Shaping the country’s sociopolitical economy

If journalism is the “first draft of history,” it can be said that the Manila Bulletin has been a central force in shaping Philippine history. For except during the wartime years under the Japanese occupation, it has been operating uninterrupted since its founding in 1900.

Its role in shaping Philippine journalism has been recognized especially in such areas as science and technology, agriculture, and technology, education, economy, lifestyle, sports and entertainment, international news, and cultural heritage has been acknowledged. It ranks as the leading national broadsheet with a 3.9 percent audience share (Nielsen’s 2023 Consumer and Media Survey. It has maintained a high trust level (2nd) according to Digital News Survey 2023.

The Manila Bulletin has actively participated in most of the significant activities of government and non-government organizations. It has also been a recipient of industry recognition over the years. These include the Philippine Press Institute for excellence in fact-based reporting and coverage of significant national issues; the Catholic Mass Media Award (CMMA) for coverage of social issues; the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) for excellence in business and economic reporting, among many others. I would like to specifically mention Zacarias Sarian, its Agriculture editor and columnist for many years who won the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for his columns in the Manila Bulletin where he inspired many with his passion for agriculture and farming.

Today, many of the newspaper’s editors, columnists, and reporters, among them, Bernardo Villegas for his analysis of economic trends; Jaime Laya, for culture and education, and Flor Tarriela, for finance and environment. Also, dozens of other columnists and journalists who continue to keep the country informed through the English language broadsheet, two tabloids in Filipino, nine magazines which include Panorama and the others in Tagalog, Cebuano, and Ilocano, as well as an online edition are to be commended as well.
A question in many people’s minds is whether the newspaper would continue to survive with the continuing popularity of social media and digitalization. As had been shown in the past few years, the newspaper had been able to adapt to the digital age by allowing readers to access news on various digital platforms. The broadsheet has diversified by integrating interactive features and social media engagement. Digitalization has made news accessible to all sectors of our population as well as audiences abroad.

Despite digital media’s popularity, many newspaper readers still prefer the familiar hard copy because of traditional factors cited by researchers such as “familarity and emotional attachment, tactile experience, being able to flip the pages. It is cost-effective as it can be shared and it does not require a device, batteries, or software. Print newspapers provide historical reading and do not require Internet connectivity.”

In a publication entitled “What Missing the Newspaper Means” by Bernard Berelson (1948) he noted that people missed an important companion of coffee at breakfast time. Newspapers, be noted take your mind off other things. It is also a tool for social prestige and gratification as sharing information makes you appear informed.

As the recent past had shown, the broadsheet had survived despite digitalization as not everyone has access to Internet. The paper can be shared with others and there is no need for equipment. It is also able to provide more in depth analysis. Likewise, it can be archived for historical purposes.

As long as the newspaper continues to have its ears on the ground and is able to successfully respond to the needs of national and local government and other groups, and as long as its presence is felt where it is most needed, it will continue to survive. This is the opinion of many observers who noted that as long as it is able to provide people access to reliable information that would respond to their basic needs – food, energy, jobs, training, and education, and a policy environment that would enable them to live harmoniously with others in our global community, the newspaper will be around for a long time.

We warmly salute the Manila Bulletin on its 125th anniversary.

(Photo) Florangel Rosario Braid (Image from Facebook)