Quote of the Day

“Celebrity-worship and hero-worship should not be confused. Yet we confuse them every day, and by doing so we come dangerously close to depriving ourselves of all real models. We lose sight of the men and women who do not simply seem great because they are famous but who are famous because they are great.”   […]

Dinner with the idols (Part 2)

The Philippine Daily Inquirer is celebrating its silver anniversary this month. I left the organization in August. This is my small way of celebrating with the news organization that taught me many things about what journalism ought to be. In February 2006, the Wowowee Stampede in Pasig City killed 71 people, mostly elderly women. Some […]

Dinner with the idols (Part 1)

The Philippine Daily Inquirer is celebrating its silver anniversary this month. I left the organization in August. This is my small way of celebrating with the news organization that taught me many things about what journalism ought to be. Seven years ago, as a fresh journalism graduate, I realized it was difficult to stand out […]

Covering themselves: When news people become news makers (Part 1)

First of Three Parts The hostage-taker, a dismissed policeman, was in a strategic location. He parked the bus in the middle of a wide street, assuring him of a 360-degree view should anyone attempt to come close and rescue the 25 people on board. Then, as night finally crept in, shots rang. “I shot two […]

Covering themselves: When news people become news makers (Part 2)

Second of Three Parts The day before the government committee released its investigation report about the hostage-taking, the websites of the country’s two leading newspapers highlighted the debate on whether the report should be released locally first or be submitted to Chinese officials first out of courtesy. The Philippine Star focused on a senator’s comment […]

Covering themselves: When news people become news makers (Part 3)

Last of Three Parts The criticisms against their handling of the hostage-taking supposedly prompted media organizations to reflect. GMA7 released its own guidelines on how to cover hostage events. But ABS-CBN had a harder stance—its vice president for news even said in an interview that the hostage-taker was not watching their coverage anyway. This stance […]

Quote of the Day

“(What) is especially ominous for the future of journalism is that some advertising has shifted not from traditional news media to their satellite news websites, but has leapfrogged instead to other parts of the Web which have nothing to do with journalism. In particular, local newspaper classified advertising has been partly redirected to advertising-only websites, […]

Put the big names on TV

Former vice president Noli De Castro returns on Monday to the primetime news program that served as the perfect springboard for his short-lived political career. He is showing up with Korina Sanchez who is also fresh from a year-long hiatus from daily-grind news work for her husband’s ill-fated vice presidential bid. De Castro and Sanchez […]

Welcome

This is my first attempt at blogging. I was a newspaper reporter. I am also a student. One of my research projects found that newspaper and website journalists differ not only in how they perceive the future of the newspaper but also in their attitudes toward online news. It is not surprising, therefore, that few […]