March 22, 2015, 12:58 p.m. – JOURNALISTS should always
strive to deliver the news accurately and responsibly despite the accelerated pace of social
media, ABS-CBN senior correspondent Willard Cheng said during the launch of the
first UST National Campus Journalism Awards (UNCJA) Saturday.
“As we demand responsibility and accountability from our
leaders in our writings, we should exact the same high or even higher standard
of responsibility from ourselves, whether in journalism contests like this one,
or when we find ourselves as colleagues in the real world later on,” Cheng said
in his message before an audience of campus journalists from different student
publications in Metro Manila. “This is how we keep ourselves relevant and credible
in the public that we serve.”
Cheng, the keynote speaker during the UNCJA launch at the
Varsitarian office, also reminded student journalists of the grave duty
associated with their jobs. “Journalism is powerful and we should be careful
with this power by exercising it responsibly,” said Cheng, a former editor of The
Guidon of Ateneo de Manila.
The UNCJA was established through the efforts of retired
Washington-based labor lawyer Julio Macaranas Jr., a two-time editor in chief
of the Varsitarian. The awards are also dedicated to the memory of Macaranas’
late mother, Mercedes, who taught him how to write.
Macaranas said the establishment of the annual awards were
also his way of giving back to the University and the Varsitarian. “The
extended time that I served in the Varsitarian during my entire four years in
the Faculty of Civil Law has left an indelible imprint in my mind,” he said in
his speech.
Macaranas said his experience in UST’s official student
publication helped him a lot in his higher studies in Princeton University in
New Jersey and Columbia University in New York. “They are quite aware that one
who had served as editor in chief has various attributes to do well in an Ivy
League School,” he said.
UNCJA is open to all college and university student
publications, print or online. It honors outstanding works in journalism in
three categories: “Best In-Depth News,” “Best Feature,” and “Best Editorial.”
The Best In-Depth News should be a comprehensive report on
any issue of utmost importance to students; the Best Feature celebrates
outstanding profiles about a person, group or institution within the
participating publication’s school or community, or an interesting event; and
the Best Editorial reflects the depth of a paper’s knowledge and understanding
of a topic or issue and how it affects readers.
“To get one of the awards, you have to really write well, do
research, and give it an appropriate perspective and a very nice subject,”
Macaranas said.
Entries will be evaluated by a five-person panel composed of
professional journalists. The panel can opt not to choose a winner if the entries
fail to meet its standards.
The winner for each category will receive P10,000 in cash, a
trophy, and a medal.
Deadline of submission of entries is on Oct. 23, 2015. The
winners will be announced during Inkblots, the annual national campus
journalism conference organized by the Varsitarian since 1999.
The event was attended by student journalists from the
school organs of the Philippine Normal University, San Beda College, De La
Salle University, University of the Philippines-Manila, and representatives
from the Tomasian Cable Television, Tomasinoweb and The Flame (UST Faculty of
Arts and Letters). Bianca Kristin A. Taray
