Education and Training of Media

Correspondents in Olongapo City and

Zambales Province
INTRODUCTION

Much has been said about democracy functioning best with a free media.
Sheila Coronel, a prominent Filipino journalist and dean of academic affairs
in the prestigious Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism,
emphatically declared, “democracy is impossible without free press” in her
paper for the United Nations entitled The Role of the Media in Deepening
Democracy. 1

But on the back on this assertion is a media that performs its role as
expected and as needed by the society at a particular point in history. And
at any point of a society’s democratic history, media organizations depend
on the journalists to carry on, their able back, the weight of strengthening,
and in some cases, defending democracy.

That being said, are media organizations today arming their local front
liners, the journalists based outside Metro Manila, with the necessary tools
to perform their task? Does the present crop of journalists have the skills to
perform ably and deliver what is required of them by the community?

The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, in its 2014 study on the core skills
for the future journalism, notes that there is no single fixed formula of core
skills that journalists need to be successful. It is forever changing and
evolving, just as journalism itself. It stressed that journalists with the right
skills are essential for journalism---and for preserving journalism’s role
within the society.

This study looks into the education and training of journalists living in the
Olongapo City and Zambales areas. It also tries to establish a set of skills
that the practitioners possess as they pursue their practice and how they
and their media organizations value, in practice and in words, the
development of journalists’ skills and the minimum education requirements
for their employment.

This study forms part of the requirements for the Communications 320
course for the Doctorate of Communications degree of the Open University
of University of the Philippines. I conducted a survey in order to generate a
Page 3

white paper or research report on the topic “communication education and

training.”

There were several challenges that had to be hurdled during the study.
First, the research was conducted in a short span of time. The formulation
of the survey question was done in just 3 days and the instruments were
distributed on the fifth day. Target participants were given five days to turn
in their response. In total, only 10 days were allotted for the formulation,
revision, and administration of the survey.

Second, the researcher could not be physically present in the survey area
and had to use Facebook and email to reach out to the participants.

Finally, with the deadline looming in the horizon, the review of related
literature was far from ideal. And this was exacerbated by the fact there
was not much materials in the form of research, studies, or books available
grounded on the topic in the internet. The great bulk of materials found
were about the media killings in the country from 2004 to 2010.

JOURNALISM AND DEMOCRACY

The American Press Institute (API) defines journalism as the activity of

gathering, assessing, creating and presenting news and information. It is
also the product of these activities. It adds that unlike other communication
that exists, the value of journalism stems from the purpose of its existence
and that is to ‘provide people with verified information they can use to make
better decisions, and its practices, the most important of which is a
systematic process--- a discipline of verification--- that journalists use to
find not just the facts, but also the “truth about the facts.”2

Society has always placed an important role on media in their daily life. In
many areas, media is their only source of accurate and reliable information
about their community. Often, it is also their only means to make their
opinions heard. While the internet has provided an alternative venue,
Page 4

traditional media still hold sway over what issues become important and
how these the people understand the unfolding events.

And all too often, media is the only way for the community to put politics in
proper perspective. The daily swamp of political rhetoric fills the airwaves
and an avalanche of printed materials flood into their homes. In this daily
grind, journalism plays an essential role in providing access to ideas,
context, and analysis that is produced in an ethical and socially relevant
way. And collectively, media organizations must stand up to social,
economic and political pressures to perform its specialized role of carrying
the voice of the people and being a watchdog of society.

Technology is likewise pushing the boundaries of societies and cultures.

The media is not immune from this development. Given the fast-paced
development of media (broadcast, print, and internet), it is of great concern
if the media workers are prepared for these social challenges. This
question is not only vital to media organizations’ economic interests but for
democracy as well.

