ipatrol mo, ang forms na niya is really meant to ask, meant

to solicited reports from the people. So nung 2009-2010 tas nag-eleksyon

dire-diretso na siya.

(The Bayan mo, Ipatrol mo that we see today, the first form was boto mo

ipatrol last 2007 I was not here yet. What they do was they open 4-digit

number where the people can send their text messages. So when they did

that during the election, there are respondents who complained. That was

2007. Compare today, we dont see the used of cellphone before. And then,

2009, I already work here when they formally launch Bayan mo, Ipatrol mo,

the forms is really meant to ask, meant to solicited reports from the people.

So come 2009-2010 the operation of BMPM is continues.)


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Researcher : Is there an instance wherein citizen journalism became your

source of information in a particular event?

Arlene Burgos: Yung very first na nagrerespond tremendously on a large

scale yung mga tao ay nung namatay si President Cory Aquino, August 2009.

Alam namin na may ganung popular sentiment, yung nagdadalamhati yung

mga tao pero yung hindi namin ineexpect yung magiging generous sila dun

sa pagbibigay ng materials kasi ang hiningi lang namin at that time sa mga

tao was for them to share what they remember from Cory Aquino. Ang

daming nagrespond. So nakakagulat yung turn out, yung response nila. They

were sending pictures, text, may gumawa ng videos. At that time hindi pa

masyado popular yung meme wala pang ganon pero nag-aattempt sila na

gumawa ng ganon. Tapos I remember during the march di ba yung funeral

march matagal yun e. Marami ring tao ang nag-aattempt magpadala ng you

know 'I'm here' hindi pa uso ang selfie non. So parang you can see from that

moment what is to become of social media, of citizen journalism. Not really of

ano nga e, of social media but of citizen journalism. Yung second instance eto

actually ang source ng mga balita yung citizen journalist yung Ondoy. Kasihindi namin hiningi yun. Kumbaga parang as BMPM, as a part of BMPM team

at that moment, wala kaming, we didn't as for we didn't call out anything

unlike yung 'Cory'. Eto, the citizens took it upon themselves to send in what


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they could. Kunware, I remember the very first report I got was a person

texted me saying na nasa taas kami ng bubong we need help. Text message

siya. The reason na nakuha niya yung phone number ko is because I was

doing workshop all over the country sa iba't ibang lugar and sinasabi ko sa

kanila na in case na may itatanong pa, you ca contact me at this number.

Binigay ko yung number ko. Yun yung very first time na nakita ko na yung

citizen sila mismo yung source g\ng information.

( the very first that people respond tremendously on a large scale was when

President Cory Aquino died last August, 2009. We knew that there was a

popular sentiment, the people were too generous to give their materials

where in that time what we just need was for them to share what they

remember from Cory Aquino. A lot of responds that even us were shocked.

They were sending pictures, texts and even videos. At that time, the meme

are not popular then, but they attempt to make such thing. Then I remember,

during the march, we know actually that the march will take hours. The people

attempted to send you know I am here where in selfie is not yet popular then.

So its like, you can see from that moment what is to become of social media,

of citizen journalism. Not really of social media but of citizen journalism. The

second instance was the Ondoy, actually the source of are coming from the

citizen journalists, where in we dont actually asked for it. As BMPM, as a part

of BMPM team at that moment, we didn't ask for, we didn't call out anything

unlike in 'Cory'. The citizens took it upon themselves to send in what they

could. For example, I remember the very first report I got was a person texted


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me saying we are in the roof of our house, we need help. Its a text message.

The reason why he/she had my number was because I was doing a workshop

all over the country, in different places, and I tell them that in case they want

to ask something, they can contact me in that number, so I gave my number.

That was the first time were citizen give source of information.)

Researcher: How important is citizen journalism during disaster?

Arlene Burgos: Kung hindi nangyari sa amin yung Ondoy, kung hindi namin

naranasan yung ganung interaction with citizens, I don't think we would have,

we would be behaving as indispassion in the succeeding disasters for

instance, after nakita namin yung Ondoy, we configured ourselves sa BMPM

to be ready to catch reports kasi yung susunod sa Ondoy ay Sendong ata.

Hindi ako sure pero may malaking sumunod dun sa Ondoy e. So nung

dumating yung mga bagyo na yun, alam na namin na ganun yung

mangyayari, na meron na namang tatawag may mga magtetext na naman,

puputok na naman yung facebook, marami na naman yung magpopost, so

alam na namin. So yung mga succeeding alam na namin. Tapos habang

umaandar yung panahon, paikli ng paikli yung panahon or yung window

during which we would call for pictures or submissions and the citizen wouldrespond. What do I mean, ngayon kunwari ang aksidente nangyari kaninang

umaga or let's say it happen 9am. Kaninang umaga paggising ko merong

malaking sunog somewhere sa Paranaque, si BMPM meron siyang post na


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nasa ganitong alert level na po yung sunog sa Paranaque kung andyadyan

po kayo magdala kayo ng pictures. And kahit hindi ko pa sila nakakausap I'm

almost sure merong nagpadala. So paikli ng paikli yung response time nung

citizen journalist. Kumabaga parang before it took as what? A week to get

them going. To get them to respond to our call for 'Cory'. Now it's a matter of

what? Minutes then meron na kaagad papasok. So paikli ng paikli yung oras

ng responde ng mga citizens.

