CHAPTER 1:

OVERVIEW OF CAMPUS JOURNALISM

1. OVERVIEW/ REVIEW ON MEDIA LITERACY

Media literacy is defined as “the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create
messages across a variety of contexts”.

This four-component model has the advantage of applying equally well to print,
broadcasting and the internet. This is familiar territory for print and broadcasting,
subject of many policy initiatives and educational curricula. This may encompass
internet literacy, thus.

1. Access

Access rests on a dynamic and social process, not a one-off act of provision.
Once initial access is established, developing literacy leads users to alter
significantly and continually the conditions of access (updating, upgrading and
extending hardware and software applications). Problematically, given socio-
demographic inequalities in material, social and symbolic resources,
inequalities in access to online knowledge, communication and participation
will continue.

2. Analysis

People’s engagement with both print and audiovisual media has been shown
to rely on a range of analytic competencies. In the audiovisual domain, these
include an understanding of the agency, categories, technologies, languages,
representations and audiences for media. At present, not only is a parallel
account of internet-related analytic skills highly underdeveloped but the public
has yet to develop such skills and so to make the most of online opportunities.

3. Evaluation

There is little point in access or analysis without judgement, but a stress on

evaluation raises, rightly, some difficult policy questions when specifying and
legitimating appropriate bases of critical literacy – aesthetic, political,
ideological and/or economic. The scope and purpose of evaluation is also
disputed: is media literacy intended to promote a democratized, diverse, anti-
elitist approach to online representations or should it underpin a more
traditional, hierarchical discrimination of good from bad, authoritative from
unauthorized, information and communication?

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 4. Content Creation

Although not all definitions of media literacy include the requirement to create, to
produce symbolic texts, it is argued first, that people attain a deeper understanding
of the conventions and merits of professionally produced material if they have
direct experience of content production and second, that the internet par
excellence is a medium which offers hitherto unimagined opportunities for ordinary
people to create online content. To exclude this from a definition of media literacy
would be to greatly under-utilize the potential of the internet for the public.

2. HISTORY OF JOURNALISM IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Spanish colonial rule (1521-1898)

 The first newspaper, Del Superior Govierno, was established in the Philippines in
1811.
 Colonial newspapers were more literary than newsy in style, often depended on
satires, poems and news laced with sarcasm.
 Stories were long and rambling and most of the news concerned events abroad.
 The first daily newspaper, La Esperanza (1846), also catered to the Spanish elite.
 The best edited newspaper, Diario de Manila, was suppressed by the Governor
 Among the nationalistic newspapers was the La Solidaridad of the Propaganda
movement.
 The Propaganda Movement was organized by Graciano Lopez Jaena, Jose Rizal,
Marcelo H. del Pilar, Mariano Ponce, Juan Luna, etc.
 It is interesting to note that the history of Philippine journalism is silent on the initial
role of women journalists in the struggle for Philippine independence against the
Spanish colonizers
 The use of power of the pen by the early heroes to expose colonial exploitation
and seek independence is perhaps the most important non-violent strategy for
social and political reforms.

The American colonial period: 1898-1946

 The Manila Times (1898), The Bounding Billow and Official Gazette (1898), Manila
Daily Bulletin (1900), and Philippine Free Press (1908) were introduced.
 The first journalism/communication school in the United States was introduced at
the University of Missouri in the early 1920s.
 The UST established a journalism major within its faculty of Philosophy and Letters
(now Faculty of Arts and Letters).

Communication as a discipline: early beginnings

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  Despite the existence of journalism schools, many newsrooms were manned by
reporters who did not have formal journalism training.

The Marcos years: 1969-1986

 Of the various pre-martial law newspapers, only the Daily Express and Bulletin
Today (now Manila Bulletin) were allowed to reopen.
 The press during the martial law was “highly” controlled.

Rekindling the nationalist tradition of the press

 An unintended impact of the controlled media environment was

the liberation of women journalists from traditional roles. Women
journalists, more than their male colleagues, proved to be more daring and
independent in their writing.

