Campus Journalism: Frontliners to Change

Campus journalism is more than a profession, more than a hobby. It is a responsibility that contributes to change and paves the path for youth awareness. That’s because “campus journalists have always been and are in the front lines of change,” declared MGC New Life Christian Academy (MGCNLCA) alumnus Raphael “Raphy” Saria.

That, in a gist, was the introductory talk given by Saria to the Lifenews staffers and applicants who attended the Lifenews workshop and applications held virtually last January 26, 2022. A former Lifenews staffer, Saria is currently an editorial staff writer of the Animo, the official student publication of De La Salle University Integrated School - Senior High School Manila Campus.

The former New Lifer started by introducing journalism as a process of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting the news, given the context of the ongoing pandemic and the upcoming elections.

According to Saria, journalists have four obligations: to report the truth completely and accurately without exaggeration or understatements; to be fair but not neutral, for the truth is not neutral; to be independent of outside influences that may change the reporting of the truth; and to facilitate discourse by ensuring conversations are grounded on facts.

Saria then stressed the role of campus journalists in sparking change and progress in a democratic country. “As campus journalists, our task is to now help our students and the people we serve look beyond their privilege and grow a sense of awareness, or even better, grow a sense of empathy,” explained Saria.

To end, Saria encouraged the attendees to expect improvement, progress, courage, and hope born from criticism, discourse and compromise, fear, and anxiety, respectively.

Following Saria’s introductory talk, Lifenews Head Adviser Mrs. Richelle Sy Kho gave an overview of the organization by presenting the mission and vision of the school paper, at the same time highlighting the ultimate truth that MGCNLCA’s staffers are tasked to defend: the Good News of Christ. “We aren’t only journalists, but we are Christian journalists,” she reminded the attendees. Kho then introduced the various sections of Lifenews before imparting some fundamental guidelines on news writing.