WEEK 4: Multi-media journalism in the Philippines

Perhaps the closest example on how journalists in the Philippines are using “multi-media” techniques when they report is INQ7.net, the company I work for. When we started, our news website was called “shovelware,” which means content taken from the print edition is just “shoveled” into web. There was not much difference between the print and web version except the latter is online. Also the web version followed the “narrative” style of the print. There was not much interactivity.

A year after it was launched, INQ7.net covered the “People’s Revolution 2.” It was at this historic and defining moment that INQ7.net transformed into a semi-multimedia news website. We broke news as it happened – through our breaking news section. We worked like the wires. But that’s just text. Eventually, we incorporated videos taken from our partner TV station and provided links to videos related to stories. We also provided a streaming audio of a local radio station for people who wanted to hear almost real-time broadcast of the events at that time.

Special websites have also emerged at that time. We created these sub-websites within the news portal for special features. It usually contained text, audio and videos, and other information we deemed useful for our readers.

The level of “interactivity” or multimedia techniques used in INQ7.net are not as sophisticated as the examples of Touching Hearts or 360 Degrees, which are in fact, larger projects that take time and specialized skills to develop. INQ7.net is, however, evolving and will feature more of "less linear", multi-media news.