WITH the advent of digital media, the broadcast and print media are up for a challenge as they look into ways on how to tap into the potentials of the new media in a bid to retain their respective audience.
While the Globe Media Excellence Award is known to give recognition to the works of local media, this year they went beyond awarding journalists and digital influencers. This year Globe has brought in speakers to discuss about the changing times in the media.
"In the past five years we saw how the landscape switched to everything digital," said Monday Gonzalez, Director for Sustainability of the Globe Corporate Communications.
She added that millions of Filipino internet users spend a couple of hours a day online, noting that most of these are online.
"This will show that it is a fourth industrial revolution everyone is on the internet nowadays. Everyone is an author, publisher, and can able to express their own thoughts," Gonzalez said.
"Your role as the media, as catalyst of truth has now become more relevant and important as it is today," she added.
She said the "public needs a true sense of responsibility in uploading the objective truth and providing factual, accurate, and objective content."
Mike Enriquez, seasoned broadcast journalist and GMA 24 Oras news anchor, said the presence of digital media ushered in a new threat in the field of journalism.
"There is a war going on, this is the war between truth and fake news. Real journalism is under threat, truth is also under threat. Much of this threat can be traced to the rise of social media and the proliferation of fake and unverified information," he said.
Enriquez pointed out that though "fake news" has been around even before the advent of the internet but it was not just written and spoken as much as it is today.
"How do we overcome fake news as journalists? We extend our watchdog capabilities. We become more investigative. We don't just report, we should not be satisfied with just reporting the news," he said.
Enriquez said being a journalist does not stop with reporting or simply telling the stories.
"We make ourselves the go to guys of the truth. We cannot force the readers, the viewers, and the listeners to do this, we have to prove ourselves to them. And there is strong and rough competition," he said.
In terms of campaigning responsible netizenship, Globe has launched the Digital Thumbprint Program, which aims to reach out to students and teachers.
Gonzalez said the DTP has reached 17,510 public and private high school students and 1,842 public high school teachers have been empowered to teach the program to their students.
"Based on the latest impact assessment conducted by Karrikins Group, 94.4% of the participants found DTP relevant while 93.7% said it helped them build confidence in their online activities," she said.
This year, the program is being stepped up with Globe's collaboration with social media giant, Facebook.
"[The program seeks] to share tips and practices on how to be responsible online citizens to be more discerning to be more empathetic," said Alvin Tan, Facebook Southeast Asia Head for Public Policy.
He said the partnership with Globe will have them crafting three modules -- Cyber Security and Safety; Cyber Leadership and Empowerment; and Online Responsibility and Etiquette. A fourth module is also underway on how to discern and authenticity of online information.
"These modules highlight social media for social good," Tan said.