 Several women journalists were subjected to harassment, threats, and intimidation

by the military. In the end, the struggle for press freedom often centered on women
journalists aptly portrayed as martyrs or victims.

• Among these courageous women journalists were Eugenia D. Apostol, Betty

GoBelmonte, Letty Magsanoc, Arlene Babst, Ninez Cacho Olivares,
Domini Torrevillas, Melinda Q. de Jesus, Tina Monzon Palma, and
Malou Mangahas.

3. LEGAL BASIS OF CAMPUS JOURNALISM IN THE PHILIPPINES

Constitutional Basis

According to Ridon (2013), campus journalists contributed in exposing the

unfavorable and unpleasant realities under the colonial government during the Spanish,
American, and Japanese occupations. They also had vital roles when Presidential
Proclamation 1081 imposed state censorship and ordered the closure of major dailies,
television and radio stations, and even community papers during the Martial Law.
Alongside with these are the prominent figures who were the products of the campus
press and significantly contributed in the fields of politics, media, art, literature and
business. Some of these are Amado V. Hernandez, Wenceslao Vinzons, etc.

It is due to these premises that an act strengthening the development of campus

journalism was enacted on July 05, 1991.

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 Republic Act No. 7079
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROMOTION OF CAMPUS
JOURNALISM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Section 1. Title. – This Act shall be known and referred to as the "Campus Journalism
Act of 1991.”

Section 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is the declared policy of the State to uphold and
protect the freedom of the press even at the campus level and to promote the
development and growth of campus journalism as a means of strengthening ethical
values, encouraging critical and creative thinking, and developing moral character and
personal discipline of the Filipino youth. In furtherance of this policy, the State shall
undertake various programs and projects aimed at improving the journalistic skills of
students concerned and promoting responsible and free journalism.

Section 3. Definition of Terms. –

(a) School. – An institution for learning in the elementary, secondary or tertiary

level comprised of the studentry, administration, faculty and non-faculty personnel;

(b) Student Publication. – The issue of any printed material that is independently
published by, and which meets the needs and interests of, the studentry;

(c) Student Journalist. – Any bona fide student enrolled for the current semester or
term, who was passed or met the qualification and standards of the editorial
board.He must likewise maintain a satisfactory academic standing.

(d) Editorial Board. – In the tertiary level, the editorial board shall be composed of
student journalists who have qualified in placement examinations. In the case of
elementary and high school levels, the editorial board shall be composed of a duly
appointed faculty adviser, the editor who qualified and a representative of the
Parents-Teachers' Association, who will determine the editorial policies to be
implemented by the editor and staff members of the student publication concerned.
At the tertiary level, the editorial board may include a publication adviser at the
option of its members.

(e) Editorial Policies. – A set of guidelines by which a student publication is

operated and managed, taking into account pertinent laws as well as the school
administration's policies. Said guidelines shall determine the frequency of the
publication, the manner of selecting articles and features and other similar matters.

Section 4. Student Publication. – A student publication is published by the student body

through an editorial board and publication staff composed of students selected but fair
and competitive examinations.

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Once the publication is established, its editorial board shall freely determine its editorial
policies and manage the publication's funds.

Section 5. Funding of Student Publication. – Funding for the student publication may
include the savings of the respective school's appropriations, student subscriptions,
donations, and other sources of funds.

In no instance shall the Department of Education, Culture and Sports or the school
administration concerned withhold he release of funds sourced from the savings of the
appropriations of the respective schools and other sources intended for the student
publication. Subscription fees collected by the school administration shall be released
automatically to the student publication concerned.

Section 6. Publication Adviser. – The publication adviser shall be selected by the

school administration from a list of recommendees submitted by the publication staff. The
function of the adviser shall be limited to one of technical guidance.

Section 7. Security of Tenure. – A member of the publication staff must maintain his or
her status as student in order to retain membership in the publication staff. A student shall
not be expelled or suspended solely on the basis of articles he or she has written, or on
the basis of the performance of his or her duties in the student publication.

