Leia C. Margate
“Ay researcher lang,” this is how most people would react to 2023 Marshall McLuhan Fellow Jodesz Gavilan when she introduces herself prior to data gathering for the stories she needs to write.
“Most of the time researchers are treated as second class citizens. We have to unlearn the thought that the researcher is just an assistant or part of a team so journalists can do their work” she added.
Gavilan, an investigative journalist and lead editorial researcher of Rappler, was awarded the coveted McLuhan Prize for her work on utilizing open source and online research in writing investigative stories on human rights. By using online data, she was able to craft thought provoking stories showing similarities among EJK victims of the drug war to tracing Apolo Quiboloy’s hidden properties in the United States among other stories.
As a journalism student decades ago in UP Diliman, Gavilan said she was on the search for more practical lessons applicable on the field of journalism. This led her to focus on using online tools and open-source data in writing her stories, lessons that she also shared with her audience during the McLuhan Forum Series on Responsible Media at UP Baguio on March 28, 2025.
“Researchers should also write stories and journalists should also do research,” Gavilan added. She said apart from gathering and verifying evidence, digital research allows journalists to identify patterns and connections as well as enhance the depth and impact of their stories.
Gavilan is the youngest recipient of the McLuhan Fellowship, an annual award given by the McLuhan Program at the University of Toronto and the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines, to a recipient embodying outstanding qualities in the field of investigative journalism.
