WORKSHEET 1

A. Based from the history of journalism that we just discussed and from
your observations, compare the Philippine press then and now.
The Philippine press was born and nurtured amidst a climate of
political reform. The early Philippine newspapers played critical role in
the nation’s quest for freedom and independence. The press functioned
as a real watchdog of the government, It was sensitive to national issues
and critical of government mistakes and abuses. Among its practitioners
were a clutch of scholarly, noble-minded writers and editors.
The press during that time was forced into a “marriage of
convenience” with large business enterprises and political groups. Most
of the newspapers were wholly or partly owned by large business
complexes. Some newspapers had control and interest in other media
particularly radio and television. In addition, As expected, the press
during the martial law period was highly controlled. Almost overnight,
the print media changed its traditional adversary relationship with the
government to that of “cooperation.” Many journalists learned to practice
brinkmanship and even self-censorship in order to survive or avoid direct
confrontation with the regime.
Today, Newspaper pages have served as an effective forum for
dialogue (and even debate) on national and local issues. Business and
economics is given adequate coverage it deserves. Many major business
stories are given front page treatment while business sections of most
newspapers have been expanded both in terms of additional pages and
topics. Business stories are not only limited to news but now carry
features (including personalities), in-depth articles and in some
newspapers, even corporate “gossips.” Likewise, there have been
significant improvements in the coverage of science and technology,
agriculture, education, health and similar topics. Many newspapers
provide at least a page (or section) on these topics once a week. The
major dailies now have a weekly information technology (IT) page.
Although our so-called national dailies are still Manila-centric in terms of
content, there are now serious efforts to feature more diverse stories from
the regions beyond the traditional natural and man-made calamities.
Sections or pages are devoted to human interest stories from various
regions of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Some major dailies such as the
Philippine Daily Inquirer has set up a full-time news bureau in major
regions throughout the country.

If our pages have improved in terms of their contents and

appearances, this can be partly attributed to continuing efforts towards
professionalism in the industry. These efforts can come from professional
organizations and the academe.