31/10/2023
“𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓”
The Mountain Collegian, the official student publication of Benguet State University (BSU) commenced the 2023 Intercollegiate and Invitational Press Conference Cup on the 27th and 28th of October at Chrysanthemum Hall, CPAG building, BSU.
After a five-year interlude, MC has finally gotten back on its feet hosting once again its 5th Intercollegiate Press Conference and first ever Invitational Press Conference Cup where colleges and universities from outside BSU are able to partake and compete in the spirit of campus journalism.
Student publications from BSU-La Trinidad that attended the said event were Information, Photography and Visual-Literary Arts in Multimedia Organization (IPAAMO) from the College of Public of Public Administration and Governance, Itangguyob from the College of Arts and Humanities (CAH), The Blue Courier from the College of Teacher Education (CTE), Shontog from the College of Forestry (CF), The Purple Plume from the College of Human Kinetics (CHK).
Moreover, student publications outside BSU that participated were Outcrop from the University of the Philippines (UP-Baguio), The Flame from Baguio Central University (BCU), The Montañosa Herald from BSU-Buguias campus, The Earthline from Kalinga State University (KSU), The Organon from KSU-Rizal Campus.
The first day of the press conference began with a lecture about news writing and was conducted by Hannah Lacsamana from Baguio Midland Courier talking about the practices that a journalist should uphold and how Artificial Intelligence (AI) should only be an assistance and not our replacement.
After the news lecture, Vjnhyl Zam Pondivida, MC alumna, discussed developmental communication writing and a journalist's role in helping to voice out marginalized people.
“Continue to write for the people and for the truth, may we use our pen and paper to fight disinformation and create an informed and critical society where we can challenge assumptions, provide thoughtful and participatory dialogue, and bring development stories to galvanize people into action. As journalists, we continue to stand up for what is right and what is just. Tuloy ang laban," Pondivida expressed.
The final two lectures for the day were given by Frank Cimatu on editorial writing, explaining its importance as the heart of the newspaper and sports writing by Bobby Mc Gee Lee, another MC alumnus, urging the participants of the said event that even though they're writing sports articles, they must not focus only on the event itself but angle their visions as well with the stories leading to that event.
On the second day during the morning session, Jessica Faye Olayo conducted a spoken word poetry and literary lecture giving emphasis to writing for one’s self-expression rather than writing to what the mass audience wants.
It was followed by a photojournalism lecture by JJ Landingen from The Manila Bulletin expounding to the participants that they are a journalist first and photojournalist second and that each photo should tell a story.
Moreover, an editorial cartooning lecture by Wreigh Jann Tamayo from the Baguio Midland Courier encouraged the student cartoonists to be proud of their work and their ability to make a visual representation of an issue with creativity and humor.
For the last lecture of the press conference, Heather Ann Pulido, a SEO content strategist and author of the award winning short story My Grandma Who Lives in Half a House spoke about the relevance of feature writing in the digital present where misinformation is one of the challenges readers and journalists face. She emphasized on how feature stories dive deeper than news making it more engaging to readers, thus writers, in order to gain the public trust must be credible, transparent, and must be a human being by means of being honest and open when writing their features.
𝑏𝑦 𝐽𝑎𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑒 𝐼𝐼
𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑠 𝑏𝑦 𝐴𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑜𝑛 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑝 𝐵𝑢𝑑𝑎𝑠, 𝐾𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑦𝑎 𝑃𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑦, 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑎ℎ 𝐻𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑜, 𝐺𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑎𝑛 𝐴𝑚𝑏𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑦 𝐺𝑤𝑦𝑛𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑅𝑎𝑓𝑎𝑒𝑙
𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑏𝑦 𝑆ℎ𝑖𝑦𝑙𝑎 𝐺𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑤𝑒𝑛