Readings

As I have posted last time, I have been missing out a few things on my online life and that includes reading articles about writing and how-tos (like improve your presence online, gripping stories and more).

I have been a follow of Poynter online. This website is a place where journalists and students can get useful resource materials about Journalism. They also have a sister website, NewsU that allows you to take a crash course about Journalism and they also have special courses from various resource person to discuss more about the subject and I guess give their first hand experience.

Hopefully I can now join more classes

With the lappy, still besting its previous performance, I am now able to read articles published in Poynter. Sweet. I know.

Not related to Poynter but just addressed to my lappy, I want to do jumping jacks and somersaults right now because of the way it's performing. I initially thought I had to replace it or just let it dust in the corner... I am wrong.

So, as I have said more of me (especially late posts!) online... Okay, I have to breath :p


N.B. image courtesy of http://ftvlive.squarespace.com/?offset=1416312354310 

What's in your News Feed?

Whenever someone will ask me about this, I feel funny. Well, first being a Journalism graduate, I have this idea that I need to always have a newspaper in hand. Be the one to report about the news and so on.
But I am not.

I think it's safe to say that my dad reads more of the hardcopy version than I do.

I don't read the newspaper but I am super engrossed in getting short tweets via Twitter, news alerts via Facebook (yes, I know they are kind of reliable for me) and compressed news feeds via email.

When I was in Dubai, I subscribed to Arabianbusiness.com, would surf the major dailies like GulfNews and The National. This is to keep me informed of what is happening in the country and if there are any upcoming events that I may want to visit or try. Their news is different from how we handle reporting here in the Philippines. They do not disclose the names of the people involved in a crime scene even if convicted or arrested. They will mask it and identify the person via his initials. Fortunately or unfortunately, you will know about that person if you are associated with him or her.

However, I can say that from over time, some dailies have changed the way they report the news. The only thing is, there is really not a lot of juicy stuff to report about. I guess the crime rate there is contained and there's not a lot of natural disasters that take place (not that we want that to happen).

Now that we are back here in the Philippines, I am currently subscribed to Philippine Star and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The thing with our news companies is that they report news by the minute or by the hour because true enough a lot of events do happen in this country of ours. May it be big or small, every information counts because we Filipinos are emphatic and some do like the drama (you have to admit).

Though when I get too tired about the ever-fluctuating crime rate, I resort to reading the Opinion section of these news feeds or their Lifestyle section but still online.

I don't know if it's because it's easier to maneuver through our gadgets.

What about you? What do you prefer as a medium?

Be Careful

Times are really getting tough these days. 

Not only in third world countries but also in other countries as well. Dubai has now been home to more than a hundred thousand expats who have moved out of their countries to provide a better life for their family. 

Everyday, adjacent to our office, you can see a lot of people lined up either to submit for their CVs... some wait for the good news under the heat of the sun,if they are shortlisted. 

In the Philippines, news reports say that the percentage of people who are out of employment are increasing resulting to my fellow kababayans violating the policies implemented by the government - like going to countries that are high risk, security wise or paying off illegal recruiters for them to be brought to other countries wherein they can earn and send money to their families. 

Now, if you don't have money to spare or connections, you end up going after retirees or tourists. A friend of mine who has stayed in Malaysia for close to a year now, experienced his first robbery on broad daylight. 

Bev, a British expat has been in Malaysia for sometime now and is considering retiring there for good. The incident occurred on 14 August 2013. This is his encounter:- 

Subject: An Incident in Ara Damansara

H 

i Rachiel

 

I 

thought you might be interested

 

in the following

  which I sent to my local Residence Association to day 

:-

 

I wish to share with you an incident that occurred to me this afternoon, the 14th August, in PJU1A / 20b.

I am a retired UK expat who has been living in Ara Damansara for the past 3½ years.
Recently I have taken up cycling to combat the onset of those unwanted additional kilos and to build up my fitness. 

So this afternoon at around 2.30, for the first time, instead of driving down to the shops I decided to ride my bike.

I took a rucksack to carry the chain I would use to attach my bike to a suitable anchor and unusually I placed my wallet (containing cash, atm and credit cards), phone and house keys in the rucksack. I say unusually because my normal modus operandi would be to place my wallet and phone in separate pockets of my cargo pants and the keys in a side pocket. Today, however, I was not wearing cargo pants so they all went in the rucksack.

I slowly cycled down to the shops and found a suitable signpost pole located on the corner of Jalan PJU1A/20b and 20c to use as an anchor for the bike. A location that is in full view of all people in the vicinity. I leaned the bike against the pole, took off my rucksack, removed the chain and placed the rucksack on the ground directly beside my feet. I proceeded to chain the bike to the pole and had only been there for a matter of one or two minutes when I became aware of a slight draught at my ankles. I looked down to see that my rucksack had disappeared. I looked up and saw a man with my rucksack running towards Jalan PJU1A/1 where his accomplice was waiting on a motorbike so that they could make their get away. I gave chase to the thief but I never had a chance to catch him as he had at least a 15 meter start on me.

