Rene Reinoso, Chief Operating Officer, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Matthew Reysio-Cruz, Michael Konig Young Journalist Bursary representative in Cannes and Connie R. Kalagayan, AVP for Corporate Affairs. INQUIRER PHOTO / LEO M. SABANGAN II.
An Inquirer scholar and graduating journalism student who dreams of reporting from conflict and war zones will represent the Philippines in an international scholarship program in Cannes, France, next month.
Matthew Samuel Reysio-Cruz, 20, of the University of the Philippines Diliman, was chosen as the sole recipient of the Michael König Young Journalist Bursary, a new scholarship program offered by the Cannes Lions to journalism students across the globe.
The program is in memory of Michael König, a German journalist who collapsed and died at the press center during the Cannes Lions last year.
“I am very proud of the fact that among other student applicants from all over the world, Matthew, a Filipino and an Inquirer scholar, was chosen as the lone recipient of the Michael König Young Journalist Bursary. Maximize this rare opportunity and absorb all the learnings from this experience. Congratulations and represent our country well,” Inquirer president and chief executive officer Sandy Prieto-Romualdez said of Reysio-Cruz’s achievement.
The scholarship program was offered for the first time this year by the Cannes Lions festival, a global event that gives recognition to the best advertisers, communicators and marketers and their works. The eight-day event will be held at the Palais de Festivals in Cannes, France, from June 18 to 25.
The Inquirer, the country’s official representative to the Cannes Advertising Festival since 2004, submitted resumes of its graduating scholars. From the requirements submitted by the students, Cannes Lions chose Reysio-Cruz as the best and the only grantee of the scholarship program.
First representative
“I couldn’t be more honored and excited to be chosen as the world’s first student journalist representative. I’ve fallen in love with journalism over the last four years, and it means the world to me to be given a chance to hone my craft even further, this time within an entirely new context. It feels like a reaffirmation that this is the profession I’m called for, and I’m really looking forward to learning from veteran and seasoned journalists in Cannes,” Reysio-Cruz said upon hearing the good news.
Cannes Lions will cover Reysio-Cruz’s airfare and accommodation in Cannes and will provide a press accreditation for a complete access to the festival and awards program.
He is expected to write his experiences and share them with the Filipino people through the different multimedia platforms of the Inquirer.
Of the things he learned from his Inquirer internship, Reysio-Cruz said it is important to “think on your feet” because journalism is a fast-paced industry.
“The pace is very fast because we go to an event or press conference, then immediately after that, we have to be writing already since the deadline would be within just a couple of hours. So you really have to think on your feet,” said Reysio-Cruz, who was a trainee for the Malacañang and Metro beats from June to July 2015.
He will take part in a tailored eight-day program which includes: a day spent in the Lions Daily News (the official Festival magazine) onsite office; a day spent with US trade magazine Ad Age, shadowing their reporters and attending industry events; and working with Cannes Lions TV, assisting with backstage interviews.
Reysio-Cruz said writing has always been his passion since he was a kid when he would write fiction.
But it was in his investigative journalism class in UP when he felt he was on track in achieving his dreams. Among the investigative pieces he worked on were a school project that looked into the Freedom of Information bill and why the legislators failed to pass it under the Aquino administration as well as his thesis with a classmate about the implementation of the amended Juvenile Justice Act.