ABS-CBN’s Boto Mo iPatrol Mo (BMPM) Ako ang Simula campaign is going into high gear with the holding of the first Citizen Journalism Workshop for Boto Patrollers in General Santos City on Thursday, July 9.

ABS-CBN Senior Vice President for News and Current Affairs Maria Ressa said the workshops will teach Boto Patrollers how to be more effective in getting their messages across via new media – internet and mobile phone technology.

At the moment, about 14,600 have registered as Boto Patrollers and Ressa believes all of them have something to say about their communities. This in effect is the basis for Boto Mo iPatrol Mo campaign, which has metamorphosed BMPM: Ako ang Simula for the 2010 elections.

For the benefit of the Boto Patrollers, half-day Citizen Journalism Workshop will be held on the morning of July 9 at the KCC Mall Convention Center, General Santos City and on the afternoon of July 10 at the Ateneo de Davao University.

Thereafter, similar workshops will be held once a month all over the country.

The Power of New Media

The program was first launched for the 2007 elections and was perceived to be widely successful. That time, Ressa said “we took the traditional power of broadcast media, cable and combined it with new media – the Internet and mobile technology – to create the first instance globally where a news organization called on citizen journalists to come together for a very active, political purpose – to patrol their votes and push for clean elections.”

BMPM: Ako ang Simula raises the level of participation of citizen journalists from the BMPM in 2007 as ABS-CBN integrates the added power of social networking sites like Multiply and Facebook with cell phones and e-mail—popular Filipino tools—as venues through which Boto Patrollers can submit their reports.
“The times, they are a-changing, and we are keeping pace. Millions of Filipinos are taking part in our efforts through traditional media, but new media gives a chance for immediate feedback and action,” Ressa said.

The membership of BMPM’s Facebook page jumped by 500% in the past two months and that of its Multiply page rose by 150%. All the members of these two social networking sites actively comment on election issues from the Election Automation project to the possibility of charter change through constituent assembly.
This early, members already send around 30 reports via e-mail and text messages in a given day.

Originally launched in the months before the 2007 elections, BMPM had its registered members taking pictures and videos using cell phones and digital cameras of perceived anomalies which were then sent to ABS-CBN. Messages sent to ABS-CBN were verified by its various news teams and many were aired in news programs like Magandang Umaga Bayan (today called Umagang Kay Ganda), TV Patrol World and Bandila.

In the revitalized BMPM, the top officials of ABS-CBN’s News and Current Affairs department will attempt to share with the “Boto Patrollers” the ABCs of reporting live and of getting the right details and facts necessary for news reports. Boto Patrollers will have the opportunity to learn the basics of citizen journalism from seasoned journalists like Ressa.

The BMPM project in 2007 was so successful it won numerous awards in the Philippines and around the world, including the Gold Quill Award of Excellence from US-based IABC, the International Association of Business Communicators. IABC called Boto Mo, iPatrol Mo an “effective campaign with a modest budget… well-executed … with thoughtful use of strategic partners – all based on a bold, honorable mission.”

Instant reporters

The Boto Patrollers will be provided with handouts on the BMPM Movement and will receive free instruction on how to make their reports using cellphone videos or digital cameras. They will also be taught to write captions for still photos they send in.

Basic story telling techniques and journalism ethics will also be taught the Boto Patrollers, along with the basics on how to upload reports on the internet.
The workshops will be open to registered Boto Patrollers on a first-come-first-served basis. However, those who choose to register on site will also be allowed to join the workshops.