Cebu Daily News Day Desk Editor Doris Bongcac shares tips and tricks on news writing to 30 student journalists at the Cebu Technological University–Moalboal Campus.
CDN PHOTO/CRIS EVERT LATO-RUFFOLO
Moalboal — In a society where millennials are often accused of being passive and apathetic, a group of campus journalists bonded together to improve their skills and become better messengers of information.
Student writers of the Ang Taga (The Hook), publication of the Cebu Technological University (CTU) Moalboal Campus, organized a two-day campus journalism workshop attended by 30 participants.
“There is a need to train campus journalists because we need good writers and better news gatherers. The whole campus do not know much about our publication and we are in the position to educate them about what’s happening around us,” says Keith Pearl Joy Primo, editor in chief of Ang Taga.
Primo, 18, is an incoming third-year elementary education student. Primo hails from the neighboring Alegria town, about 23 kilometers from Moalboal.
Cebu Daily News (CDN) Day Desk Editor Doris Bongcac led the team of journalists who shared insights on the profession and facilitated workshops on news writing, feature writing, editorial writing and photojournalism.
Other speakers include CDN photo editor Tonee Despojo and correspondent Cris Evert Lato-Ruffolo.
Bongcac, who has been working at CDN for 19 years starting as part of the paper’s first batch of interns, said journalism takes skills in writing and research.
“Writing is a skill that you can use even when you don’t end up with a career in journalism,” she says.
As part of the feature writing workshop, a mock press conference was held with US Peace Corps education volunteer Robbieana Leung as the main subject.
“My life is an open book so go ahead ask me your questions,” says Leung, who’s been living in Moalboal for nine months to help with education-related projects.
Ang Taga publication was established in 2000 to develop holistic students who are not only good in technical skills but also excel in the field of writing.
The presence of the publication is in accordance with Republic Act 7079 or the Campus Journalism Act of 1991, which upholds and protects the freedom of the press even at the campus level.
The act also aims 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.
It was the first time for the publication to invite print journalists to give a talk on campus journalism, according to faculty chairperson Rosalea Fenina Margallo.
“We want to make sure that the money the students pay for the publication, which is P50 per semester, is put to good use,” says Margallo.
Margallo says the number of enrollees may have decreased in the first- and second-year college levels because of the implementation of the K to 12 program.
But since students in state universities like CTU can now avail of free tuition fee, Margallo says they are looking at around a total of 3,000 students in the CTU-Moalboal Campus and its extension office/campus in Malabuyoc.
Kent Carreon, 18, incoming third-year secondary education student, just recently joined the publication after he was encouraged by friends to hone his writing skill.
“Writing has the power to inspire people. When you write a good article, people gain perspective… it’s as if they are there when you write the story well,” he said.