Going Strong
After Five Years
Bulatlat ranks 4th among
Philippine online magazines
When Bulatlat
first made its presence felt on the Internet, a lot of people thought it
was a joke. We cannot really blame them, considering that the seriousness
of our cause is not readily seen in the name we decided to use. Five years
later, the mention of the name Bulatlat still elicits occasional
startled looks or smirks, but we can safely say that concerned online
users know that we are not joking.
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat
Finally,
some good news in a country plagued by a plethora of problems!
Bulatlat
has already made its mark in cyberspace. The
latest ranking of Alexa
shows that among the Philippine online magazines, the online news magazine
you are reading now is ranked fourth. Established in 1996, Alexa provides
traffic rankings for over 18 million known sites based on the usage data
of Alexa Toolbars installed in the online users’ browsers.
In addition,
Netcraft also identifies
Bulatlat as the 20th most popular news site in the Philippines, the
only alternative online news magazine to be included in the list. Netcraft
is an international network that monitors the activity of millions of
websites worldwide.
Aside from
making it to the list of top 20 Philippine sites, Bulatlat has been
twice a finalist in the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in
Journalism.
Birth of
Bulatlat
Bulatlat
uploaded its first issue five years ago on Feb. 7, although the idea for
an independent online news magazine was already in the works earlier.
Bulatlat Executive Editor Bobby Tuazon (currently on leave), shares
that Bulatlat was born amid threats to press freedom that went with
the political turmoil which resulted in the ouster of former President
Joseph Estrada.
As early as
1999, he said, journalists were already receiving suggestions from various
quarters to maximize the use of the Internet while resisting the rising
threats to press freedom like libel suits and other restrictions imposed
by the Estrada regime, not to mention the unabated media killings. That
was the time of proposals to change the 1987 Constitution, the declaration
of total war in Mindanao, the proliferation of political scandals, rubouts
and a host of other controversies. Indeed, there were so many news reports
that had difficulty seeing print at the same time that there was
disinformation left and right.
“A group of
journalists, press freedom advocates, non-government organization (NGO)
alternative press writers, economic analysts and University of the
Philippines (UP) professors explored further this possibility,” Tuazon
says. “But efforts to push through with the plan were overtaken by the
great events surrounding the oust-Estrada movement, until finally the idea
came into fruition sometime February 2001.”
But though
Bulatlat was born in a post-People Power II atmosphere, the reasons
for its establishment remained. These, in the words of Rowena
Carranza-Paraan, Bulatlat editorial board member, are: “To provide
a venue for stories that don’t get printed in mainstream media because of
economic and political interests of the owners/publishers and government
censorship. Also, to provide deeper analysis on issues. Sometimes an issue
gets covered by media but the coverage is lacking in context and depth.
And of course, to provide space for the issues of the marginalized sectors
of society.”
When
Bulatlat made its presence felt on the Internet when the first issue
was uploaded on Feb. 7, 2001, a lot of people thought it was a joke. We
cannot really blame them, considering that the seriousness of our cause is
not readily seen in the name we decided to use.
In Filipino,
the word “bulatlat” literally means to open up or expose. It could
therefore be made synonymous to inquire, search, probe, investigate and to
rummage through documents.
In its
colloquial sense, however, “bulatlat” carries sexual innuendoes
that are usually considered unprintable. At the start, it is not
surprising that people would react with startled looks or even smirks
whenever we mention our publication’s name.
How did the
name start anyway? “We were thinking of lamok.com – it had a sting to it
–but someone said that what comes to mind is dengue, no longer the
mosquito press of the Martial Law years,” Carranza-Paraan said. “So we
gave it up.” Then someone suggested Bulatlat. They voted to
finalize the name through secret balloting. And that’s how the name came
to be.
Five years
later, the mention of the publication’s name still elicits occasional
startled looks or smirks, but we can safely say that concerned online
users know that we are not joking. Consider the following testimonials
from some of our readers:
Alvin
Firmeza, moderator, no2alloutwar e-group: “It’s a worthy successor to
Midweek. There are many good sites like PCIJ (Philippine Center for
Investigative Journalism) and Newsbreak but they’re still
Manila-oriented unlike Bulatlat. Of course, its coverage of
people’s issues and the people’s movement gives it an edge over everyone.”
Inday
Espina-Varona, editor-in-chief, Philippine Graphic and chairperson,
National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP): “Bulatlat
has shown, and I hope others will learn from it, the best course for
advocacy journalism – incisive, thorough and of a quality at par or even
better than mainstream media. Indeed, there is no substitute for
competence, which is why Bulatlat has jumped from being a web
curiosity to become a choice for mainstream media that want to add depth
to reportage.”
George W.
Hammarth: “This is to express my thanks and congratulations for a truly
outstanding example of journalism and analysis. I've been reading this
week's issue and feel compelled to let you know how impressed I am with
the scholarship, direct/frank approach and overall quality of the
writing.”
As regards
the greatest achievement of Bulatlat in its first five years,
Tuazon explained, “Overall, I would say its courageous reportage and
investigation of issues and events least covered by the commercial press –
or those deemed touchy or non-marketable by the bourgeois press (tulad
ng HR, land and labor issues, urban poor, people’s struggles, press
freedom).”
“Equally
important, Bulatlat journalists’ fearless writing, incorruptibility
and uncompromising adherence to the Journalists’ Code of Ethics. We’re not
saying that we are actually the mainstream press – but the mainstream
press cannot do without Bulatlat. And there are many in the
tri-media (especially in TV public affairs) that faithfully follow
Bulatlat for the news, events uncovered by Bulatlat,” he said.
“Bulatlat
did all that it was intended to do and more. Aside from the three I
previously mentioned, Bulatlat has also been able to give space to
young writers and develop both their journalistic abilities and critical
thinking,” Carranza-Paraan said. “Aside from getting young writers,
Bulatlat also welcomed contributors and student volunteers. Not only
because we wanted their help but because we wanted to help instill
journalistic principles and values that would arm them when they finally
enter the crazy world of mainstream media.”
Of course,
it has not been a walk in the park for us. We had our share of libel suits
and wild accusations, particularly from the police and the military.
Bulatlat, after all, was accused of being “communist-influenced” in
the third volume of the book Trinity of War, published by the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP)’s Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom).
In the end,
with what Bulatlat has been able to do thus far, we could probably
say that the last five years have been meaningful – making us look forward
to the next five years and hopefully many more. Bulatlat
Related articles:
Bulatlat.com turns one!
Third Birthday
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