NEWS5 execs share expertise in Barcelona, Melbourne

MANILA, Philippines - In keeping with TV5’s commitment to excellent news production and public service, NEWS5 executives will be joining some of the world’s best in broadcasting to discuss some of the network’s best practices in Barcelona and Melbourne. NEWS5 chief Luchi Cruz-Valdes is set to leave for Barcelona today to represent the Kapatid Network at News Xchange, the largest gathering of international broadcast news organizations in the world, which will be held from Nov. 16 to 18. The only Filipino broadcast journalist and executive at the event, Cruz-Valdes is slated to be a panelist in discussing The Evolving Role of Journalism alongside award-winning Ghanaian investigative journalist Anas Aremayaw Anas.

The panel session is produced and moderated by mostly CNN personalities, like supervising producer Lisa Cohen whose The CNN Freedom Project led to the release of scores of modern-day slaves. Pertaining to NEWS5’s coverage and emergency response system during times of calamities, Cohen said, “There are not many TV news organizations that have made a sustained, long-term commitment to a cause in the way that CNN and TV5 have. In fact, we might be the only ones who have done so.”

Meanwhile, Philippine TV’s first emergency response unit RESCUE5 was invited to present at the World Public Relations Forum 2012, a biennial meeting of over 700 thought leaders, practitioners, researchers and educators from 24 countries engaged in PR and communication. The forum will be held in Melbourne from Nov. 18 to 20. The organizers from Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management invited RESCUE5, led by head Sherryl Yao and licensed rescuers-journalists Paolo Bediones and Benjie Dorango, to discuss how NEWS5’s emergency rescue unit has played a vital role in giving information and extending help in a disaster-prone country like the Philippines via panel session titled Communication and Global Crisis, a discussion on natural disasters and recoveries.