Depending on how much time you spend on social media and what its unpredictable shifts in algorithms serve you, you must have come across a Facebook post that, in so many words, ascribed the decline of democracy to...
hold your breath...
Rappler’s reader registration program. The logic of the UP sociology teacher who posted was: “funnily enough,” because Rappler requires a reader to register before he or she can read a story in full, we are effectively giving misinformation and fascism a boost. So really, she said, this “elitist” and “anti-poor” requirement is just another side of authoritarianism.
Did you just get lost with that one? Same here. But I’m not here to add to the many ways that Rappler supporters, freedom vanguards, media literacy students, and fellow journalists called out the misinformed poster about Rappler’s registration ask. Hello, this is Miriam Grace Go — Miss Go or Miss Gigi in the newsroom — Rappler’s managing editor.
It’s been a long time since I wrote Judgment Call, but this issue merits a “what’s up” email, so here goes. I thought I should share the points in what you may call a self-reflection prompt that I emailed to the staff amid the flurry of social media exchanges over the post. Signing up to subscribe to Rappler is free, and should be as easy as 1-2-3, but.
.. Have we been communicating our registration requirement in a clear and simple manner? Note that I didn’t say, “did we communicate,” because it’s an .
