GMA Public Affairs senior social media producer among the 2022 MJ Bear Fellows

GMA Public Affairs senior social media producer Alex Castro has been named a 2022 MJ Bear Fellow.

According to the Online News Association (ONA), which organized the fellowship, the selected six digital journalists under the age of 30 boast of "innovative work that represents the best of the industry." 

Castro, a 24-year-old senior social media producer, oversees the social media accounts for one of GMA’s flagship shows with a large following of more than 34 million, apart from helping lead the social media team handle pages with more than 121 million followers across social media platforms.

The digital native plays a big role in shaping the network’s digital strategy. Through her work, she has helped GMA become the first media company in the country to receive three YouTube Diamond Creator Awards.

For the 2022 presidential elections, Castro was hands-on in conceptualizing and executing the digital campaign #eLeksyonSerye, which focused on engaging with and educating young Filipino voters with GMA Network's first augmented reality quiz filter, a dance challenge on TikTok, funny skits, and a collaboration with TikTok influencer Ychan Laurenz, among others.

Resulting in over 34 million views and over 800,000 interactions across social media platforms, the project “revitalized Philippine digital media’s authority over facts,” ONA said.

“In it, I delivered new storytelling formats that informed the younger audiences and engaged their wit. Our campaign featured executions that educated and mobilized our audiences,” Castro said on the ONA website.

Moving forward, Alex hopes to explore innovative ways of digital storytelling with a project that focuses on mental health and to help break the stigma attached to it.

“My efforts in delivering new ways to engage audiences are not just to help digital journalism move forward. It’s also an act to become an effective catalyst for social change,” Castro said.

The yearlong MJ Bear fellowship is made to provide support for journalists working on an innovative digital project. They will receive project guidance, chances for networking within the industry, complimentary ONA membership for three years, and the opportunity to showcase their work to the association’s global community.

From September 21 to 24, fellows will attend the 2022 Online News Association Conference (ONA22). The participants, their peers, and industry leaders will learn all about audience engagement, and product and business strategies.

Aside from Alex, the fellows include journalists from Southern California Public Radio, Snopes, The 19th, BBC World Service, and Grist.

Congratulations, Alex! — LA, GMA News