AS POLITICAL controversies grip the country, a columnist urged student publications to investigate “in their own backyard” and help their communities make sense of national issues.
During the second day of the 27th Inkblots, Rappler columnist and former Philippine Daily Inquirer editor John Nery said campus journalists can use opinion writing to contextualize and explain the significance of the corruption scandals to their audience.
“Campus publications can, in fact, write about those corruption scandals in their own backyard. But one of the things that specifically the campus opinion journalist can do is to situate, to contextualize what is happening,” Nery said on Wednesday, Jan. 14.
“The campus press today has a specific role to play in investigating the corruption scandals that we are all suffering from. We cannot leave it up to the national media to follow through on all these tips and hints,” he added.
Nery differentiated between the “Marites” idea of simply providing information and opinion journalism, which he said should make readers say, “Ay, kaya pala (Ah, that’s why),” and “Oh, ano na (So… what now?)”— thoughts that keep communities alert and accountable.
Marites is the colloquial term for rumor peddler
“If we use marites to mean somebody who needs to be in the know, somebody who needs to be informed, well then every citizen ideally should be a marites, right? What about opinion journalism?,” he said.
“The knowledge that we glean from opinion journalism really comes in the form of insight. We are able to make sense of the news, of what’s happening in our world…Opinion journalism plays a role by providing or provoking insight.”
Noting that everyone can have views, Nery clarified that credible opinion writing must be fact-based, motivated by public interest, opinionated but independent and consumable on current popular media platforms.
Aside from promoting accountability, campus opinion journalism can sharpen public debate by articulating issues clearly, the veteran columnist said.
He mentioned how the late columnist Louie Beltran used the term “balimbing” or star fruit to describe a turncoat or politician who switches sides when convenient.
“That [usage of balimbing] I think for me is an example of the power of an opinion journalist to articulate an issue… a phenomenon of the day in a language or an image that can be very striking and even unforgettable,” he said.
The 27th Inkblots, organized by UST student publication The Varsitarian, was held from Jan. 13 to 14 at the Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati, O.P., building auditorium.
This year’s edition of the two-day campus journalism fellowship carried the theme “The Campus Press and the Fight for Public Accountability” and was attended by 25 Philippine school publications. F