STUDY RESULTS

Of the 31 journalists asked to answer the survey, 16 individuals or 52%

responded, with a slight majority of them being males (63%) and the rest,
37%, are females. Some 62% were between the ages of 41-60 years old,
31% were between 26-40 years old and 6% registered an age of 60 and
over. (See Figure 1)

Due to the absence of quantitative data on the demographics of journalists

in the Philippines, much more for those working outside Metro Manila, there
is not much more that can be interpreted in the data other than the majority
of the journalists in the study area in the area are middle aged, male, and
mostly married (81%).
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Figure 1

MEDIA REPRESENTATION

In 2013, the Philippines’ broadcast media had 405 television stations, 402
AM and 984 FM stations, 1,215 cable television providers and 400 Internet
Service Providers (ISP). The print media landscape has 495 newspapers
and 50 magazines.3

As far as media representation is concerned, 68% of the respondents

reported that they worked for a national news organization, 19% said they
were part of a local (provincial, city or municipal) organization and 6% are
part of a regional organization. Regional media organizations typically have
a distribution in many of the provinces within a region. The survey area is
located in Region 3, the Central Luzon region, composed of 8 provinces.

It must be noted that the capital of Zambales, the town of Iba, is just 241
kilometers from Metro Manila while Olongapo City and the Subic Bay
Freeport is a mere 126 kilometers from the country’s capital.

The scope and breadth of most of the media organizations, however, are
quite limited. In the Olongapo City and Zambales areas, only a handful of
Page 6

newspapers find their way into the news stand. The top five national
broadsheets are the Philippines Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, Manila
Bulletin, Business Mirror, and every now and then, The Manila Times.
National tabloids are a handful more with the biggest being Abante,
Remate, Tiktik and Balita. The rest are the tabloids of the national
broadsheets represented in the area.

This seems to confirm a content analysis by the CMFR revealed the

imbalance in news coverage of the country: only three of the 11
newspapers examined – the Manila Bulletin, the Philippines Daily Inquirer
and the Star – have a special section for provincial news.4

There are only three free-to-air television companies that reach Olongapo
City; they are ABS-CBN, GMA, and TV5. In Zambales, only the first two are
available. All the other television organizations are present only in
community cables, reducing their reach substantially.

Radio stations fare better though. The great majority of the national radio
broadcasts are received in both areas. Still, many provincial broadcast
organizations, known as community radio stations, “step on” the radio
frequency of some national radio organizations. Stepping on radio
frequencies means that their broadcasts are not heard in their assigned
frequency because a local community radio stations air their broadcast
over the same frequency.

Again, the major televisions’ radio organizations, DZBB (GMA Network)

and DZMM (ABS-CBN) dominate the airwaves. The others include DZXL,
DZRH and DWIZ. The rest are barely audible and are stepped on by the
local community radio stations.
Page 7

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

A big majority of the respondents completed a university/college degree

(75%), 12% are masters degree holder while another 12% obtained their
high school diploma. None of them, however, holds a degree in journalism.

It is not a common practice to require a journalism degree to secure a

position among media organizations. Is this a good thing for journalism?
The answer to that question remains in limbo, but a review of the past
might help shed light on the reason this situation.

This practice of not requiring journalists to have a degree in journalism has

a long history in the industry. In a book that chronicled journalists’ life in the
frontier days in the United States of America, Newsmen at Work, Wells
Drury was said to have gotten only one answer when he asked the editor of
the Gold Hill News (Nevada). Alf Doten looked up from his grimy desk and
asked, “Can you shoot?”

The term shoot does not refer to taking a photo using a camera. It meant
using a pistol or a rifle. During that time, Nevada was then an unruly patch
of land, home to the cowboys and miners drawn by the gold rush.
Shootings were a daily occurrences and it is here where Drury would be
assigned.

Drury went on to become the editor of the Gold Hill News and was known
in the rowdy days of Nevada as the “Fighting Editor of the Comstock.” He
was noted for his high sense of duty to the public. He served as editor of
the Virginia City Chronicle and the Territorial Enterprise, among others…5

In the Philippines, modern journalism degrees were not available until after
1945. The University of the Philippines (UP) and the University of Santo
Tomas (UST) offered journalism courses after World War II, but it was only
in 1965 when the UP-Institute of Mass Communication (UP-IMC) was
founded that the process of developing journalism education to meet what
was perceived then to be the necessary task of journalism in fostering
Page 8

“national development” via “developmental journalism” began in earnest in

UP.6

Even when modern and formal journalism education was available in the
Philippines in the 1960s, most editors, who themselves did not go through
the formal education, opted to practicality over formality.

