By Joseph B.A. Marzan
In recognition of the valuable role of a free press, the BANTALA: UPV Media Excellence Awards of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) will start accepting nominations starting today, Oct. 28, 2021.
BANTALA UPVMEA was launched last March 25 to recognize the excellent and responsible contributions of media practitioners and journalists in Western Visayas.
It was created to answer the question of the current role of the media, specifically on what local media can do to create a positive societal impact as media influencers and agents of change in addressing the pressing issues on the weaponization of media, democratic rights, and disinformation.
It will evaluate the covering, writing, reporting, and publishing of news stories in different media platforms of local journalists and media practitioners that are beneficial and with great impact to the lives of every Ilonggo.
The awards committee will look into four specific challenges:
– Deepening participatory democracy;
– Protecting human rights;
– Addressing various forms of social and cultural marginalization; and
– Fighting against disinformation.
Excellence in writings for Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, and Akeanon languages will be equally recognized and will be evaluated alongside Filipino and English works, to underscore the importance of the media in informing communities from small cities to wide rural areas.
The removal of the language barrier would open more opportunities to community journalists down to the grassroots to have a chance at being nominated, as the focus would be more on the heart of the story.
Nominees must be active media practitioners based in Western Visayas who are currently employed in an established media agency, or a self-publishing practitioner for at least 3 years with a page or blog followed by 500 people. They must be covering Western Visayas news, culture, and current affairs.
If the nominee belongs to a national or non-Western Visayas-based media agency, they must have been routinely covering Western Visayas in the last 3 years (from 2019 to 2021).
Consistent and routine publications and practice refer to media practitioners who make it a scheduled goal (daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly) to publish relevant and updated original stories about Western Visayas.
Reposts, rephrased, or paraphrased media stories from a different original source (platform where it was primarily posted on) are not counted.
Story entries to be submitted for nomination must be published between January 1, 2019 to December 15, 2021. Each nominee can only submit 1 story for each sub-category.
Deadline of Submission of Entries is on Dec. 15, 2021. Entries will be screened and judged from January to February 2022.
There are 2 main categories for nomination with three subcategories each: Traditional Media (television, radio, and print) and Digital Media (social media, blog, and website).
For each subcategory, there will be 2 awards, namely the Story of the Year and the In-Depth Report of the Year to be given to each nominated story entry.
Criteria for Traditional Media includes Content (30 percent), Style (30 percent), Delivery (30 percent), and Impact (10 percent). The same criteria will be used for Digital Media, except for “Delivery” which is replaced by Engagement (30 percent).
There will be screening committees from each province in Western Visayas (Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental) who will be evaluating entries from their areas, composed of professionals and professors with background in mass communication, journalism, democracy and disinformation.
The screening process will consist of pre-deliberation and deliberation.
During the pre-deliberation, each member of the provincial screening committees will evaluate submitted entries using the criteria provided.
The committees will then choose at least 3 entries per sub-category for the deliberation round.
In the deliberation round, only 3 entries per sub-categories will be locked in by the screening committees for the final judging.
There will be two sets of judges invited for final judging in each category, composed of experts and professionals in mass media, information and technology, democracy, and disinformation.
Winners for both Story of the Year and In-Depth Report of the Year awards will each receive a trophy, a certificate, and P15,000 cash.
Dr. Zoilo Andrada Jr, Project Development Assistant for Communication and Mass Media of the UPV Office of the Chancellor clarified during the media launch on Wednesday, Oct. 27, that when two people share the by-line or report in the published material, they will share the awarded prizes.
In a recorded message, UPV Chancellor Dr. Clement Castigador Camposano said the awards were the university’s “humble contribution to press freedom, citing the emergence of the attacks on media entities and practitioners as well as disinformation in the digital spaces.
Camposano gave a short tribute to thank the late journalist and UPV alumnus Nonoy Espina, who he credits as the inspiration for the awards.
“Good journalism under these conditions should aim at preserving democracy by deepening political participation across all sectors. There must be emphasis on the protection of human rights without which the democratic process will become hollow. There is also a need to nourish this process by addressing various forms of social and cultural marginalization,” Camposano said in his address.
