Using a practitioner-researcher perspective, I explain the creative decisions involved in producing a political i-doc and interrogate how a website performs as a format of small-scale independent documentary project. … More Do-it-yourself interactive documentary
Given the bottlenecks faced by documentary makers today in terms of funding and distribution, can i-docs’ non-linear style of presentation and online exhibition offer a fitting alternative? … More I-docs as new style documentary
Prior to the use of this remotely piloted technology, a news organisation would take aerial recordings of news events such as fires, protests, crisis and traffic, using a media helicopter, which is often rented and incurs higher production cost. Drones offer several advantages. … More Drone Journalism: Pros and Cons
Obrero (worker) tells the story of Filipino construction workers who temporarily migrated to Christchurch for the earthquake rebuild. Unlike the other documentaries I made in the past, this project is following a transmedia approach – circulating narratives and expanding the story of Filipino workers through a variety of media formats: film, interactive documentary and a … More Obrero [documentary project]
Our paper, Natural Disaster Strategic Communication: Drone, data and backpack journalism trends, has been recently published by PRism Journal and is part of a special issue on strategic communication in the digital age. Access is free, download a copy from Prism website. The paper explores the symbiotic relationship between journalism and public relations and analyzes media … More Drone, data and backpack journalism trends
This blog explains the strategies used by media producers to localize a global media format. Let’s focus here on the Filipino version of the Big Brother House. The style of housing of Big Brother varies according to the audience cultures just like the dorm-style rooms in Big Brother Holland, the open design of the Australian house … More Glocal Big Brother
Norman Zafra This blog talks about Big Brother’s sweeping success globally and in the Philippines. The ability of television products to be transported and consumed by a unique set of audiences has been recognized since the early importation of canned programs and success of cable programming. In fact, this had previously been the form in … More Global Media Format: “Big Brother”
The newsgathering toolkit that I used in reporting also created a feeling of familiarity among my interviewees who felt less intimidated by a digital SLR than professional cameras used for broadcast. … More Reflections on backpack journalism
thoughts about documentary, media and journalism 