JOURNALISTS urged the campus press to exercise power responsibly and practice accountability within their own newsrooms, in powerhouse talks during the 27th edition of Inkblots, the UST National Campus Journalism Conference organized by the Varsitarian.
More than 200 fellows from 25 schools and student publications gathered at UST’s St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, O.P. Auditorium for the two-day fellowship, which carried the theme “Campus Press and the Fight for Public Accountability.”
“Power is exercised not only in the administration but also in your newsroom. If you want to demand it from others, you must practice it within your walls,” Arlene Burgos, chief content officer of Inquirer.net, said during her talk on campus press and public accountability on the first day of Inkblots, Jan. 13.
“You have the chance to model journalism. And your voice matters because it is heard by thousands of students and families who depend on your reporting to make sense of their own universities,” she added.
Accountability, Burgos said, should not be confused with attack or sensationalism, and should be grounded in a clear sense of public interest.
“If you want others to be accountable, you must be accountable to your audience and to each other. Practice what you preach,” she said.
Manila Bulletin columnist and former UST journalism coordinator Nestor Cuartero spotlighted the challenge posed by the growing power of influencers and the risks that come with it.
The rise of social media influencers has displaced traditional journalism as a primary source of information, shortening attention spans and enabling the spread of misleading content, said Cuartero, who is also a member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.
“Widespread disinformation—we can’t control it anymore. So our call is for you, as responsible student journalists, to be more conscientious about what you do,” Cuartero said during his feature writing talk. “Mean what you write and write what you mean.”
Cuartero brought popular TV host Vice Ganda for his yearly mock press conference.
Religion reporter and UST journalism faculty member Paterno Esmaquel II echoed the call for depth, saying good journalism depends not only on facts but also on the lenses reporters use to view the world.
“It is just one other form of journalism that will teach us a thing or two about being sensitive, compassionate, and diligent. It also provides us with fresh lenses through which we can view the world,” Esmaquel said during his talk on religion reporting.
He stressed that journalism’s task is not preaching but understanding—helping audiences grasp why people act the way they do, especially in moments of suffering or moral struggle.
“The prime mission of journalists is not just to chronicle events, or be a photocopy of what transpired. We have to be faithful chroniclers, but we must also help people make sense of the world,” he added.
That responsibility becomes even more urgent, Burgos said, when journalists hold power to account.
Speaking on campus press freedom, she reminded student reporters that campus journalism is “not practice journalism” but real watchdog work.
“Filipino student journalists have an extraordinary history, and campus papers became voices of resistance. Expose government corruption, and give voice to the voiceless. The campus press was not decorative—it was needed for democracy,” she said.
At a time when trust in institutions is fragile, Burgos stressed that accountability begins by asking uncomfortable questions: who decided, who benefits, and who is left out.
She warned against publishing administrative press releases verbatim, calling them “leads, not stories,” and urged student journalists to investigate systems rather than personalities.
“When you publish something powerful people dislike, they will come after you,” Burgos said. “Your best defense is ethical, transparent, and accurate reporting.” John Kobe S. Balod with reports from Charlize Ann D. Lavastida, Regis Avalo Jophiel L. Lim, and Micah G. Pascua
