Cybersecurity and Podcasting Training
Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) and the Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN) organized two online training workshops last month: a Cybersecurity Training last July 27, 2022, and a Podcasting Training last July 30, 2022. These workshops aim to help migrant advocates and workers protect themselves online in this age of modern technology and utilize podcasting on migrant organizations' advocacy and campaigns. The training program series was supported by the European Union and the World Association for Christian Communication.
On Cybersecurity: A guide to protecting yourself online
With all the fascinating things the online world offers, we often forget the terrible things that come with it. Online scams, phishing, and malicious attacks on our privacy are only a few of the many horrible things that can happen to us online.
Ron Villegas, a socio-political activist based in the Philippines with experience in web development and IT-related work, was invited by APMM to be the facilitator of this Cybersecurity Workshop. Ron specializes in digital rights, particularly internet access and privacy.
Ron began to talk about how online security is not a concern until we realized that it is from all of the unpleasant experiences in the online world. In this digital age, being mindful of the information we share online keeps these bad experiences from occurring.
Information has many valuable uses in our everyday lives, but data misuse can put us in danger. Whenever we do anything on the internet, it is collected to make profiles of us, manipulate behavior, and gain unauthorized access. This is where information security comes in. To provide confidentiality, integrity, and availability, we must protect our information to prevent information mining.
Ron goes more in-depth in hardening privacy and security. From access to sensitive information, state surveillance and repression, and surveillance capitalism, it is no secret how our data is being milked and exploited in this situation. With what has been happening lately, Ron advised us to protect our data and harden our security with encryption, anonymity and setting permissions.
What digital citizens should keep in mind is that not every piece of information needs to be shared online. As the infamous saying “think before you click” goes, we should always be responsible for what we post on the internet. We have the right to disclose whatever information we have but let’s also be mindful enough not to expose any information that could put us in danger.
In this information age where information has become quickly and widely disseminated, we should never forget that privacy is a part of our human rights.
On Podcasting for Advocacies: Champion and spread the Good News!
Marjohara Bucay, a community journalist in Altermidya and a supporter of Filipino children's rights, and an Editor-in-Chief of the Philippine Collegian, the University of the Philippines - Diliman's official student publication during his time, was the facilitator of the second training on Podcasting.
"Why do podcasts?" Bucay asks. One must establish a stronger connection with their audience to mobilize an effective campaign, and the most effective way to engage with people is through audio. Audio is an intimate and relatable way to tell your story. Podcasting is a great way to connect with our audience and communicate our message. The likelihood is that listeners will spend more time listening than reading. Therefore, individuals can listen to your podcast without interfering with their work (especially those with high work demands like migrants).
Marjohara emphasized the vital elements in creating podcasts. The key thing to remember is to identify your target audience and the kinds of content they enjoy. With this, you'll begin to have a sense of the format and flow of your podcast, as well as when you'll release it and how you may promote it. Creating promotional materials such as podcast trailers uploaded on social media will help your podcast be recognized. Your promotion materials should resemble who you are. A brief background of you and your organization should also be included so that people will understand why they should believe in what you say.
In the sea of emerging content creators, it is crucial to stand out and create content that matters to real people to connect with people more.
Bucay goes more in-depth in starting a podcast: to successfully launch a podcast, it is essential to remember that it must be real, relatable, recognizable, and routined. To build a committed audience, you must consistently produce original content that resonates with your listeners. This audience would serve as the foundation for the podcast's improvement, mainly if one were to ask them what topics they would like to discuss in the future or provide feedback on their queries.
After the discussion, migrant participants were given a chance to create a concept for their podcast show.
The workshop’s goal is for the participants to brainstorm their podcast’s three main goals, the topic of conversation, and its sound and feel. Anne from Kafin Migrant Center Japan, planned to reach out to Filipino migrants in the country and share experiences about how companies provide healthcare to migrants in Japan as her “Dare to Care” content for her podcast. Sonny from the Middle East wants to talk about more domestic workers who do not have standard rest days, provide a platform for migrants to share their problems, and also offer paralegal advice. He wants to name his show: Buhay Migrante. Marjohara helped Anne and Sonny by giving comments and suggestions on improving their podcast concepts.
Indeed, podcasting is a fun and fulfilling way to organize a campaign and build stronger relationships with our listeners, from finding ways to get people to notice our podcast to producing messages with our voices.
Together, let's explore and exhaust different platforms to convey our message and uphold our rights!
#migrants, #socialmedia #capacitybuilding #training