Enhanced multimedia training and a more “proactive” approach in ensuring safety during leg work are what journalism students wish to get from the newly appointed College of Media and Communication (CMC) Dean Ma. Diosa Labiste, who also hails from their department.
The current BA Journalism program follows the revised 2018 curriculum, but the rapid rise of digital platforms has since reshaped the mainstream news landscape. Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2024 said video-based networks became important news mediums as the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns “drove new habits.”
Online news consumption has become the leading source of news for urban readers, while TV and radio news experience has declined in viewership over the past five years, according to the study.
“A review is needed for the curriculum. Kailangan talaga na equipped with different skills – not just writing, [ang] student journalists. There has to be more productions and multimedia training or outputs,” CMC SC Chairperson Edelweiss Nazal argued.
Although some professors have begun incorporating multimedia elements such as videos, photos, and digital outputs into their coursework, some journalism courses have yet to integrate online media into their class requirements.
Jason Sigales, a batch 2024 Journ graduate, shared that the existing curriculum helped him become well-rounded through courses like Feature Writing (J111) and Photojournalism (J123).
“One of the intentions that I saw as an [undergraduate student] during those four years was it really does get you to be as well-rounded as you possibly can,” said Sigales. Developing sources, understanding ethics, and navigating various beats were lessons he learned from CMC and applies in his current practice.
However, he noticed a gap in the department’s offerings on digital and multimedia journalism.
“Part of the not-so-good about ‘yung program as far as I experienced is merong focus somewhat sa print and writing at that time, [and] not so much sa online and sa social media,” said Sigales.
For Sigales, it is vital to teach journalism students how to monitor and spot potential stories in social media before they go viral, since most of his reports now emerge from digital networks.
While the department recognizes the need to ensure courses are up to date with the rapidly changing media landscape, the process of revising the curriculum is “complicated” since it cannot be rushed, said interim Journalism Department chairperson Asst. Prof. Kara David-Cancio.
However, the department is in the process of evaluating their course offerings, “we are planning to do a tracer survey to measure kung gaano ka well-adapted to the media landscape ‘yung mga bagong graduates when they become professionals,” said David-Cancio.
Former CMC Dean Fernando Paragas also explained the “stringent” process of revising the curriculum, citing that it must be approved by more than four offices within and beyond the college.
He says the best time to review the current curriculum will be after the first non-online class batch after the pandemic graduates, “you need to be able to graduate one batch in [order] to evaluate. So ngayon lang natin magagawa yun na may isang batch na hindi yung hi-flex, hindi yung online,” said Paragas.
David-Cancio reassured that the department continues to consult stakeholders and adopt best practices from other journalism institutions in the country through the annual Philippine Journalism Research Conference.
“The department is currently trying to recruit as many media practitioners as we can to have a healthy mix of practitioners and academics so we can adapt to the new media landscape,” she added.
Beyond addressing curriculum gaps, journalism students also urge the administration to provide stronger protection against red-tagging and online harassment that they may encounter during fieldwork.
Securing safety
The College Editors Guild of the Philippines reported 203 campus press freedom violations (CPFV) from 2023 to 2024, including 58 censorship cases, 35 administrative interventions, and 37 funds withholding or looting. Also, intimidation, red-tagging, and harassment of student journalists are among the reported cases of CPFVs across the country.
Before conducting legwork, David-Cancio said students are required to fill out Academic Field Activities (AFA) to ensure their safety. The AFA form includes insurance coverage for students eligible under the Free Tuition Law. Professors are also required to declare the location, activities, benefits, and schedules of the planned activities.
Last semester, the CMC Student Council (SC), in partnership with the department, opened a media ID application for all students taking journalism courses. Issued IDs are valid for a year.
However, journalism senior Andrew Ronquillo hopes for a more “proactive and holistic” approach to solving red-tagging and media safety concerns.
“For [the] security of student journalists, I wish we had more processes to attend to cases involving threats, red-tagging, and intimidation. Usually kasi, we rely on our independent networks,” he said.
With journalism courses requiring fieldwork on and off campus, Nazal emphasized the need to conduct media safety trainings, “Kailangan ma-integrate sa program mismo na may safety training – and this goes for all courses kasi lahat naman may field work.”
The Journalism Department, together with the CMCSC, conducted a two-day media safety workshop on March 21 and 28, facilitated by the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines. Student journalists learned how to apply first aid and safely approach possible threats online.
Incoming Dean Diosa Labiste also aims to “assert CMC as a peace zone in helping victims of red-tagging and book banning of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC),” according to her three-year plan of action.
Bureucratic challenges
Besides academic and safety concerns, journalism orgs also struggle with bureaucracy in the recognition process and room reservations.
The Faculty-Student Relations Committee (FSRC) manual, the basis for the existing CMC organization recognition process, requires an application form along with seven documents, including a request letter addressed to the dean and a narrative report of the organization’s activities.
However, incorporating these documents is already “redundant,” said Nazal, due to their content being already provided in the organization’s application form.
In comparison, the UP Office of Student Projects and Activities’s university-wide recognition process requires only five documents from both renewing and new organizations. It also mandates a minimum of 10 members (including officers) for university-wide recognition, while CMC requires 15 (excluding officers) for college-wide recognition.
The stringent requirements make it difficult for CMC organizations such as UP Journalism Club (UPJC) to comply with college-wide recognition. UPJC President Chris Josef de Jesus described the OSPA recognition process as “more efficient” compared to its college counterpart.
While the council has already urged the admin to revise the FRSC manual, some contentious provisions hinder the proposal’s approval. “Matagal ‘yung pag-usad dahil hindi pa rin nila pinapayagan ‘yung pagtanggal ng ilang bureaucracies kagaya ng percentage ng CMC students in the [organization],” said Nazal.
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During the student-led public forum on March 7, Labiste planned to revisit the FSRC manual by discussing it with the CMC community, with emphasis on student organization accreditations.
“I consider CMC as a community. The values of excellence, bravery, and empathy should come alive in the college,” she said in the forum.
Besides concerns on the recognition process, the FRSC manual limits even college-recognized organizations like UJP-UP from securing spaces for their activities. Under the manual, CMC-recognized organizations can only reserve rooms in the college for free during office hours.
“If we wish to reserve a room in CMC beyond such time, we’d have to shell out money and that’s something we can’t afford on a weekly basis,” said Bacia.
While recognized organizations are also provided with lockers and a tambayan in Batibot, Bacia said these alone cannot suffice as college’s institutional support for them, “the next CMC dean should be one with the Maskom community in calling for pro-student policies. Wakasan na dapat ang burukrasyang nagpapahirap lalo sa mga organisasyon na isakatuparan ang kanilang mga proyekto at isulong ang mga kampanya,” said Bacia.
While student organizations within the department rallied behind Labiste’s deanship, journalism students now expect her term to address both new and long-standing challenges of the oldest department in CMC.
“We wish for the next CMC dean to serve as an effective conduit to institutions that are more than willing to support budding journalists like us, and for the college to provide further institutional backing to its students for them to be compelled to pursue careers more aligned with their degree programs,” said de Jesus.
This article is part of Tinig ng Plaridel’s #CMCDean2025 series, which examines the pressing issues faced by the Maskom community.
