Group launches safety platform for Filipina journalists

IN RESPONSE to the continued abuse of Philippine media, a group launched on December 10 an online safety platform for Filipina journalists.

The Digital Safehouse and Collaborative Platform is a space for women journalists to report their accounts of abuse, gender-based harassment, and other forms of media suppression. The site also directs them to channels where they can get legal or medical assistance, as well as touch base with media networks in the country.

According to the Philippine chapter of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT), the initiative addresses the enduring media crisis in the country. 

“This project is being launched to the public in light of events that have been plaguing the country’s news industry for the last five years: journalist killings, arrests, red-tagging, filing of libel charges, to name a few,” said the IAWRT in a statement.

Launched on International Human Rights Day, the digital platform is an IAWRT initiative, funded by International Media Support, in collaboration with the Philippine Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists (PPSAJ).

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility is a partner in the IAWRT project. Other allies include the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, Foundation for Media Alternatives, Center for Community Journalism and Development, Photojournalists’ Center of the Philippines, The Peace and Conflict Journalism Network, Pilgrims for Peace, Promotion of Church People’s Response, and the Media Defence.