Reformatting Barasrizal.com
For three days now, I have been copying and pasting entries from my back-up files of Barasrizal.com. I am in the process of reformatting my baby with a new look, new content, and new vision.
Well, not really that new. I just pasted some entries that were published already in Baras Balita and the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. As in mano-mano. Although I am familiar with PHP, I preferred the long and hard method.
I started BRO as an experiment. I thought of it as the “launching pad” of a Joomla-based website that I will proposed to the Municipality of Baras, Rizal. I have seen government websites running in Joomla and I thought that it’s an effective and more practical compared with static HTML webpages. What I initially planned was to put some dummy texts on it. I even created a site map on paper so I would know where to place the pages.
But in some turn of events, I fell in love with my new pet to the extent that I update it more frequently than I do in this blog. Perhaps it was really the journalistic blood in me that I have to deliver some information, no longer on paper but on the web. Add to that is the fact that I have lot of pictures that would go to waste if not shared with others.
I am actually in a dilemma on what method of writing/journalism I have to use in my entries. One on hand, there is this want to publish only the positive and the lighter side of Barasenians. Feel good articles, kumbaga. A la GoodNewsPilipinas.com. This will be my own way of promoting the town which is left behind by the neighboring terms in terms of economic development.
On the other side, however, is my plan to write whatever the news may be, which, most of the time is bad news. And this is also branched into two.
For one, I can practice observant, detached journalism. I have to interview people, do extensive research and edit before clicking that Publish button. Or, I can also be a public journalist who champions changes to take effect, influencing the stakeholders. Perhaps a balance of the three would not be bad.
If it’s not a matter of public concern, I will avoid posting entries on political figures. I don’t want to fuel the heated discussion between the opposition and administration. That means lesser entries for Dindo Garciano.
