[Be The Good] Rappler is covering the impeachment trial. What can we do better?

We at Rappler invite you to ask us any question about how we are covering and reporting on the Sara Duterte impeachment trial Hello! Last Friday, July 17, four-time Senate president and impeachment trial veteran Franklin Drilon, was a guest at our second Rappler+ quarterly town hall of the year. His answer to Rappler political reporter Dwight de Leon’s last question lingered with me over the weekend. Dwight, who was our moderator for the open forum with the former senator, asked: What can civil society and the media do to help the impeachment trial fulfill its constitutionally-mandated role of ensuring accountability? “Make noise,” said Drilon. Unlike criminal court proceedings, the impeachment trial is political in nature. Public perception of accountability being upheld is critical to the senator-judges. And that is where the power of this unique process lies. “I tell you, the senators are concerned about the views expressed by civil society. I have been there. I know that they are very concerned about how people will judge them, more than the congressmen,” Drilon told Rappler+ members and various Rappler staff present in the newsroom. “There should be a better coordinated effort to make our senator-judges realize that their obligation is to ferret out the truth,” he added. With that in mind, we at Rappler invite you and all our other readers to ask us any question about how we are covering and reporting on the Sara Duterte impeachment trial. We will collate all your questions, share them with our staff, and devote an article to answering them. We’d also like to get your ideas on how we can cover this high-stakes trial better. What are we missing? What should we focus on? Here’s a quick look at our coverage: This page dedicated to the trial shows all the content we’ve put out – breaking news, live updates, analyses, explainers, a special chat room. Our YouTube page shows all the videos we’ve produced – from short excerpts from the trial, to the panel discussions moderated by journalist John Nery All the stories and videos by our trial reporters: Dwight de Leon’s page, Jairo Bolledo’s page, and Patrick Cruz’s page You can answer by just replying to this newsletter. If you’re reading this on Rappler’s app or website, you can send your answers to community@rappler.com. You can also suggest speakers or topics you’d like us to feature in our next Rappler+ town hall. We’re doing these town halls every quarter. To attend, become a Rappler+ member through this page. We have a virtual component to allow members outside Metro Manila to participate. These town halls are a chance for us to meet Rappler+ members, give them a unique experience of our journalism, and report to them on the impact we’ve made together during the past quarter. I will leave you with these final words from Drilon, after he was asked what advice he can give to people who are disillusioned by everything that is happening in the Philippines. “I must admit that there are times when I myself get disillusioned. But you wake up to the fact that this is your only country,” said the statesman. “We can’t rely on anybody else. But at the end of the day, this is our country, and we suffer the consequences of erroneous decisions that we make as a people.” Until the next newsletter! – Rappler.com Be the Good is a newsletter that comes out every other Wednesday. We deliver updates straight to your inbox on how journalism and communities can work together for impact. To subscribe, follow the #FactsFirstPH movement or visit rappler.com/newsletters. How does this make you feel? Loading