Rosario-Brad (2001) noted that despite the existence of journalism schools,

many newsrooms were manned by reporters and editors who did not have
formal journalism training. At that time, editors believed that the graduates
of the “school of hard knocks” were better equipped to be reporters as they
have the “nose for news.”7

Despite a divided opinion on whether a journalism degree should be a

requirement for the correspondent position with a total of 60% disagreeing
or having no opinion, 40% believed that it is a must. (See Figure 2)

Figure 2

Where they are almost unanimous is that education and training are
important for them to perform their task. For the study, education was
defined as an activity that is conducted for participants that consists of
updated knowledge and other pertinent information that will help these
individuals attain a broader understanding of their chosen industry.
Page 9

Training, meanwhile, was defined as a learning process that involves

sharpening of skills, concepts, rules, or changing attitudes and behaviors to
enhance performance of employees.

The respondents agreed (92%) that both are important. And this assertion
is reflected in their actions. Some 82% of the journalist said they sent
themselves to and paid for an educational activity since joining their current
media outfit while only 18% never attended any. Of these, 25% attended 6
or more times and another 18% at least 3 times. (See Figure 3)

Figure 3

But the media organizations do not share this enthusiasm. Some 37% of
the respondents said that they were never sent by their news outfit to any
educational activity, while 18% said they were sent at least once. (See
Figure 4)

Figure 4
Page 10

And this fact is reflected in the opinion of the journalists about their media
organizations. Some 60% believed that their media organization values
educating them as correspondents while a substantial number aren’t sure
(33%). A small fraction (6%) said they do not think their education is valued
by their outfit. Naturally, all (100%) of the respondents thought education
was important. (See Figure 5)

Figure 5

A similar picture can be seen when asked about training. All the
respondents (100%) thought that training was important for their job. When
asked about their opinion of their media organization, 81% believed that
their outfit values training them. (See Figure 6)

Figure 6
Page 11

But again, the actions do not match the perception about their outfit. A near
majority (43%) were never sent to any training activity by their outfit since
they joined them, while 25% said they were sent once. Only 12% were sent
6 or more times since they joined. (See Figure 7)

Figure 7

A total of 74% of the journalists sent themselves to a training activity at

least once since joining their current news outfit. Some 33% of the
journalists, at their own cost, sent themselves to trainings 6 or more times
while 26% did not avail training at their expense even once. (See Figure 8)

Figure 8
Page 12

Compared to the result on education, journalists have a better perception

when it comes to their training by their media outfit. Some 81% believe their
outfit values their training while 12% were not sure and 6% flatly said no.
All the respondents believed that training was important for their work. (See
Figure 9)

Figure 9

Media organizations depend on journalists to carry the torch of the Fourth

Estate and its role of being the guardians of public interest. As such, an
army of capable journalists is required as they battle the forces that seek to
undermine the democratic values of the society.

While this is not an indictment of the media organizations, it is an alarming

situation, not only for the industry, but also for the rest of the society when
one of the pillars of democracy, and indeed the society, entrusts such a
heavy burden on an army they are not willing to arm with the right
education and training.

As early as 1993, institutes like Poynter and Knight Foundation have been
advocating for more trainings (whether for knowledge or about skills) for
journalists.

In the United States, things have changed. Howard Finberg of the Poynter
Institute said in his foreword in Constant Training: New Normal or Missed
Page 13

Opportunity that two thirds of the journalists report that they have received
training in the past 12 months. In addition, more than half (56%) of those
journalists were mostly satisfied or very satisfied with the training.8

It wasn’t always the case. Even for US journalists. In 1993, the report “No
Train, No Gain” by the Freedom Forum found out that only 14 percent of
the journalists got regular training. A follow up report in 2002, “Newsroom
Training: Where’s the Investment” showed the same situation. Two thirds of
those surveyed lamented that they receive no regular skills training.9

What was noteworthy, and quite related to their Filipino counterparts, is that
they, like the Pinoys, wanted to be trained. But the news organizations, at
least in the case of the journalists in Olongapo City and Zambales, have
been given very little.