This snatch was made in mid afternoon in broad daylight, with many people present who witnessed the incident and the rucksack was taken from right at my feet. A very audacious act, by people who obviously consider that the reward is worth the risk as there is little chance of getting caught. 

I have been an expat for more years than I care to admit and have worked in many countries both in the Middle East and South East Asia. I have, with out doubt, enjoyed my time in Malaysia, which I believe is a very fortunate country endowed with friendly citizens, natural resources, dramatic scenery and for me a great climate so it is with sadness that my positive feeling for this country has been tainted by my experience to day.

I hope the above will help to make people aware of the dangers that lurk at all times and in some small way avert an incident similar to mine. 

Best Regards

Good thing is he was not hurt. I feel sad whenever I hear these types of stories wherein people think it is alright... We know there is a purpose for doing this - to put food on the table for your family (I sure hope this was the reason) but there are other ways to earn money - not by stealing things.

True, immediately, Bev was able to replace all the material things but the trauma of having to look over your shoulder again and again, making sure that you are secure with your stuff is tiring, most especially if you have to do it every time you leave the house.

This happened in Malaysia but this is a usual scene in our country and I feel sad about it. I know the government says they are trying to come up with more jobs, I hope that they are true to their word however whilst these are still rampant in the country that you live in, make sure that you be extra careful when going out and even when you are at home.

Be Safe. Always.

 

Reading the news

How do you get your latest news feeds? Is it by reading the paper online? Holding a the latest edition of the newspaper or do you rely in Twitter like I do?

I don't know if you can consider me as a "person on the go" but I am always out and about of my seat. Lunch break is all about the whats and whys in the office so reading the news has never been part of my daily routine however when people tweet about them, that is the time I get curious.

I read the tweets and at the same time, try searching this online.

That's my news and I feel guilty because while I am subscribed to newsletters telling me the highlights, I still do not consider it as one.

Weird ain't it.

I just noticed that while I was purging my emails in Yahoo, I have a lot of unread newsletters from Arabianbusiness.com, my go-to for news bits and more. I am not sure if this is because I am not interested in what's happening with the Gulf (a lot of times, my manager would give me tidbits of what's happening around the globe and my look "priceless" --- because I'm totally clueless!) or I am just busy about my own thoughts.

I am now making the executive decision to unsubscribe and urge myself to read more - be it local or foreign.

Being a citizen of the world, I think we should all make it a habit to watch / read / listen to the news. I know it's not really one of the happiest things to do but it should be done.

I hope to become more active in doing so --- there! another goal for 2013! :)

What about you? How updated are you? Hope to hear from someone... anyone?

- Moi -

Sandy Hook Tragedy

I am a bad journalist!! :( 

I overheard from a work colleague about the Sandy Hook tragedy. It did not really ring a bell to me because of the fact that I am already used to hearing shooting incidents in the US so this was I thought "one of those" usual situations. 

The day went as normal and so were the other days. However, one day, when I switched the television on and was browsing through the channels, I stopped and watched CNN's breaking news and there I saw the news clip about Sandy Hook. 

I was shocked that the ones who died were children. 

Innocent. 

Hopeful. 

Looking forward on their future. 

All of a sudden, their lives ended... just like that. 

I saw posts from friends who lives in the US about the painful incident. 

I read through a personal account of one of the local news reporter here. Shannon has recounted how she has managed to capture the image... the photo that has captured the situation and the expression from the children's faces. 

I still do not know the whole story behind it.... but I feel for the parents who have lost their child or children due to this shooting incident. 

I know that no words can comfort these parents for the lives lost but I hope that they will be able to move on and face the present, one day at a time. 

(photo grabbed from wikipedia)

Woman robbed and raped!

I was browsing through the web (actually more of moving my blog reads from Wordpress to this one) when I decided to take a break and read through my tweets and saw this tweet from KatDeCastro

KatDeCastro Grabe. Crowded pa that area ha. "@ANCALERTS: Woman robbed, raped near Guadalupe MRT station http://t.co/lepw9eij" 11/15/12 7:11 PM

 I just had to read the news article (click here) about it. While reading through, the police officers admits that this is a modus operandi by the suspect and know that the reason behind it is because people going off the metro station to the nearest jeepney terminal will need to pass through a dark alley.

The police's action: they are now managing the situation.

I think the resolution is to light up the area (Good that they have requested this from the MMDA...how long before it will be installed? We will never know. Paging MMDA). They probably need to put a police post where an actual policeman will monitor the area (hopefully, the bystanders will not use it for their drinking sessions).

Imagine, according to the suspect himself, this is not his first victim. Someone must have reported it before... (ding!ding!ding!) Luckily, this story got picked up by a news agency or else nothing will be done with it?

I will leave this open-ended because I cannot comment about this incident anymore. I think what has happen speaks volume of what needs to be done.