Cebu Journalism & Journalists

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For many years, alone with his editor while already in his 50s, and with one junior reporter when he was pushing 70, Fred C. Espinoza filled the pages of the…

For many years, alone with his editor while already in his 50s, and with one junior reporter when he was pushing 70, Fred C. Espinoza filled the pages of the business section with his somber pieces on investment climates, emerging markets, and business developments.

By Kevin A. Lagunda and Karlon N. Rama

AVID readers of Sun.Star’s business section from 1982 up to the year 2001 could not have missed Fred C. Espinoza’s bylines and articles. His name and stories came out day in and day out, like clockwork.

“You could rely on him because he was seldom absent from work and never ran out of stories. News sources used to call him and give him leads,” recalls Marites Villamor-Ilano editor of the paper’s business section from 1992 to 1997.

“He was the one who showed me around. He brought me to the Department of Trade and Industry, and introduced me to the chamber presidents,” adds Cherry Ann T. Lim, who took over the page until she became managing editor of the entire paper in 2005, four years after Pops had retired at 73. “At that time I took over, it was the height of the Asian Financial Crisis.”

Pops wrote 30 at a local hospital, Sunday, April 28, 2019, following confinement for a pulmonary-related ailment. He was laid to rest at the Queen City Memorial Gardens on May 5.
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How the Press Stands Media Issues

CCPC cautions public in assessing “media plot”

Pachico Seares

April 23, 2019 5:28 pm April 23, 2019

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“A matrix presented by public officials could lead to something more than a verbal attack from those criticized. In the campaign on illegal drugs, many of those in the matrix…

“A matrix presented by public officials could lead to something more than a verbal attack from those criticized. In the campaign on illegal drugs, many of those in the matrix were killed. The result from the media matrix could be worse: a muzzled or cowed press and journalists in jail, missing, or dead.”

CEBU CITIZENS-PRESS COUNCIL
Statement on the alleged media
plot to destabilize government

One, the news report cited anonymous sources. Two, the basis was a matrix that didn’t show it was evidence-based and thus could be just self-serving. Three, allegation of a conspiracy of media with other sectors did not mention specific incidents or present documents that tend to prove the “plot.” Four, it came just after a special report on the alleged link of the First Family to illegal drugs and the size of their wealth.

We are tempted to call it garbage but we resist. Instead we ask media consumers for caution in assessing the accusation. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) already said that “for now,” they see “no specific threat.”

Media knows that in its work, unfavorable exposure of public officials’ dubious behavior usually draws return fire. While it may be seen as collective assault on the press, the few news media outlets specifically named in the matrix can defend their reports, on content and motive.

The problem stands out though: Which of the mass of stories from media are false or rigged news? Which conduct outside the newsroom is deemed subversive? And it looks incongruous that news media outlets accused of falsehood and fraud in the reports are among the entities actively exposing the fake stories from public officials’ propaganda machines and, occasionally, even in media itself.

We cannot help but be alarmed. A matrix presented by public officials could lead to something more than a verbal attack from those criticized. In the campaign on illegal drugs, many of those in the matrix were killed. The result from the media matrix could be worse: a muzzled or cowed press and journalists in jail, missing, or dead.

We encourage the public to help defend our democratic institutions and systems. They may call out errors of media. And, more crucially, they can avert any attempt to stifle criticism against the conduct of those who govern.

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10 min read →

CJJ13 How the Press Stands Media Issues

Under-coverage of local governments: public officials’ gripes, media’s explanation

Jovy Taghoy Gerodias

February 9, 2019 4:15 pm February 9, 2019

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Mayors, mostly of LGUs outside Metro Cebu, complain that their projects and programs have not been publicized by mainstream media. “They send out reporters and news crew to us…

Mayors, mostly of LGUs outside Metro Cebu, complain that their projects and programs have not been publicized by mainstream media. “They send out reporters and news crew to us only when the news is sensational or negative.”

IN THE southern town of Argao, Cebu locals and tourists alike may be jailed if caught smoking at a public place. The local government has had a working anti-smoking ordinance since 2016.

Argao Mayor Stanley Caminero

Argao Mayor Stanley Caminero, however, laments that this “initiative and other well-meaning programs” in his town have not been given enough exposure or coverage by the Cebu media.