Section 8. Press Conferences and Training Seminar. – The Department of Education,

Culture and Sports shall sponsor periodic competitions, press conferences and training
seminars in which student-editors/writers and teacher-adviser of student publications in
the elementary, secondary and tertiary levels shall participate. Such competitions,
conferences and seminars shall be held at the institutional, divisional, and regional levels,
culminating with the holding of the annual national elementary, secondary or tertiary
School Press Conferences in places of historical and/or cultural interest in the country.

Section 9. Rules and Regulations. – The Department of Education, Culture and Sports,
in coordination with the officers of the national elementary, secondary or tertiary
organizations or official advisers of student publications, together with student journalists
at the tertiary level and existing organizations of student journalists, shall promulgate the
rules and regulations necessary for the effective implementation of this Act.

Section 10. Tax Exemption. – Pursuant to paragraph 4, Section 4, Article XIV of the
Constitution, all grants, endowments, donations, or contributions used actually, directly
and exclusively for the promotion of campus journalism as provided for in this Act shall
be exempt from donor's or gift tax.

Section 11. Appropriations. – For the initial year of implementation, the sum of Five
million pesos (P5,000,000.00) is hereby authorized to be charged against the savings
from the current appropriations of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports.
Thereafter, such amount as may be necessary shall be included in the General
Appropriations Act.

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Section 12. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following the
completion of its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of
general circulation.

4. SCOPE OF JOURNALISM
According to Jose Cruz (2010), journalism may be divided into three areas: written,
oral, and visual. Periodicals such as newspapers and magazines fall under written
journalism. As defined broadly, periodical is a publication that comes out at regular
intervals – daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, or annually. In
comparison with a magazine, a newspaper produces more news, has no special cover,
and is printed on a special paper called newsprint. Magazine, on the other hand, produces
more of human-interest stories, has a special cover usually with a big cut on it, and is
often printed on bookpaper.
For classification, periodicals, brochures, journals, books, and graphic arts are
under print media, radio is under oral journalism, while television, and documentaries are
under visual journalism. Specifically, radio and television are examples of broadcast
media, while movies and documentaries are examples of film media.
5. FUNCTIONS OF THE CAMPUS PAPER
In the book of Jose Cruz (2010), he enumerated the functions of a campus paper
from the perspectives of different authors. Citing Spears and Lawshe, he stated that the
traditional roles of a campus paper are the following:
A. Aid to the students

1. Provides an opportunity for interesting writing

2. Gives students the opportunity to learn how to read the newspapers.
3. Acts as a stimulus to better work.
4. Develops students’ powers of observation and discrimination
concerning relative merits of news articles
5. Serves as an outlet and motivation for journalistic writing
6. Offers training in organization, business methods, commercial art,
salesmanship, bookkeeping, and business management
7. Develops qualities of cooperation, tact, accuracy, tolerance,
responsibility, and leadership

B. Aid to the school and community

1. Informs the community on the work of the school

2. Publishes school news
3. Creates and expresses school opinion
4. Makes known the achievement of the school

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 5. Helps unify the school
6. Encourages and stimulates worthwhile activities
7. Develops right standard of conduct
8. Provides an outlet for student suggestions for the betterment of the
school
9. Develops better interschool relationship
10. Develops school spirit
11. Develops cooperation between parents and the school
Further, the modern paper has evolved other functions. They are:
1. Information function

It informs the readers of events that happened, that are happening, or

that will still happen. The information may also come from the features,
editorials, and other sections of the school paper.

2. Opinion function

Through the editorials and editorial columns, the editor interprets the
meaning of the news, especially of the banner news, and gives his
opinion of important matters or of significant events of the day.

3. Education function

One of the most important functions of a modern campus paper is to

educate not only the students, but also the people in the community. Sex
education and family planning which used to be taboo in classrooms are
now topics of discussion by student writers in their school organs.

