The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Regional Office IV-A in its commitment to further strengthen their communication touch points, held a capability development workshop on news writing for the members of the Regional Communications and Information Committee (CIC), Tuesday, Sept. 20, in Calamba City, Laguna.
The said workshop facilitated by Information Officer Nesreen Cadar Abdulrauf of the DILG Public Affairs and Communication Service (PACS) focused on different strategies of news writing which are deemed critical to effectively communicate the thrusts, programs, projects, and activities of the Department.
As the Department pushes forward to keep the public informed on its efforts and initiatives, participants were also taught on how to write their press releases lean and fast.
Commending the efforts of the regional communications team, Assistant Regional Director Ariel O. Iglesia, CESO V who is also the overall moderator of the CIC challenged its members to maintain the strong presence of DILG IV-A in all of its existing platforms—social media, website, and print publications.
“We have received good feedback regarding our communication efforts especially on our active social media page, and so I am challenging all of you to do better because I know that you can do so much more,” the Assistant Regional Director said in his message.
“Given na mayroon tayong mga capability development training na tulad nito, I hope mas mapaganda pa natin yung presence that we have established,” he added.
As of this writing, the DILG Regional Office IV-A has 12,000 strong following on its social media pages and set to launch a one-stop website for its press releases and feature articles. Through its communication team, the regional office has also taken the lead in creating a brand that sets them distinctive from other organizations.
Said activity is among the interventions of the Regional CIC to further popularize and scale up the Department’s thrust and PPAs in the Calabarzon Region.
Social Media Ethics
With the prevalence of various political agenda in social media platforms, Abdulrauf also talked about some key points on how to be a responsible social media user.
Citing legal bases, she also reminded the members of the regional communications team to maintain its neutrality on different political issues arising in social media given their involvement in the government service.
To prohibit DILG employees from doing such act, she added that the DILG-PACS is working on a set of social media protocols that will cover both personal and official social media accounts of the members of DILG workforce. —R4A