“Even Gov. (Hilario) Davide is not exempted sa ‘no smoking’ ordinance. Apan ang akong smoking ordinance wa pud na ma medya,” the mayor, a medical doctor, says.

One time, Caminero recalls, the Argao government had to launch “Dalagang Argawanon” at the Capitol Social Hall in Cebu City to ensure the event would’ve media coverage.

But are local executives as desirous of media coverage when the story in question tends to depict them in less than positive light?

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CJJ13 How the Press Stands Media Issues

Public officials miss media when they trumpet success. They’re glad reporters are not around when scandal breaks.

Pachico Seares

February 9, 2019 2:32 pm February 9, 2019

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While some mayors lament media “under-coverage” of towns and cities in far-flung areas, which afflicts even urban centers in Metro Cebu that are outside Cebu City, public officials and media…

Toledo City Mayor John Henry Osmeña.

While some mayors lament media “under-coverage” of towns and cities in far-flung areas, which afflicts even urban centers in Metro Cebu that are outside Cebu City, public officials and media managers are not without measures to cope with the situation. Technology and the various media platforms provide wider access for government publicists. And news chiefs just have to be more adept at meeting audience demand with reduced resources.

WHEN Toledo City Mayor John “Sonny” Osmena sometime ago publicly complained that Cebu media was not covering his city, he was in the midst of trotting off accomplishments since he assumed as mayor.

Sonny ran for city mayor in 2013 and was reelected in 2016. He griped about media “under-coverage” of Toledo as he announced a string of successes in his governance. “You come to Toledo only when there is a disaster or a big crime,” he whined.

True enough, as also expressed by other mayors interviewed by CJJ.

But would these mayors want media coverage if the object of interest were a scandal brought about by official bungling or corruption? Would they not appreciate the lack or absence of media scrutiny then?

Public officials’ trait

It has been a common trait of politicians, or of most public officials, who rely on public trust to keep their job. Trumpet achievements. Hide or obscure failure.

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6 min read →

CJJ13 In Memoriam Persons of Interest

Godofredo Roperos: A long love affair with writing

Karlon Rama

February 1, 2019 8:30 am February 1, 2019

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In Manila, the almost-four-decade career of Godofredo M. Roperos, 88, covered assignments in reporting, magazine editing, and literary writing. It was interrupted by his work with the government as assistant to the press secretary, then later as media affairs officer in Cebu. After martial law, he resumed his liaison with writing, as editor of a local newspaper’s weekly magazine and, later, as opinion columnist. GMR is listed with 13 others in the CJJ Media Gallery at Museo Sugbo as “Cebu journalists who shine,” having won national recognition in the field.

GODOFREDO M. Roperos died 10 a.m., Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, following a bout with pneumonia. He was 88.

Eldest daughter Maria Fe said the veteran writer passed away at the Chong Hua Hospital Mandaue, where he was brought 19 days earlier.

Internment will be on Feb. 2, Saturday, at the Manila Memorial Park in Liloan, Cebu, following a 1 p.m. requiem mass at the San Fernando Rey Parish.

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10 min read →

CJJ13 In Memoriam Persons of Interest

Cerge Remonde: the ‘probinsyano’ beat reporter who became Press Secretary

Karlon Rama

January 9, 2019 12:51 am January 9, 2019

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He spoke truth to power as a newspaper columnist and radio commentator. But in a reversal of roles, Remonde defended power as press secretary to then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who,…

He spoke truth to power as a newspaper columnist and radio commentator. But in a reversal of roles, Remonde defended power as press secretary to then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who, to some observers, was the most unpopular president after Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Before his death, Remonde was frustrated that his former colleagues did not believe in the government whose messages he communicated.

LOCAL journalists who weren’t yet walking the beat in 2010 won’t know or, more likely, will only ‘know of’ Cerge Mamites Remonde, born Glecerio on Dec. 21, 1958 in Lamacan, Argao, Cebu.

Working the search engine will lead to two categories of stories.

The first involves journalism: he was a veteran broadcaster and columnist, he co-founded the original Sugbuanong Komentaristang Nagpakabana, he became six-time national chairman of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), etc.

The second, his later work in government: he was press undersecretary and later press secretary, he was boss to all government media, he was the longest-sitting member of the Arroyo cabinet, etc.

