Rappler

Rappler (portmanteau of the words "rap" and "ripples") is a Filipino online news website based in Pasig, Metro Manila, the Philippines. It was founded by 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa along with a group of fellow Filipino journalists as well as technopreneurs. It started as a Facebook page named MovePH in August 2011 and evolved into a website on January 1, 2012.^[1]

History

With the idea of professional journalists using social media and crowd sourcing for news distribution, Rappler was started in 2011 by Filipino journalist Maria Ressa along with her entrepreneur and journalist friends. Brainstorming for the company began some time in 2010 when Maria Ressa was writing her second book, From Bin Laden to Facebook. Other key people involved in its conceptualization and creation were former Newsbreak head and ABS-CBN News Channel managing editor Glenda Gloria, journalist and Ateneo De Manila University professor Chay Hofileña, former TV Patrol executive producer Lilibeth Frondoso, Philippine Internet pioneer Nix Nolledo, Internet entrepreneur Manuel I.^[1]

Coverage of fake news campaigns in the Philippines

In 2016, Rappler began to be critical of the Duterte-led government of the Philippines, which had just taken office in 2016, and its controversial war on drugs after Rappler noticed a network of paid followers and dummy accounts on Facebook spreading fake news related to Duterte.^[1]

Shutdown order by the Securities and Exchange Commission

On June 29, 2022, Maria Ressa released a statement stating that the Philippine government has ordered that Rappler be shut down. The shutdown order came right as the former President Rodrigo Duterte was set to leave office. The Securities and Exchange Commission stated that it decided to uphold the shut down order due to the findings of its own investigation and that of the courts finding Rappler's funding model to be unconstitutional.^[1]

Mood Meter feature

"Mood Meter" is a web widget embedded on each of Rappler's blogs and articles. It appears as colored bubbles showing the way people react to Rappler's stories. Readers are prompted to choose their response from eight different emotional reactions.^[1]

Lighthouse platform

In 2020, Rappler launched its new content delivery and community engagement platform with several features such as WCAG 2.0 AA compliance, content moderation through topics, live blogs, and premium subscriptions. Rappler also allows private use of its new software platform for other organizations.^[1]

Rappler+

Rappler+ is an exclusive membership program of Rappler launched in 2019. Aside from weekly newsletters, members get access to investigative reports, research data, industry reports, and e-books produced by the digital media and investigative journalism firm.^[1]

Agos

Agos is a crowdsourcing platform focused on disaster risk reduction and mitigation using digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and social media.^[1]

Newsbreak

Rappler traces part of its roots to Newsbreak, an investigative news magazine established in 2001 and noted for its coverage of political and social issues in the Philippines. Several of Rappler’s co-founders were previously part of Newsbreak, bringing their investigative and editorial expertise to Rappler’s pioneering online news approach.^[1]

Content programming

Rappler Live Jam - Live show featuring music and theater artists^[1]