![]() This leads to the question of how stories that exposed the brazenness of the Martial Law regime saw print and were read not only in the country but also abroad. But it was understandable in a setting where getting stories from the rural areas, where most military abuses occurred, required time, caution, creativity and, most important, courage, without which one’s technical skills and intellectual asset would have meant nothing. Young people today, that is, those who have become inured to the fast flow of information through the internet, may find it odd to hear about fortnightly or monthly publications. And it was not uncommon for TFDP staffers in Mindanao, including this writer, to contribute articles to the Mindanao Advocate. On rare instances, like in Iligan City, the local TFDP and EMJP offices published a common newsletter. There were also provincial TFDP and EMJP offices which put out their own newsletters. EMJP’s national office published its own Justice and Peace Issues magazine while its Mindanao office based in Cagayan de Oro City produced the monthly Mindanao Advocate. The TFDP-National Office published the fortnightly Philippine Human Rights Update magazine, and its regional office in Mindanao based in Davao City put out the monthly Mindanao Human Rights Monitor. This was particularly true of human rights groups with national and regional networks such as the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) and the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (EMJP). Some even had at least two regular publications (usually a regular newsletter and a magazine that came out less frequently), not to mention occasional print materials focusing on specific issues. The steady inflow of external support also meant they could afford to churn out publications of high-quality materials using printing presses. ![]() ![]() (Some of these writers became reporters for national and regional newspapers in the post-Marcos era.) From time to time, the writers had the opportunity to undergo seminars and trainings handled by professional journalists and photographers. Compared to most mass-based organizations, they had enough support from foreign donors (government, non-government and Church-run agencies) with which to hire skilled writers, most of whom came from the ranks of activists and former campus writers. This was not the case, however, for a number of human rights groups and research institutions. The bright side was that the rather low-cost, backward mimeograph technology allowed cash-starved organizations to produce more than enough copies for their target readers. Most of them could not even afford a print output with photos that they had to make do with mere drawings and caricatures in an attempt to make the publications more appealing. Others sought to hone their skills by studying whatever references they could lay their hands on.Īnd, with scant resources, they started with mere fact sheets printed using the now outdated mimeographing machine and low-quality paper. They obtained this knowledge through documentation workshops handled by individuals whose main credential was having undergone the same activity ahead of them, and relatively longer experience in such tasks. Apart from dedication, it was enough that they knew the basic elements of a news story – the five W’s and one H (What, Who, When, Where, Why and How). In general, the people behind the production of the newsletters had little, if any, training in journalism, writing and photography. See Part V on “Mediating Truths, Contested Communities, Making Peace.” Permission to share this with MindaNews readers was granted by the Ateneo University Press) Mordeno was first published in the book, “Transfiguring Mindanao: A Mindanao Reader,” edited by Jose Jowel Canuday and Joselito Sescon, published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press and launched on Jin Davao City.
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