4th Part of the Paaralang Roger Sese by UPLB Perspective held discussion on Investigative Journalism, Art Criticism, and Caption Writing

Charles Kirby Manuyag & Thea Alodia Tugade

SATURDAY, November 20, 2021 - In continuation of the Paaralang Roger Sese’s weekly journalism trainings, the UPLB Perspective kicked off their fourth round of workshops discussing Investigative Journalism (2 PM) and Art Criticism and Caption Writing (4 PM), held via Zoom Conference and Facebook Livestream, attended by students from various school publications.

The masters of the ceremony, Mr. Zar and Ms. Maan, whole-heartedly welcomed all the attendees and requested them to answer a Mentimeter link regarding their insights on the event. To formally start the program, they introduced Mr. Kenneth Guda, a former editor and reporter in Pinoy Weekly, a staff member for Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and a Photojournalist and Culture Writer, as the guest speaker for the topic Investigative Journalism.

Mr. Kenneth began his lecture as he defined Investigative Writing and associated it with the philosophy and fundamental techniques of Investigative Reporting such as the paper trail, people trail, electronic trail, and field inspection. He gave further details to these components of techniques as he then shared some laws to serve as a basis, such as the Bill of Rights Section 7, 1987 Constitution, RA 6713, Administrative Code of 1987, and many more.

“No longer is investigative journalism simply read, it is now a multisensory experience,” stated by Mr. Kenneth, as he highlighted the use of technology for investigative reporting to be read. In addition, he also added “Digital Trail” in his discussion, whilst presenting examples of what he discussed by means of Facebook and Youtube videos, website articles, resources for social media mining, Google investigation tools, digital forensics, and many more.

He also discussed the process of investigative reporting. He noted that it starts by looking for a certain information needed for further investigation and verifying whether it is important to the public interest. “Be concise, use compelling narratives to drive forward the data, maximize data visualization,” advised Mr. Kenneth for his tips in investigative writing.

Nearing its end, Ms. Maan introduced the Q&A portion of the program. Audiences asked their questions through the Zoom chat box, answered by the speaker, Mr. Kenneth Guda. As their concerns were fulfilled, the emcees then reminded everyone to take a short break for the next lecture regarding Art Criticism and Caption Writing to take place minutes after.

Thus, the discourse on Investigative Journalism came to an end as the emcees extended their gratitude to Mr. Kenneth Guda whilst bidding goodbye to the attendees.

Driving forward to the second topic, the host immediately introduced the speaker, none other than Ms. Kat Sabangan, a former Contributing Editor of UPLB Perspective and an Officer-in-Charge Center for the Nationalist Studies UPLB.

The session commenced as Ms. Kat briefly introduced her first topic in accordance with Art Criticism. She then asked the participants: “Ano ang sining para sa iyo?” Sining is an expression and a way of communicating. According to her: “Ang Sining ay likha mula sa malikhaing pag-iisip, transpormasyon ng karanasan, repleksyon sa kultura.”

Afterward, Ms. Kat presented various kinds of art by different kinds of artists. Overall, art is a collection of experiences, where an individual can transform arts into experiences that each has been done. It also relates to histories and issues that happened and is happening. “Ang umiiral na estado ng sining sa bansa ay dinidikta ng kultura at super-istratura,” she added.

Describing an art is not enough, it should be criticized because with that, people will broaden their knowledge, and it should also be rhetoric. Subsequently, she discussed the three (3) different types of criticisms: Descriptive/Non-representational, Semiotic/Structuralist, and Deconstructive.

According to Ms. Kat, people need to remember that a poet’s responsibility is needed because society needs interventions and understanding the different contexts. It is not enough that individuals know how to criticize; positioning themselves is a must, and they should also affect people’s minds.

Continuing her discussion, Ms. Kat proceeded to tackle her next topic about tips in writing captions entitled, “Crash Course”. She expounded on the meaning of captions and its significance to a picture. Ms. Kat then shared some tips in writing captions:

1. Clearly identify elements in the photo

2. Identify when the photo was taken

3. Provide a background that answers, “Why?”

4. Complete sentences and present tense

5. Be brief

6. Avoid long write-ups

7. Review captions

Furthermore, she also relayed some examples of caption writing and gave further explanation towards the details of the caption. Ms. Kat concluded her lecture with a quote from Antonio Gramsci: “Ang pakikibaka para sa moral at intelektwal na pamumuno sa espera ng kultura ay pakikibaka para makamit ang gahum.”

As soon as her lecture ended, the emcees opened up the floor for the Question and Answer portion for the attendees to satisfy their inquiries; hence, the 4th Workshop for Paaralang Roger Sese has successfully come to an end as the hosts reminded the participants for the next round of the workshop that will be held next week.

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