PCOO staff undergo social media, journalism training

FILE: Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) (Photo: Presidential Communications (Government of the Philippines)/Facebook)

MANILA — To enhance government communication in the online realm, personnel of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) have undergone intensive training on crafting creative social media content.

The three-day social media and journalism training, which concluded on Friday, was hosted by PCOO in partnership with the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

WAN-IFRA Senior Manager for Training Jen Teo said the intensive course is for both reporters and editorial staff exploring the key principles and practices of digital content and journalism.

“It’s designed to bring the entire editorial team up to speed with the current thinking in digital journalism,” said Teo, who is also the Media Professionals Program Director of WAN-IFRA.

The participants were staff of People’s Television 4 (PTV 4), Radyo Pilipinas, Philippine News Agency (PNA), Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Mula sa Masa, Para sa Masa, as well as representatives of the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson, and Office of the Secretary.

The program centered on creating immersive digital content and increasing social media engagement for PCOO employees, especially those handling the official social media accounts of their respective offices.

Trainer Kevin Anderson, who has 20 years of digital journalism experience, highlighted the need to put the users’ experience at its heart by developing content aligned with and geared for the audiences, particularly in the social media platform.

“Find a way to be distinctive. Be true to the values that you have. One thing people often mistake is that they think that this new technology and new ways of content somehow changes what we do as media organizations,” Anderson said.

“You can be creative and be distinctive and still have that core sense of who you are and that keeps you through all the changes and challenges you see in media now,” he added.

PCOO Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco earlier said a series of training would be conducted for officials and staff of the PCOO to hone their skills in public information and journalism for better communication of the administration’s policies, programs, activities, and achievements. (PNA)