THiNK! My Journalism Challenge To VERA Files & Rappler & Their Tsek.ph Partners Consisting Of 22 Academic, Media And Civil Society Institutions And Initiatives, Including My Alma Mater UP

To put it mildly, these are challenging times, from the Covid-19-related pandemic to politics trying to defeat heat-seeking, truth-aimed journalism. As a self-taught journalist, I’m out of there!

Meanwhile, ANN has come out with the news, “Bigger Tsek.ph To Be Relaunched Jan 24” (Author Not Named, 21 Jan 2022, verafiles.org):

Consistent in its efforts to counter disinformation through verified information, an expanded Tsek.ph, the country’s pioneering fact-checking collaboration, will be relaunched on Jan 24 in time for the May 9 elections.

It is like Tsek.ph saying, “What’s in a name? That which we call Truth by any other name would smell as sweet!” Except it’s not my species of rose.

The launch will be attended by its partners consisting of 22 academic, media and civil society institutions and initiatives that have agreed to collaborate to provide the public with truthful and factual information regarding the elections by debunking false and misleading narratives from public figures, news media and social media. It will be livestreamed on Tsek.ph and DZUP’s Facebook pages.

VERA Files says, “Truth is our business.” This journalist says, “Truth Journalism (TJ) easily fails the Rotary 4-Way Test.” I became a Rotarian years ago; a Rotarian I will always be. And TJ fails miserably with Zig Ziglar’s THINK test. As a journalist, not simply Truth but THiNK! is my business.
(“Think!” image from Think.gov.uk)

ANN says:

Tsek.ph was initiated by the University of the Philippines (UP) in 2019 as a public service commitment to combat disinformation. It is a project under the university’s Office of the Vice President for Public Affairs and spearheaded by the Department of Journalism under the College of Mass Communication.

UP, bastion of academic freedom. Now then, the likes of VERA Files and Rappler & UP journalists must look at themselves as heroes. But Truth Journalism is not communication for development (ComDev), to which I am dedicated. Not communication for devilment.

In 2019, Tsek.ph united three academic institutions and 11 media partners. This year, Tsek.ph expanded its membership in academe and media and now includes fact-checkers from civil society and multisectoral organizations.

Merriam-Webstersays to “fact-check” is “to verify the factual accuracy of” (Merriam-webster.com). ANN says:

Mr Baybars Orsek, Director of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the US-based Poynter Institute, will deliver the keynote speech at the launch. The IFCN promotes the excellence of fact-checking to more than 100 organizations worldwide through advocacy, training and global events.

Fact-checking is part of journalism’s commitment to provide the public with accurate information they need to become informed citizens. It also plays a watchdog role by holding those in power accountable for spreading false or misleading claims. As the May elections draw near, fact-checkers have pooled their fact-checking efforts to help the electorate choose the right candidates. Tsek.ph unifies these laudable efforts in an online hub.

Nah. Negative. A hard-headed ComDev communicator, I will remain Positive in THiNK! Journalism for as long as I live!@517

How To Wake Up Your Genius: For Good Or Better Or Best, Tap Your Intuition!

Let me start this essay on genius by saying we all are geniuses – we just do not know how to awaken the genius in us!

Have you heard of Harvard professor Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI)? MI lists down 9 intelligences, or geniuses, or smarts: bodily-kinesthetic, existential, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, logical, musical, naturalistic, and visual-spatial.

So what is 15-year old Nepalese genius Aashish Jung Kunwar saying about the British genius Sir Isaac Newton in “A Tribute To The Supreme Genius And Most Enigmatic Character In The History Of Science: Sir Issac Newton” (04 Jan 2022, imajk.medium.com)? That appears in his own blog “Aashish Jung Kunwar” – notice the mistake? “Issac” should be spelled “Isaac.” This Nepalese genius does not check his own writing! I have created hundreds of blogs; I have committed errors, but I never made a mistake in spelling the name of a person I admire in the title of the article itself!

I’m not surprised, as Nepal is not known to be an English-speaking country. Even so, the very title of his article and he does not notice the error?!

Genius on genius, on Tuesday, 04 Jan, that young Nepalese genius says (edited):

On this day (in) 1643, a great physicist, mathematician, astronomer, theologian, philosopher and author was born, (Isaac) Newton, the greatest man to ever grace the world of science…

Newton’s fame grew even more after his death, as many of his contemporaries proclaimed him the greatest genius who ever lived.

Newton: “the greatest genius who ever lived” – I genius do not think so! Nepal’s young genius himself says:

Of course, Newton was proven wrong on some of his key assumptions. In the 20th century, Albert Einstein would overturn Newton’s concept of the universe, stating that space, distance and motion were not absolute but relative and that the universe was more fantastic than Newton had ever conceived.

See?

Genius is more fantastic than this Nepalese genius has ever conceived!

In answering the question, “Who was smarter, Einstein or Newton?” (Quora.com), Peter says, “(Newton’s) Principia is really the book that said, ‘We can solve science problems through math.’” Therefore, I genius say Einstein was smarter, because Newton could only handle scientific thought already brought out, while Einstein greatly used intuition, which I think is the real mark of genius. So, Einstein did not arrive at his Theory of Relativity by logic – he intuited it first.

Ruth Umoh says (29 Jun 2017, “Steve Jobs And Albert Einstein Both Attributed Their Extraordinary Success To This Personality Trait,” cnbc.com):

Steve Jobs… Albert Einstein… both the visionary co-founder of Apple and the most influential physicist of the 20th century agree that one trait was at the heart of their success: intuition.

Einstein and Jobs, entirely different fields, exactly the same path of genius: Intuition. The secret of how I have so far blogged 7 million+ essays totaling 7 million+ words is that I learned to use my intuition. How to invoke your intuition? Wait till I come out with my digital magazine!@517