But plain reading will only reduce Cerge into someone who spoke truth to power and who then spoke in behalf of someone in power; the most unpopular president in the history of Philippine presidency, according to some. Continue Reading

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CJJ13

Reinventing the newspaper

Cebu Journalism & Journalists

December 22, 2018 11:54 pm December 22, 2018

1 min read

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A series of articles that CJJ hopes will set off a conversation among practitioners and students of journalism as well as media consumers on the crisis that afflicts print media,…

A series of articles that CJJ hopes will set off a conversation among practitioners and students of journalism as well as media consumers on the crisis that afflicts print media, specifically newspapers, more particularly, community newspapers.

Each article doesn’t try to tell the problem all at once, much less offer sure-fire solutions. Yet it tries to propel efforts of the industry’s leaders, many of whom have been working quietly to cope with changes in technology, which in turn revised habits of media consumers and reshaped the market.

Shifting to purely digital platform may be a “coerced” response that a newspaper outlet may be reluctant to make. Still it is an option, along with meeting the challenge to reinvent, for print to survive and even grow.

Here are the articles: Continue Reading

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CJJ13

What happened to the newspaper market and how print may meet the needs of the new audience

Mildred Galarpe

December 21, 2018 3:25 pm December 21, 2018

4 min read

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People say time’s up for the newspaper every time a new media platform comes to life. But newspapers survived radio, television, and cable. It has a way of surviving the…

People say time’s up for the newspaper every time a new media platform comes to life. But newspapers survived radio, television, and cable. It has a way of surviving the Internet.

The hurdle, says Barbie L. Atienza external affairs head of Manila Bulletin, is how the rise of a new type of audience — one that heavily sources their news and information from the web and friend endorsements on social media — is having an impact on the two main sources of income for newspapers: circulation and advertising.

Evidence shows readers are still “hungry for credible journalism.” But it must go with “preference of today’s customers: style and speed.”

“People now access the news and information they need and want through gadgets, particularly the smart phone. They have gotten used to having instant 24 /7 access. This has a bearing on copies of newspapers circulated and sold,” Atienza explained.

As a result, the concurrent president of United Print Media Group Philippines added, advertisers see reason to invest less on print. Continue Reading

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CJJ13

Survival action: Transform. Innovate.

Mildred Galarpe

December 21, 2018 3:24 pm December 21, 2018

5 min read

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Surviving the crisis requires two actions: Transform. Innovate. In today’s multi media landscape, transformation and innovation aren’t options but requirements — part of a sustainable business model — to build…

The changing landscape of Cebu’s print media industry will invariably also cause changes in the physical newsrooms of Cebu’s three print media organizations — Cebu Daily News, Sun.Star, and The Freeman.

Surviving the crisis requires two actions: Transform. Innovate.

In today’s multi media landscape, transformation and innovation aren’t options but requirements — part of a sustainable business model — to build a loyal relationship with an audience that is young and commodified.

Newspapers all over the world have transformed content, workflows and ways of producing the news.

Media management, says Barbie L. Atienza, should therefore accept that the market has changed and embrace rather than resist the new medium. She is the external affairs head of Manila Bulletin and president of United Print Media Group Philippines.

“Now, how to optimize the use of this new platform leveraging on our traditional strengths is something we have to explore and exploit,” she said, citing a “need to decide to take new actions and new mindsets, keep ourselves open and grab opportunities as we find them, regardless of whether they are tested and proven or not.”

“We need to decide to be bold, be adventurous and take risks in trying out new configurations,” she added.

But developing a digital strategy requires a clear understanding of the “competitive advantages,” explains Gregor Waller of the WAN-IFRA Media Management Accelerator Program” Continue Reading

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CJJ13

What kind of content will work? A UP forum kicks the idea around

Cebu Journalism & Journalists

December 21, 2018 3:23 pm December 21, 2018

3 min read

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What kind of content works? A panel of UP graduates kicks around ideas for print media It has been some time since observers within the industry and academia noticed that…

What kind of content works? A panel of UP graduates kicks around ideas for print media

It has been some time since observers within the industry and academia noticed that journalism is facing a crisis.

Solutions have been proposed. But will change in content, particularly in print media, work?

In September 2018, as the Cebu Press Freedom Week celebration was coming to a close, editor-turned university lecturer Jason Baguia sat down with a group of young University of the Philippines graduates from different parts of the country to discuss the matter. Continue Reading

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