Some 75% also said that they were not given training by their media
organization when they started with them, while only a fourth (25%) said
they were trained. (See Figure 10)

Figure 10

The fact that none of the respondents were formally trained in journalism
only exacerbates the problem, not only of the situation on the ground, it but
also exposes the current mindset in the news rooms, given the fact that
85% were hired by the news outfit during the last decade.
Page 14

CURRENT STATE OF SKILLS

Using the Poynter Institute’s list of 37 key proficiencies needed by the

future journalist, the study surveyed 31 media practitioners in the Olongapo
City and Zambales areas about their competency from the list categorized
as follows:

1. Knowledge, attitude and personal feature (attributes) – This pertains

to the general understanding of journalists on current events, culture,
government, media as a business enterprise, and the journalists’
ethics code. Attitude refers to the way of thinking or one’s personal
behavior given a particular set of conditions while personal attributes
relate to character traits and personality traits.
2. News gathering skills – This set of skills refers to the ability of the
journalist to identify, process, develop and eventually decide that a
set of information is newsworthy.
3. News production skills – This refers to the general ability of the
journalist for storytelling. Among the skills required are writing,
speaking, and understanding of the audience needs and
expectations.
4. Technical/multimedia skills- These involve both technical and artistic
skills such as editing, coding, as well as, the eye for design and visual
aesthetics.

These specific skills are categorized below:

1.KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PERONAL FEATURES

(ATTRIBUTES)
(The order here is not as it is listed in the survey)

Ability to embrace change and innovation

Accuracy
Be a team leader
Be a team player
Be acquainted with journalism ethics
Be familiar with copyright
 Page 15

Be familiar with journalism laws

Curiosity
Handles stress and deadlines well
Have broad general knowledge
Have good news judgment
Have good social skills
Have knowledge of current events
Have knowledge of the media business
Knowledge of government
Knowledge of other cultures
Select information based on reliability
Understand media landscape
Handle criticism well

2.NEWS GATHERING SKILLS

(The order here is not as it is listed in the survey)

Analyze and synthesize large amounts of data

Interpret statistical data and graphics
Look at news with a historical perspective
Mastery of interviewing techniques
Network, make contacts and develop sources
Search for news and check sources without the use of the internet
Search online information on an advanced level

3.NEWS PRODUCTION SKILLS

(The order here is not as it is listed in the survey)

Master various forms of journalistic writing

Speaking skills
Storytelling
Understand audience expectations and needs
Write in a fluent style
Write using correct grammar
Page 16
4.TECHNICAL/MULTIMEDIA SKILLS
(The order here is not as it is listed in the survey)

Shoot and edit photographs

Shoot and edit video
Record and edit audio
Ability to tell stories with design and visuals
Ability to work with HTML or other computer language

The survey offered a unique insight into the minds of practicing journalists
in the target areas. When asked how important 1.) knowledge, attitude and
personal attributes, 2.) news gathering skills, 3.) news production skills, and
(4) technical/multimedia skills were to their journalism practice, the
respondents identified news gathering skills the highest, higher than
knowledge, attitude and personal attribute or news production skills.

A total of 93% rated news gathering skills as very important to their

journalism practice, even as 6% said it wasn’t important. Knowledge,
attitude and personal attributes was thought to be very important by 87%,
with 6 percent rating it as important and another 6% rating is as not
important.

Respondents (81%) said that news production skills were very important,
while 18% ranked it as important. Curiously, technical/multimedia skills
received a mixed rating with half (50%) saying it was very important and
the other 43% rating it as important and 6% noting that it wasn’t important
to their practice.

Unlike the Poynter Institutes’ survey that asked what future core skills
journalists needed in the future, this survey asked respondents to choose
which skills listed according to categories identified above “do you think you
are competent with?” (See Figure 11)
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Figure 11: Result for Category 1

90 Skills under Category 1
82 81
80 75 75 75 75 1.Have good news judgment
69 69 69 69 2.Select information based on reliability
70
62 3.Curiosity
60 56 4.Accuracy
50 50 5.Have knowledge of current events
50 44 44 6.Ability to embrace change and innovation
37 37 37 7.Have broad general knowledge
40
8.Be acquainted with journalism ethics
30
9.Have good social skills
20 10.Be a team player
11.Understand media landscape
10
12.Handles stress and deadlines well
0 13.Knowledge of government
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 14.Be familiar with journalism laws
15.Be familiar with copyright
16.Have knowledge of the media business
17.Be a team leader
In the knowledge, attitude and personal attributes 18.Handles criticism well
category (category 1), 82% of the respondents said 19.Knowledge of other cultures
that they have good news judgment and 81% said
that they are competent in selecting information
based on reliability while 75% scored themselves in curiosity, accuracy,
having knowledge of current events and the ability to embrace change and
innovation.

