The enduring call of ‘Journ 101’

It’s more of a calling and a vocation, everyone agrees. As a profession, it is one of the most colorful and exciting, although not always associated with security—both the physical and financial kind.

And yet journalism as a college course in the country remains a staple in major universities, attracting a fair number of enrollees who seem unfazed by the challenges posed on individual practitioners and on entire organizations. The thrill of seeing one’s byline, being in the front seat of history, and helping initiate change in society attracts many youths to pursue this career.

According to Felipe Salvosa II, a journalist who currently heads the journalism program of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), the climate of uncertainty in the news media influences the decisions of students to enroll in journalism or media-related courses.

“In my experience, during the Duterte administration, there was a dip in enrollment,” Salvosa said. “There was hesitancy to pursue media-related jobs because it’s dangerous. But now, I think enrollment has stabilized again. Though the pandemic may also be a reason for the dip in enrollees, it can also be attributed to the uncertain media environment back then.”

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CHEd revisions

He said questions of sustainability and hostility from certain political forces, including those in power, may have contributed to the decline.

But far from being stagnant, journalism as a course is actually being evaluated and recalibrated for needed upgrades like any other discipline. The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) last revised the guidelines for the journalism curriculum in 2017, and universities have since taken steps to comply.

“We had to adjust primarily because of the K-12 reform. The reform involved the downloading of some general education courses from college level to senior high level,” said Salvosa.

“As a result, the curriculum made way for more professional courses. CHEd came out with a new curriculum model for the journalism program but we did not settle for minimum compliance. We took it as an opportunity to overhaul the curriculum. We introduced more professional courses and more electives. The electives allowed the curriculum to be more flexible to the demands of employers,” he added.

Data from the CHEd’s Office of Planning, Research and Knowledge Management showed that a total of 31,952 students were enrolled in baccalaureate level Communication-related programs during the first semester of the academic year 2022-2023. Of this number 4,215 students took up journalism courses.

In the academic year 2021-2022, there were 5,595 students who graduated from Communication-related programs across the country, and there were 773 graduates who finished journalism degrees during that school year.

Maxine Pangan, a journalism student from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), said that her background in campus journalism made her pursue this course.

“Amplifying voices, writing about people’s rights, and being the catalyst for awareness and change became my main goal as a student journalist. Now I am a graduating student and I still see myself pursuing this line of work,” Pangan said.

Pangan said she was aware that it could be a challenging and even dangerous career.

“One of my professors said that the attacks on journalism can be answered by more journalism. If we consistently do our job and stick to our goal, the fight will continue despite the attacks,” she said.

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For Chlea Marco, also a graduating PUP student, being a journalist, at its core, is about helping others. “A valuable lesson that I learned from my professors is that as an individual, I can do many things with my voice and my stories, I can use them to help especially those who need to be heard.’’

“We have many students who really want to land a job in the newsroom,” Salvosa said. “I think it’s very pronounced among young people that they are still attracted to the ideals of journalism because they feel they are making a difference in reporting what is really happening.”

And as an advice to aspirants, Salvosa highlighted the value of enterprise reporting. “I think students have a misguided notion that you just attend a press conference and that’s already journalism. You need to get your own story. Go out there and find your story.