by Jonalyn Eman
The Honeycomb Campus Media, official student publication of Abuyog Community College conducted its long-awaited gathering of campus journalists for the two-day Intensive Training Workshop on Campus Journalism 2023 dubbed “Ready. Press. Write” on April 13-14, at ACC gymnasium.
With its aim of preparing and enhancing the journalistic abilities and knowledge essential for them to be efficient and accountable student journalists.
The event was participated by more than 100 campus journalists coming from the editorial staff members of The Honeycomb Campus Media, The Honeybuzz, official student publication of ACC-Senior High School and selected second year English major students.
Plenary presentations from invited top-tier resource speakers who shared their knowledge and experiences on the many fields of journalism were scheduled for the two-day event.
Dr. Clemelle L. Montallana DM, CESE, college president, officially welcomed the attendees and stressed in his speech the value of journalism as a pillar of influence. He added that journalism is a sacred profession and emphasized the influence that journalists may have, whether it is for good or bad.
“I would like to give note to the fact that journalists could be positive or negative influencers. Just like that, the truth could be twisted to favor someone. You must realize that it is a sacred profession. Napakalaking impluwensiya ang kaya mong ibigay sa tao at importante na maganda ang impluwensiyang iyon,” he stated.
Meanwhile, present during the event was school paper coordinator, Mr. Alvin V. Advincula who delivered the event rationale and Ms. Jessica Alvero who acknowledged the participants through a ‘team cheering task’.
Additionally, Mrs. Annabelle Dela Rama, the school newspaper’s consultant, reflected on the numerous obstacles that the publication overcame and expressed her joy at how the “once struggling and dying publication” has improved.
On the first day, Ms. Rochie Montaño, MCO News TV anchor and Dr. Dominador Pagliawan, a distinguished journalist with international and national accolades, presented their experience on several themes relating to campus journalism as resource speakers,
Ms. Montaño discussed the basics of campus vlogging, TV script, and newscasting while sharing her worthwhile experience as a broadcast journalist. She also provided the participants with some tips on creating engaging and informative video content.
On the other hand, Dr. Pagliawan spoke about the basics of journalistic writing such as news writing, feature writing, editorial writing, and cartooning. He also shared valuable insights on how to write compelling stories and develop a unique writing style.
The emphasis on accuracy, fairness, and impartiality in journalism was emphasized as the participants learned about media ethics and responsible journalism throughout the program. They had the chance to engage in different activities and ask questions as well.