The top two (together with curiosity) are essentially the counterpart of the
often repeated basic talent of a journalist---nose for news. Others describe
this skill as journalistic gut feel.10

Ida Schultz (2007) attempted to understand the basis of journalistic gut

feeling. She noted that Danish journalist have pinned down several criteria
that guide them, which are timeliness, relevance, identification, conflict and
sensation…Wake up any Danish journalist in the middle of the night,
Page 18

and they would repeat these criteria of newsworthiness at the drop of a

hat.11

In the Philippines, this is tougher to pin down simply because there hasn’t
been any effort to do so. Jose Carillo, a columnist for the Manila Times,
defines ‘nose for news’ as the instinctive skills or facility for discovering
things. In Journalism, specifically, it means the ability to ferret out
newsworthy things from routine or trivial day-to-day activities or
occurrences. A person who has nose for news is naturally inquisitive and
with a strong interest in affairs or events other than those that involved
himself or herself.12

The second tier skills generally possessed by the respondents were

curiosity, accuracy, having knowledge of current events and the ability to
embrace change and innovation. In the Pointer Institute study, both
professional journalists and educators agreed that accuracy and curiosity
are the number top two skills that future journalists must possess.

This is a good sign for the media industry and the community in general.
Luis Teodoro highlighted the need for journalists to be accurate. “Even
more critically, news must be accurate, and not only in the sense that it
gets the names, dates and places right, but also in terms of presenting ‘the
larger truths.”13

He cited a case where the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) report ‘which
suggested that among the New People’s Army’s (NPA) responses to a
‘total war’ policy by the government could be its destroying power lines.”
For some reason the reporter said Sison has ‘call(ed) on’ and even
‘ordered’ the NPA to destroy power lines, thus setting off predictably
belligerent reactions from various sources including the Philippine military,
senators and congressmen---all of who assumed the truth of the Inquirer
report. (Teodoro, 2002).

In a Facebook post last December 1st, 2015, Allan Macatuno, the

correspondent for the Philippine Daily Inquirer in Olongapo City and
Zambales shared a Rappler (an online news outfit based in Manila
Page 19

describing itself as a social news network) article entitled Pemberton guilty

of homicide. The story reported a court decision that found an American
serviceman, Private First Class Joseph Pemberton, guilty of homicide in
the death of Filipino transgender Jennifer Laude. (See Figure 12)

Figure 12

A screenshot of the Facebook post.

Macatuno posted, “Trial is over. Pemberton has been convicted. But

Rappler just couldn’t get the judge’s name right…Judge Roline Jinez
Rabalde? For real at this point?” The correct spelling of the judge’s name
was Roline Ginez-Jabalde.

Macatuno’s point was that the trial lasted more than a year and yet the
Rappler still misspelled the judge’s name. The 2nd update of the Rappler
article still contained the incorrect spelling ‘Roline Jinez Jabalde’. This was
an obviously legitimate criticism, and a welcome one at that.

William Randolph Hearst, an American newspaper publisher who built the

nation’s largest newspaper chain in the early 1900s, was quoted once, ‘You
can crush a man with journalism.’ So powerful is the media and so
Page 20

important is accuracy that a simple spelling mistake can destroy

reputations and possibly more.

Figure 13: Result of Category 2

80 75 75 75
69 69
70 Skills under Category 2
1. Analyze and synthesize large amounts of
60 56 56
data
2. Network, make contacts and develop sources
50 3. Search online information on an advanced
level
40
4.NEWS GATHERING
Mastery SKILLS
of interviewing techniques
30 5. Look at news with a historical perspective
6. Search for news and check sources without
20 the use of the internet
7. Interpret statistical data and graphics
10

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

The internet has opened up a huge amount of data to journalists. These

data may be historical, but often, current data are made available by
sources through their respective websites. The ability to make sense (and
sift through volumes upon volumes of information) is a required skill for any
journalist.

