Entrepreneurial journalism in greater China and Southeast Asia by Judith Clarke

Author:Judith Clarke [Clarke, Judith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138283091
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 34628042
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2021-11-17T00:00:00+00:00

THE PHILIPPINES

Bulatlat

One of the first online news outlets in the Philippines, Manila-based Bulatlat was founded in 2001 in the wake of the country’s second “people power” revolution, which ousted the corrupt president Joseph Estrada. Its name is carefully chosen, but it has no equivalent in English: “bulatlat” refers to a search through a crammed container where you carefully remove all the objects inside until you find what you’re looking for. Bulatlat’s job, according to its site, is to “dig out facts buried by censorship and corruption and lay them out for public scrutiny, without fear or favor”. An alternative nonprofit outfit, it uses its journalism to support civil society rather than make money. “It is our sense of advocacy to disseminate information to the public”, says its associate editor Danilo Arao. “That’s why many people believe in us.”

FIGURE 7.3  Danilo Arao. Supplied by Danila Arao.

Yet even in the Philippines few readers of regular news know about Bulatlat. For one thing, says Arao, it’s a small publication with limited resources and it has nothing like the reach of the high-profile for-profit startup Rappler. But the main reason is that it reaches a very different audience. “The people who support us are most especially from the marginal sectors of society – the striking workers, the farmers, the indigenous peoples”, Arao says. “If you are poor and you come from remote areas, most probably you’ve heard of Bulatlat because we go there and we tell their stories, so that’s how they learn about us.”

Arao insists that Bulatlat isn’t a business. It’s registered as an NGO under the umbrella of its publisher, the Alipato Media Center, and is not concerned about the bottom line. “Rappler, it’s an open secret, makes money, but in our case we don’t”, he says. With Bulatlat, the whole point is to do journalism that helps people. Yet despite its lack of commercial base, Bulatlat has survived for 20 years and is still going strong. It has a solid editorial team, a sophisticated website that is regularly replenished, a daily newsletter and updated social media. This must have taken at least a little business acumen.

The key to Bulatlat’s ability to continue as a going concern, says Arao, is keeping costs down and relying on goodwill and – most of all – passion. Bulatlat takes its cue from Philippine national heroes Jose Rizal and Marcelo del Pilar, who produced the independence movement’s newspaper La Solidaridad for several years in the late 19th century. Bulatlat’s main saving is on staff salaries: it doesn’t pay any. “If you look at journalism as a career, … that would be unfair”, says Arao. “But if you look at journalism as a commitment, I think it makes sense because we have people who are willing to do work out of their love for the profession.” He notes that Rizal and del Pilar took no payment for their work and even put their own money into their newspaper.

Most who work at Bulatlat are lifelong activists. They are inspired by the outlet’s philosophy and are keen to produce progressive journalism.

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