Wazzup Pilipinas!
Pwede pong libre na lang!
GMA News blasted for allegedly failing to pay OFW who produced Paris documentary
Walang kinikilingan.
Walang pinoprotektahan.
Walang kasinungalingan.
Pero magbayad sa OFW na pinagawan ng documentary?
WISH NYO LANG!
Here's another disgusting story of a multi-billion-peso network asking for free work:
"Wilson Paguyo, an OFW working as a chef in Paris, was one of many Filipinos whose work was put on hold after French authorities implemented a strict lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Concerned for the welfare of fellow Filipinos who are out of work and unable to return home to the Philippines, Wilson organized relief drives to help them survive the lockdown.
Wilson used his own savings and raised funds by selling vegetables, and risked his life going door to door to deliver food and essentials to fellow Filipinos. He was especially concerned for elderly and undocumented Filipinos who were afraid to be deported.
Wilson's story caught the attention of @gmanews, and wanted to feature him in a series of documentaries showing life of Filipinos who are stranded abroad because of the pandemic.
Wilson's story caught the attention of GMA News, and wanted to feature him in a series of documentaries showing life of Filipinos who are stranded abroad because of the pandemic.
He was told it would help give attention to his cause, so Wilson agreed.
GMA got in-touch with Wilson daily, sending him lists of shots and pegs that they wanted for the show. They asked him to conduct interviews and even to shoot establishing shots of famous Paris landmarks.
They were consistent in praising him and reminding him that it would help his cause. In the end, GMA was able to produce an entire documentary off of his work which he did for free.
Running out of funds, he desperately asked GMA if they could at least donate directly to his cause in exchange for his work, to which GMA responded that they "don't have the budget." He never heard from them again.
Wilson got in-touch with me after he saw my posts of GMA asking for free work. In our video conversation, I explained how GMA is profiting off of free material, given to them by unwitting people who have little or no knowledge as to how their material is being exploited.
Wilson broke down in tears as he regretted giving away his work for free, he said he could've helped more people if GMA had compensated him fairly for his work.
He recalled an incident where he filmed the Notre Dame on fire, and CNN and Reuters approached him and offered upfront to pay for his amateur footage.
Wilson now worries that GMA did the same to OFWs from other countries who were also featured in their documentary series. Wilson is still in Paris, which remains under lockdown. He has run out of money, and many fellow Filipinos are still asking him for help.
Wilson's particular episode enjoys nearly three million views on Facebook, while other episodes in the series have millions more.
(For those unaware, yes you can make money from Facebook as well. Like YouTube, Facebook pays out a share of revenue from ads — those annoying one minute commercials featuring a product or game that suddenly appear while you're watching a video.)
This is aside from the fact that GMA now owns rights to republish and profit off of Wilson's work for as long as they want.
Need I say it? This predatory practice of big networks asking for free work MUST END — be it a work produced by a professional or a home video produced by an amateur.
These networks make BILLIONS and often grab content from social media and from unwitting people like Wilson, and they don't pay them a single centavo.
For a multi-billion-peso network like GMA to ask someone vulnerable like Wilson to produce free work is repulsive and deplorable to say the least.
(more screenshots after this tweet)
Staff did reach out to him after program aired, and pitched in donations out of their own pockets. Confirmed this Wilson. This just makes this incident alot more heartbreaking. The only winner here is the network, both Wilson and the staff are victims." - Ezra Acayan
Needless to say, best program in world TV pero di marunong magcompensate at mahilig sa libre.
Grabe pala malpractice na ito ng GMA7. Dapat sila ang ma-imbestigador o reporter’s notebook. Ito pala ang dapat pag-initan ng mga tongresista. Ang tindi ng ginawa nila kay Wilson. Pinagod na nila yung tao at kinain ang oras sa pagbi-video, hindi man lang binayaran.
Yan ba talaga trabaho nila? Sikat daw silang network, pwede gamitin sa marketing ang interview o materials mo...Buti na-open na yan!
Ilan pa kaya yung mga nadenggoy nila na nag ambag sa mga "award winning" docus and entries nila?
Umaalingasaw na GMA, mahilig sa libre o bumarat pero pagkakakitaan nila ang gawa mo. lol.
Huwag na po tayo umasa sa mga paid media.
Here's GMA News asking a drone operator in Tuguegarao (who's family was also one of those affected) for free footage of the flooding.
Some keywords here are "waive all fees" and "you acknowledge that GMA has the right to sell, license or sublicense."
Ang kapal nung "right to sell, license and sublicense". Kadiri naman GMA7.
Ni-request na libre yung footage ta's pagkakakitaan lang pala in the end, medyo makapal lang GMA News ha.
Part pa ba yan ng cost-cutting measures natin GMA Network? Kumusta na bottom line ni Lolo Gozon?
Kukuhanin na libre tapos pagkikitaan.
Grabe naman pala. Wala na libre ngayon. Kahit man lang pang meryenda Sana binigyan. Kuripot naman. Charrr!
Libre na lang raw kapalit ng shoutout, 'di ba GMA News at Atom Araullo?
Masyadong garapalan na 'to. This predatory practice must be stopped.
Needless to say, best program in world TV pero di marunong magcompensate at mahilig sa libre.
May franchise at malaki daw ang income pero hindi kayang magbayad. Hayss wala na pong libre sa mundo!
Buti pa nung naging guest akonsa isang show nila ay sundo at hatid ako with free snacks. Wala ring bayad pero exposure naman para sa akin yun.
Maybe it's the free publicity rin ang ex-deal. They feature you or your work in exchange of credit or acknowledgement recognizing you. It could be a fair deal for newbies like me being guested for the first time in one of their shows....but for experts and the needy like the victims of floods, maybe a financial compensation is in order.
We know how big they charge for commercials so it's but right they also pay for using somebody's work.
GMA News, kung gusto nyo ng magandang documentary magpagod kayo, gumastos kayo, tumulong kayo at huwag na huwag kayong gumamit ng ibang tao na ang gusto lang naman ay makatulong sa kapwa. Sobrang nakakahiya. Nakuha nyo ng libre at pinagkakitaan pa ang gawa ng iba. Ibang klase.
Diosmio GMA sa US nga kahit amateur vids eh binabayadan pa rin ng mga networks dun like CNN before they broadcast it! You mean yung mga “kuha ni youScooper Firstname Lastname” na mga vids na pinapalabas sa mga news broadcast niyo eh “libre” niyo ginagamit?
Ano pa nga ba?
GMA PUBLIC AFFAIRS STATEMENT
We acknowledge concerns raised about how GMA Public Affairs has been sourcing video and photos for some of its programs.
This has led to an internal review of our practices in relation to sourcing third party material.
Our audit shows that a good number of our programs provide financial incentives to those who contribute their footage, while others consistently secure permission from contacts to air their material for free. We recognize the need to standardize our processes and improve.
Our immediate action is to put a stop to the practice of our teams requesting for use of photos and videos without compensation, particularly requesting interview subjects to shoot video for us for free.
In the spirit of healthy dialogue, we also request that the rights of our staffers be respected and that their private information be protected from undue exposure that may lead to public shaming.
Our Public Affairs teams have only done their best to produce our programs during these unprecedented times.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
