PUP Journalism Guild (JG) hosted its "PeryodisTalks" segment, entitled "Ngunit Bakit Tila Walang Natira: On Labor Migration Reporting and Filipino Journalism Education," to inform students on the importance of Labor Migration Reporting, on February 27 via Zoom and a livestream on PUP JG’s Facebook page.
The webinar is in line with the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) inclusion of Labor Migration Reporting in the current curriculum of the Journalism program at Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP).
Charles Autheman, the main speaker of the webinar, said that the inclusion of Labor Migration Reporting in the curriculum aims to help students transition from a higher education institution to a newsroom setup.
"We want to help students transition from a higher institution to a newsroom. We want to equip them to be able to report on these stories (labor migration) as professionally as possible," Autheman stated, voicing out the purpose and objective of the topic.
Autheman is a French independent consultant who has been organizing and facilitating training workshops for journalists, trade unionists, and communication professionals for the past 10 years in over 20 different countries.
He also shared some advice on good Labor Migration Reporting with student journalists, which is mainly trying to understand the experience of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) that are living.
"It is important to understand the experience of the OFWs. Like me, they are also parents, children, and friends of their loved ones. That is why, in reporting, inclusivity is important. It is (inclusivity) being knowledgeable about our own biases and trying to move away from them," the French independent consultant pointed out.
He emphasized that society must question the concept of "low-skill workers" because every job requires skills that vary in different fields. He also stated that the main difference between high-skill and low-skill workers is the wage.
"Our society predominantly tends to give (moral) value to what has economic value. Being a cook, domestic worker, or construction worker—jobs that are typically considered low-skilled by the media and society—let’s say that low-skilled workers are actually doing work that requires a lot of skills," Autheman highlighted.
Autheman elaborated on the factors that contribute to the Philippines’ high migration rate, which are inequality within the society, access to the labor market, and insufficient jobs in the country. He also stated that Filipino migrant workers have skills that countries are looking for, and due to the country's history, labor migration is not something new to the Philippines.
"In terms of care in the health system, one of the countries that did a good job at training a lot of people to meet those needs has been the Philippines. History is another element. Labor Migration is not something new to the Philippines because as Filipinos migrate over time, they come back with their stories of migration."
Meanwhile, Department of Journalism chair Renalyn Valdez said that journalists must amplify the voices of the migrants. She also urged everyone to continue looking for policies and programs that are available for them and to uphold ethical and sensitive reporting of migrants.
"Hindi dapat mawawala ang boses ng mga migrante galing sa istorya nila. We also learn from experience as we write more stories about labor migrants. We realize the many issues and ways in which we can reframe the stories and learn from the stories we get to tell," Valdez said with encouragement towards the audience.
Valdez added that forced labor, fair recruitment, and violence against women migrant workers are some issues that journalists need to look more into to help alleviate these issues.
Graphics: Cathlyn de Raya
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