Campus journalism and the truth
ampus journalism should not just be about winning journalistic contests.
If anything, it should shape young Filipinos to be advocates for press freedom and defending the truth.
After a three-year hiatus caused by the pandemic, the Department of Education (Deped) decided to bring back its annual National Schools Press Conference (NSPC) this school year.
With NSPC’S return, I could not help but look back at my own journey when I was still competing.
Albeit bittersweet, my experience was still one I consider to be a significant part of shaping my relatively young life. With that, I hope other budding writers at present also get to be molded right and well by this same journalistic contest.
By joining campus journalism activities back in elementary and high school, I was not only able to improve my writing abilities; it also allowed me to develop competencies that are truly necessary for navigating life and understanding society better.
For one, students can become more aware of societal issues through campus journalism. These journalistic contests require participants to be knowledgeable of current national and global events. Because of this, students learn to open their eyes to the realities surrounding them, even at a young age.
Along with this sense of awareness, young campus writers have essential traits and skills like inquisitiveness and critical thinking.
Their knowledge of current events can actually prompt them to question these social realities and gather relevant facts and data to investigate and analyze them. Consequently, developing this type of skill set allows them to grow as writers and, more importantly, as learned individuals.
Ultimately, campus journalism contests like the NSPC can make students realize how powerful their words can be.
As much as journalistic stories can put into the spotlight those who are oppressed and marginalized, the articles campus writers publish can also diminish people’s struggles and even contribute to the growing network of disinformation in the country.
Given this heavy responsibility, it is clear that seeing campus journalism only as a way of winning medals and accolades is not only wrong but also unfair to the noble work done by campus writers and professional journalists.
More than anything, what one must get in campus journalism is the courage and the commitment to deliver the truth despite the many attempts to silence those who speak of it.
Now more than ever, young campus journalists are called for a much bigger and more important purpose of their work—to use the skills they will gain from the competition to ensure that the truth remains protected from those who try to alter it.*
***