TABUK CITY, Kalinga – As part of their mission to enhance campus journalism throughout the city, the Department of Education (DepEd)-Tabuk conducted the District Schools Press Conference (DSPC) at the Tabuk City National High School (TCNHS) on March 14-16, 2024.
This year, 27 primary and secondary schools sent their respective campus journalists with the hopes of clinching the top spot and claim the bragging rights as the best in their respective fields.
Oliver Mendoza, speaking on behalf of Acting City Mayor Dick Bal-o, said that students should start engaging in responsible journalism and refrain from producing “hearsay reports.”
He also counseled the participants to provide news that would be engaging to their target audience to avoid wasting their time and effort.
Mendoza continued by saying that the acting mayor wished to convey to them the importance of exercising humility in all that they do as journalists.
Lastly, Mendoza stated that the acting mayor had assured them that the city government will keep helping the city’s students and supporting the programs of DepEd-Tabuk.
According to Benedicta Gamatero, superintendent of the schools division , “the DSPC is a battle of the pen, the heart, and the mind.”
Gamatero goes on to state that in order to write, one must have facts, thoughts, and ideas. One must also write accurately in order to provide trustworthy information, and one must be reasonable in their topic selection.
She challenged the participants to do their best to join the ranks of the previous national champions in the field of campus journalism.
“If we aren’t going to excel now, we will not be able to lift the banner high for the Tabuk City Schools Division Office (SDO) comes the Regional Schools Press Conference [sic],” she said.
Gamatero encouraged the competitors to give it their all in the hopes of winning, but she also emphasized that the content they create had to be truthful and should not deceive their audience who are their readers, listeners, or viewers.
“While we may know that there are journalists who write for money, you our young journalists should write, not because you would like to win the competition but because you are writing following the standards of journalism,” she said.
Finally, she stated that although they are not yet professionals, the SDO would like to train them so that, should they decide to, they can go on to become better journalists in the future. By Edward Joseph Gacuya