4. Watchdog function

The school paper acts as the guardian of the students’ rights. It serves
as the eyes of the readers.

5. Laboratory function

It serves as the teaching tool for the budding journalists. After they have
learned, for example, how to write straight news stories, they cover
school activities and write the news for publication.

6. Documentation function

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 Important school events and worthwhile student accomplishments and
achievements are recorded in the school paper for prosperity’s sake.
Most present-day histories have been researched from old files of the
newspaper.

7. Entertainment function

The school paper, like an interesting book, keeps the reader company
especially when he is alone. Most human-interest stories are very
interesting to read.

8. Developmental function

In a developing country like the Philippines, scholastic, as well as

commercial journalism, has been given nobler significance.
The Campus Paper

According to Jose Cruz (2010), the campus paper has four (4) sections or parts.
These are the front page, editorial page, sports page, and special features.

The Front Page

The front page may contain the local news, foreign news, dateline news, weather
news, and index. The local contains the news that happens within a country while the
foreign contains the one that happens outside the country. There is also an out- of -town
story which is called the dateline news. This is introduced by a dateline that shows where
and when the news was reported.

For some newspapers, there is a weather forecast of the area that includes the
temperature, wind directions and velocity. This is called the weather news. Lastly, the
section that determines the significant inside story with its corresponding page is called
the index.

The front page also contains the following:

a. Nameplate

The engraved or printed name of the newspaper.

b. Ears

The little boxes on either side of the template.

c. Banner

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 The principal headline bearing the boldest and biggest type. It is the title of
the most important news of the day which is called banner news. It may or
may not run across the page. If it does, it may also be called a streamer.

d. Running Head

A headline made up of two or more lines.

e. Headline

The title of the news story. The word headline is only used for titles of news
stories.

f. Deck

A subordinate headline placed immediately below its mother headline, also

known as bank or readout.
g. Lead

The beginning of a news story. It may be a word, a group of words, a

sentence, or even a paragraph.

h. News story

The whole story of an event composed of the lead and the text which is the
elaboration of the lead.

i. Columns

The horizontal division into parts of a newspaper. Many national papers are
divided into eight columns while a typical school paper is divided into five
columns of 12 em each.

j. Column rule

The vertical line that divides the page into columns. Most pages of newspaper
are divided into columns by a space usually one em wide. This space is
called the sunken rule.

k. Fold

The imaginary horizontal line that divides the newspaper equally into two
parts.

l. Byline

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 The signature of a reported preceding a news feature.

m. Box

News materials enclosed by line rules.

n. Cut

A metal plate bearing a newspaper’s illustration, also known as cliché.

o. Cutline

The text accompanying photos and other art work, better known as a caption.
If written above the photo just like a slugline, it is called an overline.

p. Kicker

A tagline placed above but smaller than a headline, also known as teaser. If it
is bigger than the headline, it is called a hammer.

q. Credit line

It is a line giving the source of the story or illustration.

The Editorial Page

This page contains the editorial, column, and editorial cartoon. The editorial
presents the editors’ stand about a certain issue and is meant to influence the public
opinion. It is also intended to cause the people to take an action about an issue. If the
editorial takes the vote of majority of the editors, the column is the individual stand of each
of the editors. The topics may vary and the columnist may attack, teach, entertain, appeal,
etc. Lastly, the editorial cartoon is a caricature that is humorous, informative, and satirical.
It is also a tool to express ideas about a relevant issue.

The Sports Page

This page includes stories which may feature prominent sports people or may tell
about particular sports in the form of sports feature. Some campus papers also choose
to have commentaries in this section.

The Special Sections

Focusing on the campus paper, editors may include sections which they think can
be beneficial and interesting to the students. Some of the common sections that are found

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in the campus paper are the feature and literary. The feature page contains stories which
are attention-catcher for the students. This may include a biographical sketch, movie
review, school trivia, and others. On the other hand, the literary pieces such as poems
and short stories created by the students are published in the literary page. Sometimes,
the writers of these are not included in the editorial staff; they may be contributors who
wish to have their writings published.

