Punchline
A privilege at 53
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
YOUR PUNCH is 53 years old this month, July 5 to be exact. To say that our stint since the death of our founder- editor Ermin Sr., has provided us with a high sense of self-fulfillment as we pursued an advocacy for truth and justice, good governance, professional journalism would be an understatement.
Beyond that, we, in the PUNCH, felt privileged and honored to be read regularly through the years. Going by our readers’ loyal patronage of the paper weekly, both our print and online versions, we cannot but feel their strong and ardent support for what we know we do best – to make community journalism make a difference in their lives.
I purposely make a distinction for community journalism, setting it apart from the practice of journalism in urban Metro-Manila, where the national agencies operate, where big advertisers are within reach, where a national distribution network can easily be established. Having had the opportunity to work as publisher of the Manila Times in 1998 (then owned by the Gokongwei family), I can say unequivocally that there’s a whale of difference in relating one’s disposition to the two kinds of practice of journalism.
One can feel detached any moment when writing or editing a news about national issues, involving even the President of the Republic. I never had to feel anxious about the impact of any news, not even when then President Estrada sued me and my staff for P51 million in that unprecedented libel case. I’ve had to deal with police generals, congressmen and senators (and yes, national advertisers) who react to negative stories about them- and never had to lose sleep. Engagements with the news subjects in the national scene just appeared surreal. The news subjects covered by the national media understand what mediamen do and they simply find a way to move on and journalists do likewise with each issue.
In community journalism, it doesn’t happen that way. One has to measure the impact of every word he or she commits to the story or column. If one has been in the practice of community journalism for as long as I have, one knows that when a critical and sensitive news has to be written, 8 out 10, the odds are, one is actually writing about a friend or a relative (no matter how distant), or a friend of friends and relatives, close family friends of relatives, etc. This is the reason why a community journalist cannot afford to be dismissive and indifferent about each article one has written knowing fully well that one seemingly small insignificant story, can trigger an avalanche of calls from “concerned friends” assailing the article.
In sum, the community journalist inevitably hurts feelings of friends and relatives because he is expected to defer to personal relations over anything else. Still, there are the “powerful” news subjects who view critical articles written by a community journalist as a personal affront that merits nothing short of “vengeance” in whatever form.
This is why, what many did not know about me when I was both publisher for both Manila Times and the PUNCH at the same time, I felt much safer and detached being in Manila doing the TIMES than I was in Dagupan doing the PUNCH.
To find our friends, relatives, advertisers, and yes, our news subjects in and out of government whom we had taken to task in our editorials and columns, continue believing in us, sustaining us as we publish for truth, justice and good governance is, indeed, a rare privilege that many Manila journalists can only dream of.
For myself, it has been my personal privilege working with a dedicated team, from our editors, reporters, columnists, photographers to our online administrator and admin staff who have shared our commitment to help keep the PUNCH mission alive, whatever it takes. The PUNCH is what it is today because of them.
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