VIEWPOINT: Freedom of the campus press is tantamount to the right to self-expression for every Filipino
Written by Jay Ar Omblero, The Spark
THE EGALITARIAN HAWK
When can we defend the freedom of the campus press?
I have been a student journalist and the News Editor of THE SPARK since the school year started, and I have written and published reliable news stories happening inside and outside the campus. Our publication is known for our official hashtag, #WriteToRight, and for that, we stand. To be a student journalist is to be an advocate for truth and the voice of the silenced outcries within the campus. However, as the saying goes “With great power comes great responsibility”, being a student-journalist for me hasn’t been smooth sailing. Certain influences on look-out don’t always make us feel free, heard, welcomed, or supported, and that is a problem faced by many other student publications across the country, which includes being prohibited from publishing articles against the administration they belong to. With that, on behalf of my fellow students and other writers, we saw this as a hindrance to our right to express ourselves openly.
Even with the provisions of Campus Journalism Act of 1991, members of the campus press nevertheless require more protection than ever against many types of suppression of their right to press freedom on campuses. Since 2010, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) has documented nearly 1,000 cases of violations of campus press freedom at both the high school and college levels.
“322 of those cases are related to inconsistencies and suppression of funds, while censorship, administrative intervention, and harassment are of significance,” CEGP said.
Daniel Bastard, RSF Asia-Pacific director, said that the crackdown on campus journalists in the Philippines is “alarming.”
“In the end, this is the same spectrum: it starts with threats against students and campus journalists and ends with the potential life jail sentence like Maria Ressa or the recent murder of Percy Lapid,” he added.
It is my firm stand that, just like professional journalists, the student press must be given the equal right to cover pressing matters within their school community independently and without any threat, intimidation, or violence.
Without student journalists, it’s even more difficult to bring to light the issues and problems hounding academic institutions that must be addressed and fixed to improve the student’s general welfare.
Such a perspective must be welcomed and embraced, even if the campus press is dismissive of its reporting on the problems affecting its educational institutions. The press must be critical if problems plaguing the oppressed and disadvantaged are to be brought to the attention of the community and, as a result, taken seriously and solved in the interests of the party that is affected.
It is vital to keep in mind that student journalists will carry the torch of truth in society. The future of Philippine democracy lies with student journalists who speak truth to power.
When we battle for press freedom going forward, it’s important to remember campus press as well.
Campus journalism can never be silenced and silent!