4. Characteristics of Good Campus Journalists

Being a campus journalist is not an easy task. With the loads of work that students
have to accomplish, they may no longer think of joining the publication for it can only be
an additional burden. Fortunately, there are still those who find the world of school paper
interesting and meaningful. It is due to this they strive best to be a part of the editorial
board and staff. As most of the experiences of the campus journalists suggest, the
following are the characteristics of the good ones:

1. Goal-oriented

For most publications, the members of the staff are required to publish two or
more issues in a school year. This, of course, depends on their work plan and
financial capacity. Regardless of the number, it still has to be noted that a lot of
work has to be done just to be able to produce an issue, may it be in the form of a
broadsheet, newsletter, etc. With this, dedicated members are needed to write
various entries. Such work can only be accomplished by those whose eyes are
focused on the publication’s goal. Goal-oriented campus journalists do everything
to get good results out of their given tasks.

2. Creative

Unlike what the common notion is, campus journalists do not only write news.
It is also their task to write literary pieces, such as poem, short stories and feature
stories. These kinds of writing do not demand technical writing skills; rather,
creative writing skill is the one needed to do them right.
Aside from being creative in writing, the creativity in concepting, illustrating, and
layouting is much needed in the publication. Worn-out ideas just have no place
especially when the interests of the students are considered.

3. Critical thinker

Campus journalists are said to be the students’ voices. No matter how cliché it
is, this is still what reality dictates. They are the ones putting into words what others
cannot utter. This is especially true with the concerns and problems of the students
that need to be given solutions. With this task, journalists cannot just be impulsive
and write whatever they want. It is one of the instances when they to step on the
brake first before they go for a move. Why? Because before they include all the
problems, they have to analyze first which ones are worth notetaking.

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 In doing this, they need their critical thinking skill to objectively evaluate the
issues and eventually form their solutions. However, such skill is not only used in
above circumstance. Every task would require it from the selection of topics to the
finishing touches of the print material.

4. Open-minded

Imagine a writer, an artist, a photojournalist, or even a layout artist relying only

on their wit. How far do you think they can go? To be one of them means accepting
that sooner or later, they are going to meet their wit’s end. One cannot just survive
by merely depending on what they know and what they believe in. Being open-
minded means that others’ opinions or ideas must be considered in the quest of
improving one’s ability. It is also listening to others’ beliefs and their ideas that will
make one realize whether their justifications are indeed sound and sufficient.
Moreover, this characteristic is a reflection of their humility – that no matter how
good they are, still, they are willing to take in the knowledge from those who are
either superior or inferior to them.

5. Good researcher

Accurate information is founded on a good research. Good research is verifying

the facts that are included in an article. Whether it is news, feature, or even other
sections of the campus paper, verified information takes a great deal on how the
readers will view the article. If a glitch is seen on the information presented, the
readers’ may have a general perception that all of the articles are not reliable. Worse,
they may carry the same thinking with the rest of the issues of the publication.
Moreover, since print media are sources for information, it is too critical if the
readers are provided with inaccurate data. This may result to the public’s
misunderstanding about the news or problems raised in the article.

6. Technical writer

Being knowledgeable in technical writing is also important in journalism. First, it

makes the writer pay more attention on grammar and structure of the sentences. A
Technical writer adheres to the rules of grammar and knows how to edit the
grammatically flawed ones. Second, it makes the writer produce quality output.
Because of technical expertise, the writer also makes sure that the content is well-
thought of.

7. Persistent Interviewer

One way of collecting information is through an interview. However, not all the
people concerned are willing to be interviewed nor they will be comfortable enough
to tell everything during the interview. With these instances, the journalist cannot just
easily give up and lose hope in getting all the questions answered. Thus, being

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persistent in making the right people say ‘YES’ in an interview or making them tell all
is needed to get adequate information for the news or feature story.

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