Volume 6, Issue No. 1
OPINION/COMMENTARY
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
. . . . . A community service of Romar Media Canada, The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .
Our latest as of Friday, July 12, 2024
~ The community has a huge appetite for stories that are uplifting and inspiring about people and what they do. And just as true, readers peruse articles exposing wrongdoing even as they loathe the misdeed and the individuals committing it. The electronic journal Filipino Web Magazine continues the task it has vowed to fulfill as it enters its sixth year of public service.
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TRUTH SEEKER. TRUTH TELLER
E-Magazine Thrives On Stories of Goodness
Chicaneries Also Hug the Media Spotlight
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
"We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated." - Maya Angelou
TORONTO - The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, says a Chinese proverb attributed to Lao Tzu.
And so it was for me as I emerged from the ashes of a stupid word war to embark on a journalistic odyssey leading to the founding of an e-zine - the Filipino Web Magazine (FWM) - my metaphoric soapbox to ventilate personal and professional comments and concerns that impact the Filipino community.
That "single step" I took was five years ago this month, and as FWM enters its sixth year today, the "thousand miles" have turned into thousands of readers leafing through hundreds of articles about their community and its role players.
"Truth Seeker. Truth Teller" is the slogan I coined for FWM as guide in practicing investigative journalism, the genre I'm most comfortable with despite constant threats to life and limb from hostile sources.
FWM came about in July 2019, the result of senseless bickering with my principal who, for lack of educated things to do, kept on spreading the canard about a younger woman she envied who was on the road to success in business.
The septuagenarian begrudged her rapid rise, and her expanding network of business contacts, friends and backers appeared to have upended a competing enterprise (her secret lover's, it is claimed) she supported through and through.
The quarrel had blown my way even as I had no role in it. Worse of all, the unfounded insinuation of a clandestine affair went unabated, fanned no less by the older woman on the throes of losing her composure.
That was the final straw. I had endured repeated smears while in her employ, and this one, something so wrong and malicious coming out of the horse's mouth, I was not inclined to dismiss with a mere shrug.
Thus the inevitability of a head-on conflict presented itself. In June 2019. I was let go for standing up against her rumor-mongering. It's that same conduct that had landed her in jail.
My reputation as a journalist, including international stints as a foreign correspondent, was very much at stake in that scenario and I was not going to let an imbecilic rant ruin my career. No way.
A few weeks later or in July 2019, I ushered myself into electronic publishing with the first issue of Filipino Web Magazine on the Blogspot platform. Thus was born Volume1, Issue no. 1 (Writing a Column a Quarter of a Century On) to begin a new chapter in community journalism.
I thought then that rather than grouch about the loss of a miserly-paying writing job with a fancy but meaningless title attached to it, I'd explore new avenues for intellectual growth.
My forced departure from the tabloid had freed me from mental atrophy and degeneration. I probably would have been unhinged by now had I stayed on under the control of a semiliterate head.
That was a blessing, my leaving. More than anything else, it has enriched me, not in the form of money, but in intangibles.
That realization came as soon as I stepped out of its orbit and found my moorings again as a journalist in the matrix of a foreign correspondent reared to report the truth objectively without fear or favor.
To be sure, it's been a wonderful new journey from that time on, and one that's not without challenges; challenges, shall I say, that only serve to strengthen my resolve.
FWM complements my YouTube vlogs (The Filipino Web Channel, Currents & Breaking News, Filipino Web Entertainment, Eats and Restos Channel) under the umbrella of my eponymous news organization Romar Media Canada which I put up in April 2011. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42YXRLqaQYA).
With almost 300 articles (analysis, commentaries, news, opinions) published since then and read by thousands of readers, FWM now enters its sixth year.
How FWM performed in years past is truly inspirational and decisive. As its main writer and editor, I'm glad that FWM has reached that point of being a trustworthy, reliable, honest and exacting news source.
I'm not being facetious in saying that. The metrics won't lie. For example, while readers appreciate the finer things in life, they also abhor wrongdoing.
Such is the case with our creative community. People love the positive vibes, especially the stories that celebrate goodness and triumph over adversity.
My articles about the Philippine Artists Group (PAG's Art Exhibit: A Celebration of Filipino Genius) and journalist and artist Michelle Chermaine Ramos (Valentine's Day Feature: Love Takes Flight) occupy the top slots in FWM based on the number of readers.
Interestingly, readers are also repulsed to see people being victimized by their own kind, thus the stories about the couple and their tabloid (Lies, Deceptions by The Philippine Reporter Exposed) and (Money Scandal Prods Ethnic Press to Tighten Up) land as prominently in the list of top stories.
A show of respect to mark the passage of time, people and their achievements, and events that define them, has garnered a following to be in the top roster too. There are others, but their readership is not as robust as the ones here.
Stories in this category include:
This latest article is now in FWM as Volume 6, No. 1., signaling the start of a new cycle in reporting.
As we continue the journey, we hope to open more eyes, cause the community to have an open mind, and enhance a better understanding of what a Truth Seeker and Truth Teller does. (Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved).
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