Protecting Journalists by Applying the Civic Journalism Model in Developing Countries: A Case Study of the Philippines

Abstract

Civic journalism, the community-inclusive cooperative model that has faded in the United States, where it had first blossomed, has the potential to be re-purposed to provide security for journalists in areas where it can be dangerous to practise the traditional Western-objective model. The Philippines, where journalists in recent years have been killed at the highest rate in the world, provides an illustrative case study for this concept because of its Westernised, vigorous press and the violent insurgencies that have continued in some provincial areas. Recent experiments with civic journalism in the Philippines under corporate sponsorship suggest how adaptations of the model might help organise effective news reporting, supported by local citizens, to inform safer and more effective press practices in regions such as the island of Mindanao where journalists have been particularly endangered. Our discussion of experiments with civic journalism suggests that it might be more widely applied to organising popular support for journalists engaged in reporting on difficult topics that are important to resolving conflict and furthering development in underdeveloped and unstable regions.