By Leia Castro-Margate
“Change or die” this is the advice former Inquirer North Luzon Bureau Chief Rolly Fernandez will give to journalists if they want to survive the evolving world of journalism.
Fernandez, along with Inquirer’s managing editor Robert Jaworski Abaño, spoke before a jampacked crowd of communication and journalism students at the Inquirer Campus Talks Storytelling in Journalism forum, held on April 28, 2025, at the Teatro Amianan of the University of the Philippines Baguio (UPB).
It was a homecoming of sorts as both were former faculty members of the school. Fernandez retired as journalism professor in 2013, while Abaño was a journalism lecturer until he was assigned to the main office of Inquirer in 2016.
Apart from UPB students, guests also came from the Cordillera Regional High School, University of Baguio, University of the Cordilleras, St. Louis University, and Don Mariano Marcos State University.
Why community journalism matters
Fernandez, who has 50 years of experience in journalism from being a beat reporter in 1971 until he retired as bureau chief of Inquirer in 2021, shared five observations on community journalism particularly in Baguio.
First, he said that there are “really good journalists” working in Baguio and they opted to practice here even when they could have made it big elsewhere.
Second, there are so many community papers in Baguio. Despite its status as a university town, he said the city can only accommodate one or two community papers. He was talking about the economic feasibility of running the paper as a business. He said the reality is that papers are put up to make money.
“I don’t think these papers are making money or at most breaking even, which I also doubt. With the rising costs of production, AI, social media and the like, how do you expect community papers to keep afloat in the months and years to come,” Fernandez asked.
Third, the veteran newsman observed that there is hardly any distinction between private and government media here. He said, “We see editors of papers also working in City Hall or other government agencies. How about conflict of interest?”
Fourth, he shared what he called a “belated postmortem” analysis of the Baguio Midland Courier (BMC) which would have turned 78 years old on the day of the forum.
“I am sorry to say this, as early as 15 years ago, I already saw its demise,” Fernandez said. He described the Courier as predictable, laid back, and very conservative. He recalled a conversation with the late BMC editor in chief Cecile Afable where he asked why changes particularly in the lay out were not being put in place. His question was met with the answer: “Why change a winning formula?”
“She could be right, or she could be wrong. No doubt the Courier was the forerunner for seven decades. It had clout. People in and out of government listened to it every week. Its obituary was awesome,” he said. “Some wise guys quipped that the Courier was like the Sunday Bulletin with its thick pages of classified ads.”
He said that if only the Courier would change its layout, its style of writing and presentation of news, “kakain ng alikabok ang kanyang kalaban.” However, he added regretfully, “week after week we saw lot of ‘he said, she said’ stories. There were hardly any feature stories. Uninspiring headlines. A lot of firing squad pictures.”
“Nakakapanghinayang talaga. If only the paper made changes, it would have reached its centennial milestone in 23 years,” he added.
“It is my hope and wish that despite the problems, issues, and challenges, the community papers will beat the odds and will still be around for a long time. This is possible if we only institute some changes—lots of them, actually,” Fernandez said as he ended his talk.
Regional reporting and election coverage
Abaño started his talk with a discussion on the state of journalism based on the 2024 Reuters Digital News Report which highlighted news avoidance, the loss of trust, and the emergence of AI. He then went back to the traditional definitions of journalism focusing on the need for accuracy in reportage.
“Journalism is the first rough draft of history according to Philip Graham. Dapat accurate ka dahil 10 years, 20 years, o 50 years from now pag binasa yung report mo, halimbawa about today, at inaccurate, mali na ang history mo,” he said.
He said that the changing nature of news particularly how consumers now define news is a challenge for journalists. The edge of journalism is still found in being accurate and truthful which other content creators most often lack. With the prevalence of other information sharers online, journalists are given a new task—that of annotators.
During the elections, Abaño journalists take on the roles of empowerer and community builder. He showed examples of what they have been doing in Inquirer to empower the different regions by showcasing candidates and their stance on issues as well as featuring major issues besetting the local communities.
He added that election coverage should go beyond mere contest of winners and losers. Journalists should also look at the “whence and hence” of election related issues. Even after the elections, journalists should continue monitoring and scoring the report cards of the winning candidates.
The Inquirer Campus Talks is an “engaging speaker series designed to ignite intellectual conversations and inspire students on campuses.” This Baguio leg is only the second campus talk that discussed journalism related topics. Other campus talks would discuss a variety of topics based on the locality and expertise of its chosen speakers. ***
