About BukidnonNews.net

About

BukidnonNews.net is a community media organization based in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, Philippines.

It started operating as a community news organization in 2011 as an initiative of independent journalists, educators, and communication practitioners, who shared a vision of promoting a new media culture in Bukidnon. The group is now focused on training and content production for community-based documentation and reporting initiatives.

It presently runs its BukidnonNews.Net Community Documentation and Reporting Project, which focuses on providing avenues for training and action for practitioners and volunteers in community documentation and reporting.

As of January 2020, the organization has operated the BukidnonNews.Net website as a laboratory publication of its practitioners and volunteers, which include community professionals in journalism, public information, development communication, professional education, social sciences, and other related fields. It also has students and community folks among its volunteers.

VISION

Empowered Citizens and communities who are able to communicate their issues and aspirations through news and information.

MISSION

We strive to be a sustainable institution in community documentation training, education, and media production through meaningful partnerships with community stakeholders in sustainable development.

WHAT WE DO

1. WE PRACTICE - We provide an avenue for training and practice for community journalists/communicators/volunteers and future journalists/communicators especially in documentation and reporting community issues, events, processes, and achievements.

2. WE CAPACITATE - We organize community documentation and reporting training for community stakeholders and volunteers and provide technical support for them to document and report on their own and collaborate with other organizations

3. WE SUSTAIN - To ensure sustainability, we collaborate with individual and institutional partners who share our vision of empowered communities through news and information.

CORE PRINCIPLES

Community-based engagement in training and content production
Ethical and responsible practices
Mutually beneficial endeavors with members, partners, and communities
Sustainable and viable actions

BukidnonNews.Net organizes community discussions on key issues such as governance. Photo taken in Maramag town in the conduct of focused group discussions as part of its Piliay 2013 Dialogue Bukidnon Reporting Election Project.

INITIATIVES AND PROJECTS

BukidnonNews.Net: A decade of Serving the Community for Global Bukidnon (2011-2021)

1. Bukidnon Our Home Blog – February 2011 – Founders of the organization put up a blog of their stories as an initial showcase. The founding meeting of BukidnonNews.Net was held in a local café on February 7, 2011 in the run-up to Kaamulan 2011.

2. Bukidnon News Dispatch –September 2011 – BukidnonNews.Net launched Bukidnon’s first ever regular online regular news service with hundreds of subscribers from across the different sectors of the Province of Bukidnon. The dispatch went in circulation until September 2015.

3. BukidnonNews.Net News Website – 2012 – The BukidnonNews.Net original official website went online from August 2012 as a source of online news on Bukidnon. Its archives, now offline, has been used as reference for key Bukidnon issues and concerns reported on media.

4. Bukidnon News Summer Youth Journalism Workshops (May 9-12 2012, May 6-11 2013, May 19-21 2014, April 27 to May 1 2015 and May 13 to 20 2017) BukidnonNews.Net successfully organized Summer Youth Journalism Workshops in five years initially with partners the Bukidnon State University Ethno-cultural Museum, MindaNews and Metrobank-Malaybalay. In 2015 and 2017, the workshops were held in partnership with the local governments of Brgy. 1, 6 and Kalasungay, Malaybalay City. The workshops covered basic news writing, feature writing, taking good photos, editorial cartooning, newsletter design, radio broadcasting, Learning Binukid and many more.

5. Reporting IP and Environment – Coverage of Kitanglad Issues 2012 - BukidnonNews.Net has embarked on covering stories related to the protection of Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park and the Bukidnon, Higaonon and Talaandigs and their Ancestral Domain. BukidnonNews.Net covered the aftermath of the 2012 military bombing of Mt. Kitanglad. The IP community complained against the attack to their territory. They complained against lack of free and prior informed consent. The military was forced to apologize, appease and make peace with the tribe.

6. Reporting Governance: Piliay 2013: Dialogue Bukidnon November 2012 to May 2013 - The initial Reporting Governance initiative of BukidnonNews.Net, which held focused-group discussions with community stakeholders, interviewed candidates for the 2013 elections in core areas, Manolo Fortich, Malaybalay City, Maramag and Valencia City to cover the four congressional districts of the province. The campaign was held in partnership with the Diocese of Malaybalay through Bishop Jose A. Cabantan and the main parishes in the core areas.