(if Ondoy didnt happened, if we didnt experience that kind of interaction with

citizen I don't think we would have, we would be behaving as indispassion in

the succeeding disasters for instance, after we witnesse Ondoy, we

configured ourselves in BMPM to be ready to catch reports because after

Ondoy it was Sendong I think. Im not sure but there was as strong typhoon

after Ondoy. So when the other typhoons took place, we actually knew what

will happen then, well receive texts and calls, will have updates in facebook,

we already know it. So for the succeeding we actually know it.

Researcher: What are the most common material sent by the citizen to

Bayan mo, Ipatrol mo?

Arlene Burgos: Hindi ako sigurado na ngayon kasi hindi na ko yung head ng

BMPM. Pero nung time ko pinaka common SMS, yes text tsaka nagpopostsila sa facebook.

Researcher : Does BMPM has a separate website other that facebook or

twitter account?


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Arlene Burgos: Meron pa rin. Meron before. Hanggang ngayon meron pa rin

sila.

Researcher : As the head of social media, what are the things you need from

citizen journalists? How will the citizen write or report the information they will

be providing?

Arlene Burgos: Whenever we get the chance and I think ganito pa rin naman

yung sinasabi ng Bayan mo ipatrol mo kapag meron silang pagkakataon, ang

sinasabi noon I think maski hanggang ngayon is yung sinasabi sa citizen was

to put it as much details as they could na makakatulong dun sa pagbubuo ng

report. Halimbawa, kung magpapadala ng picture, as much as possible, as a

journalist, inilalapit mo yung formna ipinadadala nung citizen dun sa form na

edible o kumbaga usable na para sa isang news article. For instance, alam

natin yun as journalist ang kailangan dun sa picture caption di ba. So

tinuturuan mo sila na pakilagay po kung ano yung nangyari d'yan sa picture.

Sino po yung naririyan. Anong oras po nangyari yan. Saan po yung insidente.

So sinasabi naman yan. Nakatulong ng malaki I think yung pagkahilig ngayon

ng mga tao sa selfie, sa pagpipicture kasi alam na nila na dapat lagyan para

maintindihan nila yung picture. Sa video ganun din. So parang ang sinasabi

mo sa kanila palagi, sa citizen journalist, inilalapit mo sila. Kumbaga as much

as possible you try to make them emulate, you try to get their work as close

as possible. The actual thing to the actual news item nang hindi naman

nacocompromise yung pagiging citizen nila. Ibig sabihin gusto mo pa ring ma-

retain yung flavor nung pagiging citizen. Ibig sabihin, ano yung flavor? Yung


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may nararamdamang takot. Citizen siya e. Part siya ng komunidad. Ibig

sabihin kung ano yung nararamdaman ng community nararamdaman niya rin.

So ayaw mong nawawala yun kasi citizen journalist siya. Hindi siya

professional so dapat tinatanggap mo yun kasi kasama yun sa pagkuha ng

report.

Researcher: Aside from disaster reporting, what other sections would be

valuable in a citizen journalism site?

Arlene Burgos: Yung stories na nagbibigay ng hope dun sa community.

Hindi kailangan big time pero yung empowerment. Yung stories of

empowerment. Halimbawa, yung mga kwento na merong problema dun sa

community. Sila-sila yung nag-solve tapos para sila-sila yung nag-solve para

kunwari magkaroon sila ng maayos na source ng tubig. Maipagawa yung

bumabagsak na poste ng ilaw. Yung mga ganon. Bukod sa disaster reporting,

I think yun yung magandang nirereport e. Yung value niya kasi is one.

Nakikita ng mga tao yung gamit nung pagtayo. Yung gamit na yung pag ikaw

may ginawa, merong resulta. Hindi kailangan na puro reklamo. Kasi ang

tendency kapag nanawagan ka ng reports sa mga citizen journalists iisipin

nila, ako hindi ako magrereklamo pwede akong magsumbong. Ang point dito

hindi lang pagsusumbong. Pwede ka na may gawin dun sa sarili mong

community. Pwede yang madocument, makita ng iba, magsilbing halimbawa.


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APPENDIX D

CECIL YUMUL

Ceci Yumul: Im Cecile Santos Yumul. Im currently a practicing broadcast at

print journalist here in Pampanga.

Researcher: As an environmentalist, what measure would be effective in a

disaster response?

Cecil Yumul: Alright, well go back a little in time ne. Anya kasing panahon mi,

anyang panawun ku pang tuturu king Holy Angel, in place ya, ing disaster

training. Uling Red Cross instructor ku way back in 1976, so from that time

on anggang mako ku king Holy Angel, in place ya ing disaster training every

year. Kareng estudyanti ampong ating alwang organization karin, its called

a disaster relief center which addresses disaster rescue and relief operations

as a continuing activity in a year. Kaybat reng estudyanti maktrain la mu

naman keng proper repacking and distribution of relief. Eya kasi istung

mengolekta ka kabud mu mu ulilan king plastik tsaka mu pemalabag, No.

Theres an entire process to that which is anggang dakal ngening panawun

ayni masasabing dakal a relief goods pero mishandling anya dakal a

wastage because

Documents

Citizen Disaster Reporting