Covering automated polls:
The Bicol training leg

As part of its training series for reporters on how to cover the automated elections, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism flew to Legazpi City last January 14 for the Bicol leg of its nationwide training workshops.

The PCIJ is part of the 2010 Pera at Pulitika Network set up by media and civil society groups in cooperation with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

In the training workshops, journalists discuss the issues and concerns related to the automation of the May 10 2010 elections. But more than that, journalists and experts discuss among themselves the importance of probing the money side of the elections: campaign finances and expenditures.

As in previous training workshops held in Laguna, Subic, Clark, and Manila, journalist-participants were asked at the end of the training sessions to divide themselves into groups and present to their colleagues the issues they expect to deal with in the coming elections.

The following video clips are excerpts from the presentations made by four groups of Bicol-based reporters. Please note that these creative presentations were developed independently by the reporters themselves, based on the realities that they face in their respective jurisdictions. These are very real issues that they expect to encounter in the run-up to election day.

But first, a little ditty on automation!

Confusion on election day

See no evil, hear no evil

Responsibilities and accountabilities

The vulnerabilities of media