7. Balik Bukidnon - Bukidnon Centennial Book Forum – 2014 – BukidnonNews.Net joined the whole province in celebrating the province’s centennial with a lecture by Higaonon novelist Telesforo Sungkit, Jr to close the 2014 Summer Youth Journalism Workshops. BukidnonNews.Net also held the Bukidnon Centennial Book Forum, to initiate a movement on the importance of writing as a skill and the value of books in the history and heritage of a community. Mindanawon prolific book author Bro. Karl Gaspar and Nanay Ludivina Opeńa spoke during the book forum.

8. Piniyalan Reporting Governance Project 2013-2016, 2016-2019 – BukidnonNews.Net partnered with DXDB-Radyo Bandilyo to run a weekly radio program focused on promoting good governance in local government through active citizenship. Piniyalan, Cebuano for steward, describes the responsibilities of citizens and officials alike in governance. The project promoted active citizenship through the radio program as a key element in ensuring good governance in Bukidnon. The project began with the coverage of the 2013 post-election period up to 2019 elections. The latest initiative was the BUKIDialogue: Piliay 2019 - Voters Education, Election Documentation and Reporting Project. The project carried out training programs, voter’s and citizens education, monitoring of government actions and advocacy. The Project also highlighted the work of both organizations in Reporting Governance and Elections in Bukidnon from 2013 to 2019. The BukidnonNews.Net did dedicated coverage of governance and related issues in Bukidnon from 2011 up to the present.

9. Reporting Business – Strictly Business News Conference -2013 to 2014 – BukidnonNews.Net worked with the Bukidnon Kaamulan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc and the Department of Trade and Industry – Bukidnon to hold the Strictly Business News Conference to promote business reporting among community journalists and media interaction among chamber members and partners. BukidnonNews.Net covered business issues including those faced by Bukidnon businesspersons among MSMEs, especially in relation to local governance and the communities.

10. Maramag Journalism Camp –April 2015 - BukidnonNews.Net partnered with the Department of Education – Maramag District - Maramag Central Elementary School to conduct Campus Journalism Seminar Workshops with elementary campus journalists.

11 BukidnonNews.Net Book Support Initiative - Support for Malaybalay Then and Now Book Project (2014-2015) - BukidnonNews.Net provided documentation support for an aging author, †Ms. Ludivina R. Opeńa, who was writing her book Malaybalay Then and Now. BukidnonNews.Net also drew inspiration and historical background from the author such as but not limited to the narrative about Kaamulan and history of Malaybalay City.

12. BukidnonNews.Net Internship, Volunteer and Mentoring Program – 2013 -2020 – BukidnonNews.Net has provided on-the-job training for Development Communication, Philosophy and English Language students of Bukidnon State University and Xavier University. It has also opened its doors to volunteers who want to learn about community journalism and documentation. BukidnonNews.Net facilitated the conduct of mentoring sessions with young community journalists in covering local issues and writing news and features.

13. Bukidnon Public Outlook Series 2018 - BukidnonNews.Net initiated this documentation and reporting initiative about the issues that the different sectors in Bukidnon faced in 2017 to 2018 in preparation for the 2019 local elections. Journalists asked representatives from different sectors via social media and mobile phones, including people on the streets. The editorial output was a series of thematic stories on what people aspire to be realized in Bukidnon for 2018.

14. Disaster Risk and Management Reporting - 2012 to present- BukidnonNews.net engaged in the coverage of disaster risk reduction and management events and issues in Bukidnon, as a special strand of its community engagement. It activates a team to cover typhoons, earthquakes, and other calamities in cooperation with local disaster risk reduction and management entities in pursuit of community documentation and reporting.

