“Rappler’s Village” – A Virtual Magazine For Village Journalism (My Unsolicited Proposal)

The proposed magazine’s slogan is “Yes, we can do it!” 5 words reflecting emphasis on positivity (Yes), collective (we), possibility (can), need to act (do), and achieve (it). “We” includes those people solicitous of villagers rising from poverty!

To Maria Ressa, first Filipina awardee of Nobel Peace Prize (2021) for journalism: Follow-up to my earlier essay [31 October 2021, “Praise Maria Ressa, Raise Rappler To A Higher Form: Village Journalism![1]” Communication For Development (ComDev)], intimating what I now detail as a proposal.
(images: farmer-tractor on FAH’s monitor 30-07-2016; tablet[2] from Shutterstock 2021)

Hereby, I propose that Rappler publish a virtual magazine, Rappler’s Village, to communicate knowledge on relevant aspects of agriculture and fisheries to farmers and fishers. Budget coming from?  Millions in funding attracted by Nobel Peace Prize – USAID dollars, PH Department of Agriculture pesos!

Let me introduce myself, I a full-blooded Ilocano (FBI), born in Asingan, Pangasinan, wide-awake hometown of brother-sister President Fidel Valdez Ramos and Senator Leticia Ramos-Shahani. Our FBI Asingan town has also contributed Narciso Ramos, Secretary of Foreign Affairs; Hermogenes Esperon Jr, AFP Chief of Staff; Liza Soberano and Jhong Hilario, artists. See? My FBI hometown has been cultivating doers-achievers.

For the Rappler virtual magazine, whatever its name will be, I offer my creative writing & publishing powers privately cultivated and publicly seen starting in 1975.

First, in 1965, I graduated from UPLB with 2.36 weighted average (a few Faileds counted in).

At 35, I became founding Editor In Chief of the Forest Research Institute (FORI) publications: FORI’s monthly Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly popular magazine Habitat.

At 45, encouraging myself, I began learning digital writing, editing, layouting, desktop publishing starting Innocents Day, 1985, initiated with WordStar Version 1 by a lady (sorry I forgot the name) at the office of Director Elpidio L Rosario of the Farming Systems & Soil Resources Institute (FSSRI), UPLB. At FSSRI, I had previously typed, edited and produced the book Focus On The Small Farmer, years before digital printing came along.

At 61, at Los Baños, I became the one-man-band Desktop Publisher-Editor In Chief of the quarterly Philippine Journal of Crop Science – virtually 8 years.  

At 67, I became an international consulting writer for India-based ICRISAT, work from home 2007-2014. ICRISAT published 7 books of mine.

At 72, I became the historical first and so far the only “Outstanding Alumnus for Creative Writing” in the entire UP System!

Since 2000, I have been an unstoppable blogger – here is a short “About Me” – https://communicationfordevelopmentphcomdev.blogspot.com.

Turning 81 on 17 Sept 2021, having authored and desktop-published many publications, if challenged, I can digitally produce a monthly 40-page magazine by myself, from writing to digital copy, print-on-demand!

(For all that, let me not forget to thank God for His continuing graces.)

Writing remains a complicated proposition. Exactly! I can help Rappler tremendously; I will train-assist virtually and simultaneously a hundred-and-one journalists on many agriculture & related subjects – with insistence-persistence on Village Journalism: You are writing for the village people, people!@517

[1]https://communicationfordevelopmentphcomdev.blogspot.com/2021/10/praise-maria-ressa-raise-rappler-to.html


[2]https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hong-kong-china-august-7-2011-280100582