Invited speakers answer questions from the students who attended the journalism and financial literacy forum organized by CDN Digital on Thursday, Sept. 19. | CDN Digital photo/ Niña Mae Oliverio
CEBU CITY, Philippines – During a time when consumers are growing more reliant on digital payments and electronic wallets, there is a need now, more than ever, for financial literacy.
Bruce Rodriguez, GCash Corporate Communications Manager and Lead for Business Communications and Editorial, said that awareness often leads to freedom from debt and financial insecurity.
Rodriguez said there is a need for the government, media and the private sector to collaborate to raise awareness on financial literacy.
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“Dapat tulong tulong tayo. Private sector, media, coming together and really trying to improve financial literacy. Because we can’t do it alone, Gash can’t do it alone. Kami sa Gash, we also partner with other institutions, with other government institutions, media. Kasi, how can we reach our audience? How can we reach the correct people na gusto naming matuto ng financial literacy but through coordination collaboration? It’s really key,” Rodriguez said during the “Journalism and Financial Literacy: Tools in achieving freedom from debt and financial insecurity” forum held at the Performing Arts Hall of the University of the Philippines Cebu on Thursday, September 19.
The forum, that was organized by CDN Digital, was one of the activities for the 32nd Press Freedom Week celebration.
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Joining Rodriguez were CDND Senior Multimedia Reporter Morexette Erram and Content Creator Immae Lachica.
Also in attendance were over 100 journalism students and instructors coming from different universities in Cebu City.
The speakers and participants of the journalism and financial literacy forum. | CDN Digital photo
Financial Literacy
Rodriguez said that while GCash and the services that they offer are now popular in urban areas, the challenges lies on how to reach those in rural areas.
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He said that they recognize the role of media in spreading awareness and reaching the target audience.
Erram, for her part, said that it is also important for the public to stay informed, especially on the threats of online scams.
She said that criminals have also joined the digitalization trend and are now stealing money through online scams.
Erram said that since most of the transactions are now made in the digital space, the need to identify scammers is also becoming more difficult. And in most cases, online scams are no longer reported to authorities, maybe because of the victim’s shame.
“It’s important to get the story out there to, one, raise awareness. And the second, to dig deeper… You have to make a little effort to investigate to find the pattern so that you can come up with a story that [will] also help them provide information on how to protect themselves,” she said.
Social Media
Meanwhile, Lachica gave a brief on how online journalists work.
Lachica said that while online journalism is somewhat different from the traditional media, there is still the need to always observe media ethics, aside from just minding page views and engagements.
She said that it is important to always uphold accuracy, transparency, and fairness in online stories and posts.