An Internet TV for all

MANILA, Philippines - Ideas must move, especially if they are deemed beneficial to the unique contexts of the public (end users). This is where TVUP, the Internet TV (webcast) network of the University of the Philippines, is coming from as expressed by its executive director Dr. Grace Javier Alfonso.

“It is a digital repository of open educational resources and also a TV on demand,” said Javier Alfonso of the alternative TV platform. “We’re also talking about having programming here, coming up with (programs for) one season (or) 12 episodes and we will be now connecting with other television stations if they want to carry our content.”

Producing and disseminating free content for information and educational purposes, TVUP is run by the academics and starred by the academics. Experts from the natural and social sciences speak about topics and issues they are passionate about.

“I have always asked them to be speaking about their favorite topics,” said Javier Alfonso, “what they are best in. Kaya natural lang sa kanila because they’re talking about something they want to talk about. They are the ones theorizing (explaining) about it.”

The resource speakers are also engaged in panel discussions to provide viewers different perspectives in weighing in issues and learning new ideas. All this can be accessed through www.tvup.ph. So far, TVUP carries a collection of content that ranges from the arts to humanities (Philippine Art and Culture & Women in the Arts by Dr. Brenda Fajardo and Why Arts Should Matter, Dr. Jose “Butch” Dalisay), communication for development (C4D: Alternative Communication Perspectives, Dr. Alexander Flor), writing (Creative Writing in the Digital Age, Dr. Jose Wendell Capili), language (Wika, Kultura at Lipunan, National Artist Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera) to film (Film Literacy and Criticism, Dr. Rolando Tolentino), among others. Its programming includes The Platform, Kalusugan ay Karapatan, Financial Sense, Musika, Documentaries: The Story of the Filipino, Maikling Pelikula, Science Innovators, Risk Reduction and Management, Philippine Art and Culture, Batas at Bayan and Agri at Aqua Kultura.

TVUP is mainstreaming academic ideas that the public has limited access. The Internet TV is democratizing access to expert ideas and popularizing them for the public.

To do this further, TVUP is also talking to people behind mainstream TV as well as cable and provincial stations. According to Javier Alfonso, interested networks can carry programs produced by TVUP and “their investment would be the airtime. But what we really want to do is for it (TVUP) to be accessible to all — and for free.” Information and knowledge sharing is important, particularly when there’s a critical mass. Ideas should be accessible and known.

“What happens in 20 years will happen in three years or so because you’re selling a culture — a culture of learning,” she said. “And to me, that’s the most important thing.”

The audiences in mind are teachers, students, workers, policy makers and practically everyone who is interested in any of the TVUP content. Teachers can access the content as supplementary materials. They can program the open educational resources as part of their course. Students can use them to understand lectures taken up in the classroom. Through TVUP, the public can satisfy a specific interest and learn new knowledge through individual talks and panel discussions from experts. 

“The academics will bring out new knowledge. We also meant it (TVUP) to be a multimedia publication,” shared Javier Alfonso. “Then there’s the idea that knowledge is free and should be free. You now translate it to materials that are well-prepared, well-researched. Therefore, they are original texts. They are coming from our intellectuals and experts. It (the content) is a forever thing. (TVUP) also serves as an archive. If you want to study, you just access that. It’s there already and it will be there forever… Many can make use of it the way they want to use it. It depends on their needs whether you’re a teacher, a student, a policy maker, even people who just want to watch it.”

Again, it’s perfect for those who want to gain new insights but are prevented from going to the university because of work. “If you want the materials, you (can access) them on TVUP… In fact, it (the UP, pronounced as U.P. or up, the adverb, in TVUP) can stand for university partnerships if other universities will be using it. It will be claimed by many. TV natin ito.”

UP president Alfredo Pascual

TVUP has the management board led by UP president Alfredo Pascual; management team, which is in charge of the daily operations; and editorial board with the chancellors from UP constituent universities on board.

“It has no intention of competing with other television stations,” said Javier Alfonso. “We will not go into the ratings game. We’re after the content — whether it is marketable or not and being able to bring this out and for the people to access it. It has nothing to do with profit making. It is just making sure that the ideas move.”