AN ARTLETS alumna was named Journalist of the Year in Esquire’s Man at His Best 2025, the lifestyle network’s global event that celebrates Filipinos whose talents and skills made a mark in the fields of film, politics, food and business, literature and music.
UST Journalism graduate Glenda Gloria, the executive editor of Rappler, was honored for her decades-long contributions to Philippine journalism and her leadership in developing investigative and digital newsrooms.
Gloria earned her Journalism degree from UST in 1985. She was a news editor of The Flame, the official student publication of the Faculty of Arts and Letters.
The seasoned journalist finished her master’s degree in political sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1999 through a Chevening scholarship.
Gloria began her career as a journalist in the Philippine Daily Inquirer months before the ouster of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. in 1986. Throughout her career, she has covered human rights, politics and national security for several news outlets, including The Manila Times and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
Gloria also served as chief operating officer of the ABS-CBN News Channel from 2008 to January 2011.
In 2001, she helped establish Newsbreak, one of the country’s leading investigative magazines, which later on merged with Rappler, a news website she co-founded in 2011 with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa.
In 2008, Gloria bagged the Marshall McLuhan Award for investigative journalism given by the Canadian government anr media watchdog Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility for her piece on the disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos.
She received the National Book Award in 2011 for two investigative works: “Under the Crescent Moon: Rebellion in Mindanao,” co-authored with Marites Dañguilan-Vitug; and “The Enemy Within: An Inside Story on Military Corruption,” co-written with Aries Rufo and Gemma Bagayaua-Mendoza.
Esquire Philippines presents Man at His Best annually to highlight Filipinos whose work and influence have shaped contemporary society and inspired excellence across various fields. F – B. G.
