As part of its proactive preparations for the midterm elections, GMA Integrated News, in collaboration with Regional TV and Synergy, brought together the network’s multimedia journalists for “GMA Masterclass: Road to the 2025 Elections” on May 25 at Studio 5, GMA Network Center.
Among the participants were anchors, reporters, video journalists, program managers, station managers, and writers from GMA News Manila, GMA Regional TV, GMA News Online, Super Radyo DZBB, and RGMA.
Providing relevant and useful information about the midterm national and local elections were COMELEC Chairperson Attorney George Erwin Garcia, University of the Philippines Diliman Journalism Professor Dr. Rachel Khan, GMA Legal Affairs Department Assistant Vice President for Litigation & Special Projects Attorney Jose Vener Ibarra, NMI Information Security and Data Privacy Assistant Vice President Rodel Arenas, and GMA Integrated News Social Media Manager Audrey Mae Domasian.
Attorney Garcia provided an overview of the 2025 midterm elections and discussed voter education. Some participants also got to try the automated vote counting machine and the touch-screen voting machine which will be used by registered overseas Filipino voters in territories that do not allow internet voting.
Dr. Khan, meanwhile, highlighted the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on politics and how media practitioners can adopt A.I. tools for election coverage.
Attorney Ibarra discussed election laws governing media.
Lastly, Arenas and Domasian explained how to detect deepfakes and online disinformation, and shared tools for AI detection.
GMA Integrated News, Regional TV, and Synergy Senior Vice President and Head Oliver Victor B. Amoroso underscored the importance of the said Masterclass.
“This is certainly not our first election coverage, but to a degree, we are marching into unfamiliar grounds because of how rapidly technology is evolving. Let today’s Masterclass strengthen our commitment to fulfilling our ‘Mas malaking misyon, mas malawak na paglilingkod sa bayan’ by helping preserve the integrity of the polls and our democracy at large,” Amoroso said during his message.
Also present at the GMA Masterclass: Road to 2025 Elections were GMA Integrated News Consultant Grace Dela Peña-Reyes, Senior Assistant Vice President for News Programs John Ray Arrabe, Senior Assistant Vice President and Deputy Head for Digital News Operations and Editor-in-Chief of GMA News Online John Manalastas, Assistant Vice President and Deputy Head for News Operations Reina Anne Dimapawi, Assistant Vice President for News Cluster 1 Antonio Magsumbol, Assistant Vice President for News and Deputy Head for GMA Integrated News Social Media Aileen Rae Perez, Assistant Vice President for Budget and Planning Jo Marcelo, Assistant Vice President for Admin Te Bernabe, and News Cluster 3 Head Kate dela Cruz.
Hosting the GMA Masterclass were Saksi and 24 Oras Weekend anchor Pia Arcangel and GMA Synergy sportscaster and 24 Oras’ Game Changer segment host Martin Javier.
Entertaining the attendees with his powerful performance was The Clash Season 5 grand champion John Rex.
A major initiative led by GMA Regional TV and Synergy, the GMA Masterclass Series continues to hold sessions in various cities and provinces in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to provide another venue for new learning and discourse on various local and national issues.