The respondents (75%) said that the ability to analyze and synthesize large
amounts of data, search online information on an advanced level, and
make contacts and develop sources are important skills that they have
developed. (See Figure 13)

Relating the failure of the media organizations’ to train the correspondents

and the enormous growth and development of the internet during the last
10 years, tells us that these skills have been developed by the journalist
independent of their media outfits.
Page 21

These abilities are among the top concerns of educators and professional
in the United States. The communications industry in the country has
become so entangled, and yet sophisticated, that they feel journalists,
especially the newly recruited, might succumb to the laziness and accept
what is given as facts and truths.

Credit must also be given to these journalists since none of them have
been formally trained on these skills. Below is a quote from Sue Robinson,
an associate professor at the University of Washington-Madison School of
Journalism, in the Core Skills study when she stressed the need for
journalist to be flexible.

“Besides the basic fundamentals of journalism---accuracy, relevance, story,

ethics, etc---we need to teach (journalism) students how to be flexible. I
mean ‘flexible’ on many levels: flexible in platform approach, flexible in
cultural approach, flexible in thinking what is journalism. The beginning
reporter today is confronted not only with rapidly changing technology but
also with transformative demographics evolutions, globalization, business
model experimentation the likes of which were not (as) present even 20
years ago.”

Despite being ‘up-to-date’, this batch of journalists has also retained one of
the most revered skills in all of media---mastering interview techniques.
With such sophisticated communication machinery available to individuals,
corporations and governments churning out tons of press releases and a
stream of never ending press conferences, it is refreshing (and relaxing) to
know that they have not surrendered to the pressure of the deadline and
the public relations beast and still ask the questions that needs to be
asked.
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Figure 14: Result of Category 3

80 75 75

70 62 62
Skills under Category 3

60 1. Write using correct grammar

50 2. Understand audience expectations and
50 needs
38 3. Storytelling
NEWS PRODUCTION
40
4. Write in a fluent style
SKILLS
30 5. Speaking skills
6. Master various forms of journalistic writing
20

10

0
1 2 3 4 5 6

In a communication endeavor, two things have always been paramount;

writing correctly and writing for the readers’ needs and expectations. This is
not lost to the journalists surveyed.

Two-thirds of those surveyed said that they are competent with using the
correct grammar and having a feel for the community they write for and
about.

Using correct grammar is a constant variable in writing news reports.

However, audience expectations and needs change over time and due to
changes in the environment.

In a research project that applied the systems model of creativity developed

by Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi (1988; 1997; 2003) to print journalism in
Australia, he contends that, rather than an individual being the sole source
of creativity, the individual is one part of a system.14

It is therefore a critical skill for journalists to have as socio-economic,

cultural and technological factors change rapidly in their community. An
Page 23

example of this is the constant development of the Subic Bay Freeport. In

the past, social concerns dominated the air that journalists smell. Now,
economy is a top concern for the people of Olongapo and Zambales.

And as the interest of the readers shift and develop, they must be able to
quickly adapt and become familiar with the shifting landscape. Another
example is the increasing presence of South Koreans, who are becoming a
major investor sector, and the possible return of the US military services.
How will these affect the needs and expectations of the readers from
journalists who cover the beat? Will the storytelling (rated 3rd with 62%
saying they are competent with it) evolve?

A notable result is the lack of mastery of the various forms of journalistic

writing (only 38% said they were competent). Each media organization
typically has only one correspondent in the survey area. The great bulk of
the articles they write are news reports.

However, being the outfits’ sole source of stories, the lack of skills in other
style, such as feature, opinion, sports writing, or review among others,
presents a significant problem for their outlets. This handcuffs the outlets to
just say, news articles rather having a variety of articles. More importantly,
it also limits the variety of stories the community receives from the
journalists.

Figure 15: Result of Category 4

67
70
60 53 Skills under Category 4
47 47
50 40 1. Shoot and edit photographs
40 2. Shoot and edit video
TECHNICAL/MULTIM
30 EDIA
3. SKILLS
Record and edit audio
20 4. Ability to tell stories with design and visuals
10 5. Ability to work with HTML or other computer
language
0
1 2 3 4 5
Page 24

This category is where the respondents rated themselves the lowest

overall. A significant number (67%) though considered themselves
competent in shooting and editing photographs but they are less confident
about shooting and editing videos (53%).

