This story was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 1, February 5-11, 2006

Going Strong After Five Years
Bulatlat ranks 4^th 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