‘Baduy’?
I have always considered myself a journalist. I have been a member of my school’s student publication for over five years now, since I was in the sixth grade. And for those past five years, I have come across many issues in the field of journalism—specifically campus journalism.
Here’s background information for everyone: Republic Act No. 7079 or the Campus Journalism Act of 1991 mandates that the state shall “uphold and protect” freedom of the press even at the campus level. RA 7079 also mandates a number of programs and projects to improve the journalistic skills of students and promote responsible and free journalism, including press conferences.
I can say that campus journalism is my lifeblood because I have devoted literally my life and blood to producing our campus paper. And coming across things that are not “right” for the campus paper makes every campus journalist raise his or her eyebrows.
First situation: You see your school publication being trashed.
Second situation: You hear your school publication being tagged as “boring,” “waley” (of no significance), or even “baduy” (juvenile, corny).
The probable first reaction of any contributor to the paper is to get angry and rant. This campus writer was ranting because he saw copies of their paper dumped in the garbage bin. I know some campus journalists who have taken their violent reactions to social media, and recently I myself engaged in such an activity.
Well, I can understand their grudge. A campus publication takes so much time and effort to produce—assigning staffers to cover activities, writing the reports, editing the same (it’s a ping-pong game between the writer and the editor if things are very out of order), final editing, printing of the draft paper… The process is repeated until the paper is polished and printed.
If the “before printing” process is painful, so is the printing itself! In our school we print only about 800 copies of our publication, and that costs almost P23,000—a steep price considering that the funding comes only from the subscription fee paid by some students. We in the editorial staff have to labor to make ends meet because the subscription fee that the Department of Education limits to P90 per student has to be budgeted for the entire school year.
During the preparation process, we are not only journalists but also accountants, auditors, and PR people. It is a delicate balance of economics over quality, and news over wants.
But fretting about your school publication being trashed is a futile activity. There is no need to rant. The students are not the problem; the print medium is the problem. In fact, this is evident not only in campus publications but also in newspapers of national circulation.
Nowadays people have multiple options in finding the news they want. The internet is now the prime source of breaking news. For example, Twitter, a microblogging site, is now home to the majority of news agencies which literally break news within minutes.
That’s why newspaper readership is veering from print toward digital. Many broadsheets and tabloids in the Philippines and the rest of the world are now offering a digital newsstand that requires less hassle and is cheaper to produce than a newspaper.
In relation to campus publications, what all this means is change and adaptation. As I see it, we have two options: Make the paper more suitable to the school population, or shift to a digital medium.
Personally, I prefer the first option over the second because a printed paper provides a tactile and concrete reading experience for everyone. Rebranding the paper is the first step in making it more suitable to many. We must run news that will provoke their curiosity, as well as articles on subjects that will interest them, such as pop culture. In short, a shift from a formal publication to a “softer” and “student-friendly” campus paper.
But the second option may also be applied along with the first. Nowadays, digital publishing platforms are available for free (like issuu.com). Anyone can upload their campus paper there and it will be there for as long as you want, and even provide options for readers to download a PDF copy of it. This is also a timely move because in the recent National Schools Press Conference held in Pagadian City, an e-paper contest for a school paper was piloted.
Exactly in the context of President Duterte’s “Change is coming,” it is also the time for the editorial staffs of school publications to meditate and ponder on the issues that lie ahead, and change our approach in order to better suit the needs of the modernizing students whom we serve. But alongside this change, campus journalism should remain the same—upholding the same ethical values, responsibility, and adherence to truth.
When that change comes, we will probably hear “wow” instead of “boring” and “baduy.”
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Daniel Sebastianne B. Daiz, 15, is editor in chief of The Horizon, the official student publication of Basud National High School in Basud, Camarines Norte.
