MALAYBALAY CITY (BukidnonNews.net/ 05 November 2024)—Walter Balane, Bukidnon News editor and MindaNews columnist, is now in Jakarta, Indonesia for the Earth Journalism Network’s STRIDES fellowship.
He joined the cohort of 17 journalists from the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia training on reporting infrastructure development and its impact on human rights and the environment. Five days of online sessions were held from Oct. 28 while the two-day training in Jakarta began on Nov. 5.
The fellowship is under Internews EJN’s project “Strengthening Transparency in Infrastructure Development Through Environmental Reporting in Southeast Asia” (STRIDES). It aims to generate “in-depth media coverage that raises public awareness and holds governments and corporations to account” during ASEAN’s infrastructure boom.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations has been predicted to be the fourth largest economy by 2030. Its 2023 nominal GDP of $3.8 trillion placed it fifth. According to the Asian Development Bank, the bloc’s needed infrastructure investment to sustain its growth is at least $2.8 trillion from 2023 to 2030 or $184 billion annually.
Fellows will receive one-on-one mentoring from senior journalists and legal experts in writing underreported infrastructure stories. Grant funding will also be provided.
Other EJN-STRIDES fellows are Philippines’ Rhick Lars Vladimer Albay of Eco-Business; Rjay Z. Castor, Daily Guardian; and Jauhn Etienne Villaruel, ABS-CBN News, as well as Malaysia’s Muhammad Iqbal Bin Fatkhi of Cilisos Media. Fellows from Indonesia are as follows: Richaldo Yoelianus Hariandja, Rabul Sawal, and Mochammad Asad of Mongabay Indonesia; Teguh Suprayitno, Mongabay Indonesia and Project Multatuli; Joan Aurelia and Yuli, Project Multatuli; Ryan Dagur, Floresa; Didit Hariyadi, bollo.id; Leoni Alvionita Susanto, Katadata; Gerard Axl Beelt, Kelung; Risna Halidi, Dewiku.com; and Suwandi Wendy, Kompas.com.
Balane also teaches full-time at the Development Communication Department of Bukidnon State University. (Bukidnon News)
(Photo: Jakarta, Indonesia by Muhammad Ravel on Unsplash)