Campus Journalism

 The role which student newspapers play within their societies is

almost as diverse as the various formations in which they appear.
 The only discernable trends are that the roles of the student
newspapers seem, above all, to be adjusted to the particular needs
of the assorted university communities which they serve.
 Student newspapers in so-called stable societies tend more to
emphasize purely educational or student questions.
 Although purely educational questions are also important to
students elsewhere, the very nature of their social situations lead
these newspapers to include information and comment on
colonialism, poverty, dictatorship, human rights abuses, and
imperialism.
 Around the world, one finds the role of student newspapers to be
very similar to the role of the student organizations in each of the
respective countries.
 Despite the diversity of the world’s student newspapers, there is
still value in discussing the ideal role which any student
newspaper should fulfill.
 It is noticeable that despite the large number of first class student
newspapers in existence, many seem to be rather purposeless.

Roles of the Student Press in the University

1. Serve as Educational Experience for the Staff Members

 The student newspaper can be used as a training ground for

aspiring journalists.
 Others—historians, political scientists, economists, etc.—are
provided an ideal opportunity through student newspapers
to gain experience in presenting material in a public manner
before a discerning reading audience.
 Since newspapers generally deal with real and concrete
problems, the student is forced in his writing and in the use
of his ideas to bring them down to earth where the solutions
acceptable to his community are usually found.

2. Communication Medium for the University

 Any newspaper is designed primarily to provide news to the

community it serves.
  Ordinarily, the student newspaper is the only source of news
on the university community which the student has at his
disposal.
 The student newspaper also has the responsibility of
covering every development regarding the university.
 A student newspaper should aim to serve the whole
university community.
 Student newspapers, published by the intellectual elite in
the country, should serve as a conscience for all society.

3. Stimulation of Thinking on Questions which Should be of Interest

to Students

 It is the experience of university communities that students

in general, are apathetic in approach to matters other than
their narrow academic interests.
 Students are in the university, first and foremost, to obtain
specialized training in a particular field so that they might
most effectively play a role in society later on.
 But another dimension to this role in society is the
possession of a social conscience, a feeling for and an
understanding of the problems which either touch him
directly or touch fellow citizens.
 The newspaper has a fundamental responsibility to
contribute to the stimulation of students’ social conscience.
 The student newspaper as the communication medium
which can reach all students is of foremost importance for
getting information to the students so that situations will be
understood and for getting comments on situations so that
students will be desirous of taking the steps to provide
solutions.

4. Student Cooperation

 Student writers have banded into groups that advance their

common concerns.

5. Watchdog of the Students Against Excesses

 Principal student newspapers throughout the world are

unanimous in their contention that the student press is
entitled to the same rights for free expression as any
professional newspaper.
 If a student newspaper is clearly working for the best
interests of the university and of society in general which is
 an essential part of the student newspaper’s role, then there
can be no acceptable reason for censorship.

Ethics

 The student journalist should strive continuously to be unbiased

and accurate in his reports.
 The student journalist should reveal his identity as a
representative of the student press before obtaining any interview
for publication.
 The editor should apologize in print at the first available
opportunity for all mistakes.
 A student journalist should respect all confidences.
 Be familiar with the laws of libel or contempt of court and observe
international copyright agreements.
 In the ideal situation there would be more than one student
newspaper in a university.
 In cases of one newspaper monopoly, the newspaper has the
responsibility to open its columns to assorted points of view even
in those cases where the points of view may in fact be direct
criticisms of the newspaper.
 Proper physical facilities and finance are important in student
newspaper publishing.
 It is the rare student newspaper which is not financed on an
essentially hand-to-mouth existence.
 The two possibilities are the photocopied newspaper and the wall
paper.
 The newspaper should be independent from the student council.

Laws

1. Republic Act No. 7079 (Campus Journalism Act)

 In the tertiary level, the editorial board shall be composed of

student journalists who have qualified in placement
examinations. In the case of elementary and high school
levels, the editorial board shall be composed of a duly
appointed faculty adviser, the editor who qualified and a
representative of the Parents-Teachers' Association, who will
determine the editorial policies to be implemented by the
editor and staff members of the student publication
concerned.
 At the tertiary level, the editorial board may include a
publication adviser at the option of its members.
  A set of guidelines by which a student publication is
operated and managed, taking into account pertinent laws
as well as the school administration's policies. Said
guidelines shall determine the frequency of the publication,
the manner of selecting articles and features and other
similar matters.
 A student publication is published by the student body
through an editorial board and publication staff composed of
students selected through fair and competitive examinations.
Once the publication is established, its editorial board shall
freely determine its editorial policies and manage the
publication's funds.
 Funding for the student publication may include the savings
of the respective school's appropriations, student
subscriptions, donations, and other sources of funds.
 In no instance shall the Department of Education, Culture
and Sports or the school administration concerned withhold
the release of funds sourced from the savings of the
appropriations of the respective schools and other sources
intended for the student publication. Subscription fees
collected by the school administration shall be released
automatically to the student publication concerned.
 The publication adviser shall be selected by the school
administration from a list of recommendees submitted by the
publication staff. The function of the adviser shall be limited
to one of technical guidance.
 A member of the publication staff must maintain his or her
status as student in order to retain membership in the
publication staff. A student shall not be expelled or
suspended solely on the basis of articles he or she has
written, or on the basis of the performance of his or her
duties in the student publication. (However, the Supreme
Court in Miriam College Foundation, Inc. v. Court of
Appeals, said, “…we read Section 7 of the Campus
Journalism Act to mean that the school cannot suspend or
expel a student solely on the basis of the articles he or she
has written, except when such article materially disrupt
class work or involve substantial disorder or invasion of the
rights of others.”)

2. Presidential Decree No. 18

 The term mass media refers to the print medium of
communication, which includes all newspapers, periodicals,
magazines, journals, and publications and all advertising
therein, and billboards, neon signs and the like, and the
 broadcast medium of communication, which includes radio
and television broadcasting in all their aspects and all other
cinematographic or radio promotions and advertising.

3. Constitutional Provisions

 Art. III, Sec. 4. No law shall be passed abridging the freedom

of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble and petition the Government
for redress of grievances.
 Art. III, Sec. 7. The right of the people to information on
matters of public concern shall be recognized. Access to
official records, and to documents, and papers pertaining to
official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to
government research data used as basis for policy
development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such
limitations as may be provided by law.
 Art. XVI, Sec. 11. The ownership and management of mass
media shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to
corporations, cooperatives or associations, wholly-owned and
managed by such citizens.

4. Revised Penal Code of the Philippines

 Art. 353, Definition of Libel. A libel is a public and malicious

imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or
imaginary, or any act omission, condition, status, or
circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or
contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the
memory of one who is dead.
 Art. 354, Requirement of Publicity. Every defamatory
imputation is presumed to be malicious, even if it be true, if
no good intention and justifiable motive for making it is
shown.
 Art. 356, Threatening to publish and offer to prevent such
publication for compensation.

5. The “Shield Law” (Republic Act No. 53 as amended by RA 1477)

 Prohibits revelation of the source of any news report or

information related in confidence unless the court or a
House committee of Congress finds that such revelation is
demanded by the security of the State.