In the past, journalists who take photographs and video were different from
those who write the articles. It was a specialized craft in journalism. Today,
however, writers also take photographs and videos.

A new breed of journalists is emerging. And they are trained to be writers,

photographers, videographers, multimedia experts and producers. They
use internet connected portable electronic devices and produce a complete
product. They are called mobile journalists or mojos.

Via sophisticated apps, user-generated content (UGC) can be made into

user-generated stories (UGS), and these assembled into user-generated
programs (UGP).15

Burum (2015) identifies the requisite tools, namely: a smart phone or other
smart device with connectivity; mini directional microphone; lapel
microphone; dolly; rechargeable light; lens adaptors; monopod or light
tripod; mini tripod; an SD card and an account with a phone company
and/or internet service provider (ISP).

A mojo is competent in all the skill listed in category 4, except for the ability
to work with Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) or other computer
language. HTML is a standardized system for tagging text files to achieve
font, color graphic, and hyperlink effects on World Wide Web pages.16

This, however, does not mean that a mojo is not competent with HTML or
other languages, it is just not part of the minimum requirement. However, if
a mojo operates a website, as well and publishes works in it, then the likely
of knowing HTML is high.
Page 25

TOP TEN SKILLS

Below is the top-10 skills reported by the respondents.

Top Skills
Figure 16 1. Have good news judgment
2. Select information based on reliability
Top Skills of Respondents 3.Curiosity
4.Accuracy
67
17 69 5.Have knowledge of current events
69
15 69 6.Ability to embrace change and innovation
69 7.Have broad general knowledge
13 69
69 8. Network, make contacts and develop sources
11 75
75 9. Search online information on an advanced
9 75 level
75
7 75 10. Write using correct grammar
75
5 75 11. Understand audience expectations and
75 needs
3 75
81 12. Have broad general knowledge
1 82
13. Be acquainted with journalism ethics
0 20 40 60 80
14. Have good social skills
15. Be a team player
16. Mastery of interviewing techniques
17. Look at news with a historical perspective
18. Shoot and edit photographs
At every point of technological advancement,
journalists have needed to adapt. And the
arrival of the internet and social media has ushered in new challenges,
quite different from the past.

Media is moving ever so quickly into the World Wide Web, a new breed of
communicators such as bloggers, citizen journalists, mojos, among others
are crowding out what used to be the sole realm of journalists.

Throughout all these, journalists have always stepped up to the plate. Even
during the early years, training has been a consistent demand of
journalists. Back in 1938, Agens Wahl Neiman’s bequest launched the
Page 26

famed fellowship program at Harvard to “promote and elevate the

standards of journalism.17

But the digital age has raised the bar on training. Journalists and
newsrooms incapable of reinventing what it means to train will face a bleak
future. Digital-age changes are coming faster that the training: data
journalism, social journalism, mobile journalism, new tools, entrepreneurial
journalism---and they won’t stop coming. (Newton, 2013)

‘The focus…on developing people, in the light of the knowledge economy,

is the key to competitive advantage,” states the American Society for
Training and Development. ‘There is a new world of learning emerging---
one that links people, learning and performance---and a new community
growing around it.’18

Curiously, news companies (in the United States) are exceptions to this
trend. While news organizations are in the knowledge business, the news
industry lags behind others in providing its people with new knowledge and
skills through professional training. (Kees, 2011)

While this study may provide an indication of the current situation, a more
comprehensive study must be done to verify the actual situation of the local
media industry.

The respondents noted that their organization helped them develop their
skills but have invested more of their time, effort, and money to keep
themselves updated, informed, educated and trained.

Figure 17 shows that the assistance given by news outlets are slanted to
category 1 (knowledge…) and category 2 (news gathering). According to
the respondents, 90% received category 2 skills education and training and
some 80% said they received category 1.

Noteworthy in the responses were the low results in category 3 (60%) given
the fact that journalists produce stories. It would logically be a major
Page 27

concern for media outlets to help journalists improve their news production
skills.

