TRAINING GROUND FOR ASPIRING JOURNALISTS

CATHERINE S. MEDINA

7he Department of Education DepEd regularly organi]es 6chools 3ress &onferences all over the country which serve as a training ground for aspiring journalists. 7hese activities are more than just a competition as it offers opportunities for young journalists to hone their sNills. $fter all, campus news papers serve as their platform to reach their dreams. &ompetitions liNe these are an opportunity to get e[posure, good e[perience and sNills that campus journalists can use when they venture into the real world outside of the school, and learn what real journalism is all aEout. 7he annual competition helps campus journalists sharpen their sNills, articulate their ideas, thoughts, opinions, and views on various issues. With this, the DepEd is urging young writers and their coaches to put a higher value on learning and e[perience and not just on winning the competition. What¶s important are the things that they will learn, which later on they will apply when they go out outside of the society. During these events, campus journalists compete in news writing, editorial writing, feature writing, photojournalism, copy reading and headline writing, sports writing, editorial cartooning, column writing, science and technol ogy writing, and scriptwriting and radio Eroadcasting. -oining these competitions help campus journal ists see the value of Eeing part of the society. 7hey serve as a transformative e[perience which sharpens their writing and Eroadcasting sNills and instills in them a deeper sense of responsiEility and teamworN. 7hey also open doors that would help campus journalists in their future careers. 7hese competitions are in line with 5epuElic $ct or the &us -ournalism $ct of to promote the growth and development of the campus press.

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