To help professional media practitioners in the Visayas become more LGBT-sensitive in their coverage, Outrage Magazine and Rainbow Rights Project Inc. held a seminar/workshop dubbed Pink Ink.
This gathering formed part of the Pink Ink project first launched by Outrage Magazine in 2012 to help make journalism as practiced in the Philippines more sensitive to the LGBT community. Pink Ink specifically eyes to provide trainings/workshops in 1) educational institutions (including student journalists, student leaders and journalism students) for them to start reporting on LGBT-related issues; and 2) to professional media practitioners for them to be more LGBT-sensitive in their media coverage.
The move also follows the release of a stylebook that aims to help local media cover LGBT issues.
“The media continues to get flak for its often problematic coverage of the LGBT community,” said Michael David dela Cruz Tan, publishing editor of Outrage Magazine. But “truth be told, complaining will not get us anywhere. On the one hand, there are already numerous media practitioners who do us good; and on the other hand, there are those who are actually our allies, though they need us to provide them backing so they can do good by us.”
For Tan, this gathering “is a step in that direction, wherein we engage the media in promoting equal rights for all.”
Joining Tan, who facilitated the gathering, were Aiza Seguerra of the National Youth Commission and his wife Liza Dino of the Film Development Council of the Philippines, who both spoke on SOGIE 101 and their experience dealing with the media following Seguerra’s coming out as a transman; Atty. Jazz Tamayo of Rainbow Rights; and John Ryan N. Mendoza, managing editor of Outrage Magazine, who spoke on HIV-related issues, particularly on media’s coverage of the same.
This run of the Pink Ink was conducted with the US Embassy in Manila.
