Standing up for newsstands

Local newspapers in Baguio City have sounded the alarm on a plan by the city government to clear road obstructions, including newsstands that have been part of the city’s landscape for many decades. A statement issued by the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club (BCBC) posted by the Baguio Midland Courier over the weekend said newspaper vendors would have to remove their newsstands in Baguio City’s central business district by Dec. 20.

Permits and licensing officer Allan Abayao will meet on Dec. 15 with newspaper and magazine vendors, and other small entrepreneurs like watch repairmen, to “work out a suitable location for their businesses.’’ The newspaper vendors were only allowed to resume selling in July when quarantine restrictions were eased.

The city government’s move is ill-timed and ill-considered, as it will not only make the small vendors lose their livelihood but also deprive residents and visitors of easy access to essential information they get from the community and national newspapers and publications available on the streets.

With at least 4.6 million Filipinos rendered jobless by the economic downturn, and countless businesses hurting, the government’s task is to help keep enterprises afloat, particularly the most vulnerable of them—small entrepreneurs. It is especially callous to send small vendors away in the name of beautifying the sidewalks.

The BCBC pointed out that the newspaper vendors make their living from commissions they get depending on the number of copies they were able to sell, and yet even with their meager income, they pay for government permits to operate their newsstands, contributing in their own way to the local economy.

“Newsstands do not obstruct as vendors make sure newsstands are against the wall of the sidewalks or establishments,’’ the BCBC said.

Baguio City’s weekly papers Baguio Midland Courier and Baguio Chronicle, and the daily Sunstar Baguio stood up against the plan through a pooled editorial, noting that the newspaper vendors would have to be absorbed by the nearby establishments or vacate their newsstands to clear the streets. The first option would mean they would have to pay up to 10 times more in rent than what they are currently paying.

“These newsstands are not earning that much. Like many of us journalists, they are barely surviving. And by the end of the year, they might all be gone,’’ warned the three papers. Once the vendors are forced to stop selling papers, the “chain of information to the public will now be cut.’’

In their joint editorial, the Baguio papers pointed out that Baguio City has historic ties to journalism. Many English newspapers sprung up even before it became a charter city in 1909, and local papers also flourished, as evidenced by the many newsstands on Session Road and other streets in the business district.

“And why not? As we have said, you can judge how learned the residents of a city by the number of newsstands on the streets… The opinions and issues raised by these newspapers helped shape the unique nature of our city politics. We would like to say that because of these newspapers, our politics transcended the image and showbiz politics of the other cities.’’

In this crucial civic work, the papers stressed, the newsstand vendors were their partners in bringing news and information to the residents of Baguio. Thus, “by taking them out, you are actually taking us out as well.”

In many cities around the world, newsstands are veritable landmarks and an important part of the social and cultural fabric, where the daily rush of life includes people grabbing papers from these newsstands on the way to their destinations. A vibrant media landscape—and that includes the distribution part of it—is a boon to cities, as information is vital to an enlightened citizenry and a vigilant democracy.

Technology is undoubtedly affecting newsstands in many urban places, with more people reading the news on their digital devices. But newsstands have remained in business, adjusting to the times. The flurry of information available on the internet has only made access to accurate information even more essential, and providing this essential service has been the value and mission of the free, independent, and professional media, of which small newspaper dealers and vendors are a key component.

Baguio City’s newsstand vendors are not only selling papers for a living—they are also providing a

pivotal service to residents. Instead of summarily shooing them away from their familiar spots, the Baguio city government would do well to summon judicious reason and civic sense by finding these vendors safe and accessible places where commuters can still reach them, and thus allow them to continue making a living.

As the BCBC correctly pointed out: “For decades, newspaper vendors have proven to be essential to the flow of news and information. They should not be treated as eyesores.’’