ILOILO CITY, Philippines –– Despite strong rains brought by Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut) and occasional power brownouts, more than 500 campus journalists from all over Western Visayas flocked the Iloilo leg of Jourknows 2018 at the Ateneo de Iloilo, Mandurriao District, Iloilo City on Saturday, September 15.
Both campus journalists and school paper advisers went into a rigorous training in different categories such as News Writing, Feature Writing, Editorial Writing, Editorial Cartooning, Copywriting and Headline Writing, Sports Writing, Science Writing, Photojournalism, Collaborative Desktop Publishing, Radio and TV Broadcasting.
Speakers of these categories are select professional journalists from different news agencies, former NSPC judges, and award-winning campus journalists and publication advisers who shared not just contest-related ideas but as well as real-life journalism techniques.
Campus journalists also participated in topic-based seminars like Child Protection Policy given by the National Police Commission (Napolcom) – Western Visayas, social media ethics, and fact-checking.
“This program aims to prepare our future journalists not just in the upcoming press conferences, but also to equip them with the necessary knowledge and techniques should they pursue journalism as a career in the future,” Jourknows founder and member Press Photographers of the Philippines (PPP) Roderick Tan said.
Meanwhile, National Secondary Editors’ Guild (NSEG) President Kate Julianne Larroder, in her speech during the opening programs, encouraged every campus journalists to go beyond what they can regardless of how young they are.
“Age doesn’t define what you can do in life,” Larroder said. “Bagyo ka lang, Ompong, campus journalists kami,” she added quoting a Facebook post of one of the participants.
Campus Journalist Ako! is the largest online organization of campus journalists and publication advisers all over the Philippines with almost 40,000 members as of September 2018.
Jourknows started in 2015 with its first workshop in Ninoy Aquino Wildlife Park in Quezon City. Four years later, Campus Journalist Ako was able to organize 7 Jourknows; once in Metro Manila, another one in Tabuk City, Kalinga, twice in Imus City, Cavite, and thrice in Iloilo City.
This campus journalism seminar-workshop in Iloilo was sponsored by Ateneo de Iloilo Alumni Association who have supported the advocacy since it started 4 years ago.