To help foster collaboration around our shared goal of combating disinformation, Rappler, in partnership with the Journalism for Nation Building Foundation, awarded fellowships to 14 Filipino community journalists and five journalists from Southeast Asia.
The Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship and #FactsMatter Fellowship were offered to qualified journalists interested in reporting about their communities in the context of a pandemic and forthcoming elections (in the case of the Philippines), as well as disinformation (both in the case of the Philippines and Southeast Asia).
Six journalists from Mindanao, five from Luzon, and three from the Visayas were selected for the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship awards. They are the following:
- Grace Albasin, Bukidnon
- Maria Frencie Carreon, Zamboanga City
- Froilan Gallardo, Cagayan de Oro City
- Patricia Laririt, Palawan
- Lance Paolo Lim, Samar
- Marthy John Lubiano, Leyte
- Joann Manabat, Pampanga
- Antonio Manaytay, Ipil
- Claire Michaela Obejas, Cebu City
- Ahikam Pasion, Pangasinan
- Rommel Rebollido, South Cotabato
- Lucia Silva, Marawi
- Jerome Sagcal, Cavite
- Paul Soriano, Nueva Ecija
Five journalists coming from four countries in Southeast Asia were chosen for the #FactsMatter Fellowship. For security reasons, we are listing only four of them from three countries:
- Wongpun Amarinthewa from Thailand
- Tonggo Simangunsong from Indonesia
- Chloe Lim from Singapore
- Budiarti Utami Putri from Indonesia
The two fellowship programs will run from August 2021 until May 2022 (for local fellows), and from August 2021 until April 2022 (for international fellows).
A series of training sessions will be conducted by senior editors of Rappler and other key members of its research and data teams. These will cover a wide range of topics that will help journalists understand and address disinformation, and do public interest journalism. Both fellowships are being supported by the National Endowment for Democracy. – Rappler.com