THE CAMPUS press must go beyond surface-level questioning and photographs to produce meaningful stories, speakers told campus writers during a two-day seminar organized by the UST Center of Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS) at the Thomas Aquinas Research Center Auditorium on Jan. 29 and 30.
The seminar, titled “Sulat Dominiko” is an annual seminar-workshop organized by CCWLS for schools within the Dominican Network.
Chuck Smith, a journalism alumnus and former Varsitarian News and Features writer, highlighted the importance of journalists’ positive energy in eliciting stories from their sources.
“Energy creates an extraordinary interview. You want the person you’re interviewing to feel as if they have a story worth sharing. When the subject thinks that their story is not worth sharing, it is game over for you,” Smith said during his lecture.
Smith also said that settling for publicly available information or scripted answers reflects a journalist’s failure to fully engage with interviewees.
“You fail as a journalist if all you get from your interviewee is the public self,” Smith said.
Freelance photojournalist Lisa Marie David, a regular contributor to international news agencies Reuters and Bloomberg, said good storytelling – whether written or visual – requires reflection.
“It’s not just writing or taking pictures, it needs a lot of contemplation,” said David.
David recalled visiting the homes of victims of various forms of exploitation, experiences she said came with an emotional cost.
She said meaningful interviews and photo assignments demanded more than technical skill, as journalists must also be present, empathetic, and aware of the injustices unfolding before them.
Joselito delos Reyes, UST Creative Writing department chair and columnist for Rappler and Abante, said the qualification for being a columnist has evolved in the digital media.
Delos Reyes noted the emergence of Facebook posts by writers who regularly express their opinions on issues such as the education crisis, gender identity, and the political climate, creating a new platform for opinion writers.
“Hindi na lamang tayo confined sa shrinking readership of newspapers para maging columnist,” delos Reyes said.
“When you follow someone, kahit hindi traditional media personality – because of his insight and what he brings to the social and political table – baka maging columnist na siya,” he added.
However, delos Reyes urged that writing a column must still come from the prescriptive school of social linguistics, where proper grammar should be observed and the writing style should conform to proper standards and style guides.
CCWLS director and former Varsitarian editor in chief Christina Pantoja-Hidalgo said the program aims to teach campus publications to discern content posted on social media platforms.
“Because although it’s true that on the net, anybody can publish anything they want, many of them are not qualified,” Hidalgo told the Varsitarian. J. K. S. Balod and C. A. D. Lavastida