15. BukidnonNews.Net Community Journalism Youth Fellowship - 2019 -
In transition as a training entity, BukidnonNews.Net initiated the conduct of the Bukidnon Community Journalism Youth Fellowship with support from different partners. The initial batch was composed of five aspiring community journalists, who attended training in community journalism with professional journalists and writers. They also did community journalism coverage of an issue in relation to the poverty situation in Bukidnon. Four of the fellows completed training and submission of stories based on their community coverage. Read the reflections of fellows Vergel R. Dolosa, Keeshia Q. Vallejos, Leezile C. Buadlart, and Jan Ariss Jadraque. BukidnonNews.Net received support for the fellowship from Mindanao Institute of Journalism (MIJ) and the Philippine Press Institute.

16. Reporting Poverty: Round Table Discussion on Addressing Poverty in Bukidnon – 2019
BukidnonNews.Net organized the Round Table Discussion (RTD) on Addressing Poverty on July 12, 2019 held at the Learning Commons of the University Library of Bukidnon State University.

The RTD was intended to provide clarity to the media, educators, and other stakeholders about the actions, challenges, and prospects in addressing the issue of poverty in the province.

Representatives from the government, non-government organizations, academe, private sector, church, and peoples organizations have attended the discussion, initiated in cooperation with the Bukidnon Studies Center and Social Sciences Department of the College of Arts and Sciences of BukSU.

17. Piniyalan Reporting Governance Community Project: Bukid Dialogues 2019 Voters' Education - BukidnonNews.Net initiated community radio discussions intended for voters' education for the mid-term elections.

18. Bukidnon Community Documentation and Reporting Project (BukCDRP) In-House Training- BukidnonNews.Net organizes in-house and community journalism training for members and volunteers and in response to requests by partners. The group also partners with other organizations in the conduct of training for peoples' and grassroots organizations.

19. BukidnonNews.Net Website 2.0 - 2020
BukidnonNews.Net reorganized its website after a data breach and some limitations. Recovery has been launched for the content from 2012 to 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new website is in basic and work-in-progress mode.

20. Assisted in the conduct of the Vera Files Training on Fact Checking with Bukidnon State University - October 2020. BukidnonNews.Net assisted in organizing the conduct of the training in the province providing secretariat and assistance in inviting participants from the community media.

21. Documentation and Research Projects - BukidnonNews.Net accepted enumeration/community survey services on gender and roads, elderly, and media studies.

22. BukidnonNews.Net Community Documentation and Reporting Pilot Project - BukidnonNews.Net activated a lean group of contributors and volunteers to conduct basic documentation and reporting work in their respective communities as its pilot project prior to the roll out for community-based DR engagements.

23. Piniyalan Reporting Governance Community Project 2022-2025- Aspirations for Good Governance: Focused Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews 2022. This is a research-based and a voter-focused community documentation and reporting project for the 2022 local elections in Bukidnon. The project documented the aspirations of voters from 40 sectoral representatives from Malaybalay and Valencia cities for good governance in the province and the responses of the candidates/elected officials on these aspirations. This was conducted with its project volunteers and community partners.

SERVICES
1. Basic and Process Documentation
2. Photo and Video Documentation
3. Campus Journalism Seminar Workshops
4. Corporate Newsletter Training, Editing and Layout
5. In-house Documentation and Reporting Training
6. Community Documentation and Reporting Training
7. Data Gathering Services

Fellows of the BukidnonNews.Net Community Journalism Youth Fellowship 2019 pose with staff, volunteers and partners during the closing rites in a private school compound in Malaybalay City in January 2020/BukidnonNews.net photo

Mr. Christopher Capinpin of DSWD-10 Bukidnon Office speaks during the Round Table Discussion on Addressing Poverty in Bukidnon: Challenges and Prospects held at the Bukidnon State University Learning Commons on July 12, 2019. The RTD was initiated by BukidnonNews.Net in partnership with the Bukidnon Studies Center and the CAS-Social Sciences Department of Bukidnon State University. BukidnonNews.Net photo by Ronald Christopher G. Neri

Ms. Iyren Dalipe, one of the resource persons, speaks during the 5th Summer Youth Journalism Workshop in partnership with Brgy. Kalasungay in May 2017/BukidnonNews.Net photo

COMMUNITY REPORT - BukidnonNews.Net Community Documentation and Reporting Pilot Project. The first community documentation and reporting coverage with BukidnonNews.Net by a community stakeholder.