To cope with disruptions and challenges to Philippine journalism, the Asian Center for Journalism... more To cope with disruptions and challenges to Philippine journalism, the Asian Center for Journalism and Internews collaborated on Ads For News, a pilot research seeking to create a nationwide index of credible Philippine News Sites (PNS) potentially ripe for advertising support. The project manually vetted over 100 PNS and found that PNS are mostly based in urbanized areas. The vetted PNS were then mapped to determine regions considered as news deserts. Preliminary mapping revealed no PNS was based in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and is thus identified as a major online news desert. The study also revealed existing gaps in Philippine online journalism such as content publication and sourcing, political/corporate influences, and transparency issues on editorial and advertising practices. The paper concludes with a call to localize the concept of news deserts in the context of the Global South.
This article spells out the ways in which religious freedom has been deployed against proponents ... more This article spells out the ways in which religious freedom has been deployed against proponents of same-sex marriage and gender equality in the Philippines. While the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community and allies have appealed to religious freedom to gain equal rights under the law, conservative Christian entities have fought back by invoking the same notion. They have appropriated religious freedom, which has historically been interpreted by the courts in favour of individual liberties, to defend majoritarian values surrounding sexuality. This article describes this move as the weaponisation of religious freedom in defence of the dominant religion and an assumed majority of Filipinos whose moral sensibilities are purportedly under attack. Towards the end, the article relates this weaponisation to the experience of the Catholic Church in the contemporary public sphere and the militant character of Christianity that continues to view the Philippines as a Christian nation.
Queer Filipinos continue to experience different modes of discrimination, abuse, and coercion, ma... more Queer Filipinos continue to experience different modes of discrimination, abuse, and coercion, mainly because of conservative religious worldviews. They encounter these experiences in their households, schools, workplaces, and churches, which we refer to as spaces of unfreedom. How do queer Filipinos navigate these spaces of unfreedom? We answer this based on interviews with queer young adult men who grew up Christian in various denominations. We argue that they are in an ongoing process of contesting unfreedom through moral, theological, and aspirational reasoning. We conclude by making a case for robust religious freedom for LGBTQ+ persons—one which goes beyond the legal discourse and recognizes their spaces of unfreedom.
To cope with disruptions and challenges to Philippine journalism, the Asian Center for Journalism... more To cope with disruptions and challenges to Philippine journalism, the Asian Center for Journalism and Internews collaborated on Ads For News, a pilot research seeking to create a nationwide index of credible Philippine News Sites (PNS) potentially ripe for advertising support. The project manually vetted over 100 PNS and found that PNS are mostly based in urbanized areas. The vetted PNS were then mapped to determine regions considered as news deserts. Preliminary mapping revealed no PNS was based in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and is thus identified as a major online news desert. The study also revealed existing gaps in Philippine online journalism such as content publication and sourcing, political/corporate influences, and transparency issues on editorial and advertising practices. The paper concludes with a call to localize the concept of news deserts in the context of the Global South.
This article spells out the ways in which religious freedom has been deployed against proponents ... more This article spells out the ways in which religious freedom has been deployed against proponents of same-sex marriage and gender equality in the Philippines. While the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community and allies have appealed to religious freedom to gain equal rights under the law, conservative Christian entities have fought back by invoking the same notion. They have appropriated religious freedom, which has historically been interpreted by the courts in favour of individual liberties, to defend majoritarian values surrounding sexuality. This article describes this move as the weaponisation of religious freedom in defence of the dominant religion and an assumed majority of Filipinos whose moral sensibilities are purportedly under attack. Towards the end, the article relates this weaponisation to the experience of the Catholic Church in the contemporary public sphere and the militant character of Christianity that continues to view the Philippines as a Christian nation.
Queer Filipinos continue to experience different modes of discrimination, abuse, and coercion, ma... more Queer Filipinos continue to experience different modes of discrimination, abuse, and coercion, mainly because of conservative religious worldviews. They encounter these experiences in their households, schools, workplaces, and churches, which we refer to as spaces of unfreedom. How do queer Filipinos navigate these spaces of unfreedom? We answer this based on interviews with queer young adult men who grew up Christian in various denominations. We argue that they are in an ongoing process of contesting unfreedom through moral, theological, and aspirational reasoning. We conclude by making a case for robust religious freedom for LGBTQ+ persons—one which goes beyond the legal discourse and recognizes their spaces of unfreedom.
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