About me
Rowena Paraan has been a journalist for over 30 years and is currently the Training Director of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). She designs and implements training workshops on investigative journalism, weaving the discussion of trauma-informed reporting in these workshops. Prior to this, she was a consultant for UNESCO Jakarta’s Communication and Information Sector, and headed for nine years the pioneering citizen journalism program of ABS-CBN News in the Philippines. She was elected chairperson of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), an organization that seeks to promote press freedom and journalists' welfare, in 2013 and served in its Board of Directors for over 10 years. During her term, NUJP started the trauma peer support program that provided assistance to Filipino journalists who covered disasters and conflict. At ABS-CBN, she implemented trauma peer support activities for colleagues who covered the violent government drug war program, the fighting in Marawi, COVID19 pandemic, and other difficult assignments. She was a Dart Asia Pacific fellow in 2009 and returned as a senior fellow in 2011 and 2023. This exposure to Dart's work inspired her to be involved in journalism and trauma.