Relating this to the result of the individual’s competency, only 38% of the
respondents said they were competent in mastering various forms of
journalistic writing. Speaking is also a generally weak skill for the
respondents with only 50% saying there are competent.

But one of the most intriguing results is in category 4. Outlets have

extended very little help to journalists in the area when it comes to
technical/multimedia skills (40%). And this is reflected in the answers given
by the respondents. Of the five skills under the category, less than half of
the respondents said they were competent. These include (1) record and
edit audio, (2) ability to tell stories with design and visuals and (3) the ability
to work with HTML or other computer language.

The rapidly changing media ecosystem demands that journalists

continually refresh their skills. In 1993, the internet was a means to deliver
news and information was a glimmer in a digital futurist’s eye. Today,
digital-first isn’t just a slogan; it’s what is needed to get journalism to the
public. (Finberg, 2015)

The respondents, however, view all the categories important enough to

develop by themselves. All four categories were rated 81% and higher, with
both category 1 and category 3 getting as high as 87%.
Page 28

Figure 17

CONCLUSION

In keeping with the effort to use the Poynter core skills as a benchmark, a
table was generated to show a comparison between the core skills of the
journalist in the Olongapo City and Zambales areas and the result of the
Poynter Institutes’ core skills for the future of journalism study.

The table below (Figure 18) lists the top ten skills that journalists in the
survey area are competent with (column 1), while column 2 shows what
professional (media practitioners and executives) say are the core skills
needed for future. Column 3 shows how educators rank the same.
Page 29

Figure 18

The list tells a tale of an almost carbon copy thinking among the
respondents (Filipino journalists in the survey area), the professional
(American journalists, editors and management), and those in the
education sector in the United States.

All three reflect the time honored tradition of accuracy and a defining trait
that almost all journalists are expected to possess---curiosity. Let it be
stated for clarity that the respondents’ answers are skills that they believe
they already possess while those in the second and third columns are what
American professionals and educators believe should be the core skills of
future journalists.

Stephen Barnhart, a journalist and a blogger, commented in the Poynter

core skills studies that future journalists must be tech savvy. “An aspiring
Page 30

journalist must be a writer, photographer, producer, web designer and

ethical decision-maker, all in one. Training at J-schools (journalism
schools) should mirror the demands of the multimedia journalism world by
propelling students into the field to acquire those skills.”19

If this was the only basis, it is safe to say that Filipino journalists in the
Olongapo City and Zambales areas are ready for the future.

However, journalistic ethics appears to be something that something that

the professional and educator do not share with the respondents as it
landed outside the top ten with 69% of the local journalists saying they
were competent. And this has been a concern among media practitioners
in the country.

A report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, Lin Neuman noted that

when former President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law, he
dismantled the structure of the press…(weakening) the professionalism
and ultimately politicized the media to a staggering degree. Sadly, the
corruption in the media is common. Salaries are low and businesses and
politicians often buy favorable coverage.20

One of the respondents commented on this topic. “Over the years, I have
strongly advocated that individuals wishing to pursue a career in journalism
should at least be educated on best practices, standards and guidelines--
particularly ethics. This gives them an idea of what will lie in store for them
when they practice the profession.”

Many of the respondents echoed this desire to learn more about the ethics
of journalism. In fact, this is one of the most desired education topics
among them. Next most demanded are lesson on journalism laws and new
media technologies.

One of the most disturbing agreement among the respondents,

professional and educators is their low level of importance given on
technical/multimedia skills. In fact, none of the skills listed in category 4 got
into the top ten lists of any of the groups. There is a clear lack of interest
Page 31

among the respondents to improve their technical/multimedia skills as

shown by their inability or unwillingness to improve those skills, compared
to those in category 1 to 3.

Lastly, further study on the topic must be done to produce a ‘national

picture’ of the journalists’ skills and knowledge. This will also help provide a
framework and hopefully an intervention plan for media organizations.

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1. Coronel, S., 2001, ‘The Role of the Media in Deeping Democracy’,
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2. www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism -essentials/what-is-journalism./makes-
journalism-different-forms-communication/

3. The Philippines in Figures 2015, Philippine Statistics Authority.

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education-of-journalists/ Retrieved November 26, 2015

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1986,” Philippine Studies Vol. 47, No. 3, Ateneo de Manila University

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