CLSU Collegian's last day of SUHAY: Journalism Training tackles Collaborative and Desktop Publishing and News Writing

Thea Alodia Tugade & Kiersten Dane Olivas

SATURDAY, January 29, 2022 - The last and final installment of CLSU Collegian’s journalism training entitled, “SUHAY: Sumulong at Sumulat”, covered the topic of Collaborative and Desktop Publishing and News Writing via Zoom Conference and Facebook Livestream.

The event kicked off with the doxology presented by the CLSU Collegian, followed by the National Anthem. Master of ceremonies Mr. RD Bandola and Ms. JM Felician held a Kumustahan Session with the participants and shared some of CLSU’s Publication history. Mr. France Joseph Pascual, the Head Layout Artist of CLSU Collegian, then introduced the guest speaker, Mr. Paul John Villamor, Head, Information and Multimedia Section, Nueva Ecija II Electric Cooperative, Inc,-Area 2, and Former Content Editor, The Cavalier, Magazine of the Philippines Military Academy Association Inc., and Agila Journal, Magazine of 703rd Infantry Brigade, 7ID, Philippine Army.

He first thanked the CLSU Collegian Publication as they gave him the privilege to share his talent and knowledge for this event. He also thanked the participants for attending. He shared some of his experiences when he was in high school and according to him, “Ang pag-layout ng newspaper ay dapat hahanapan mo ng oras.”

Moving on to his discussion proper, it's entitled, “CLARITY and HARMONY, How to: Collaborative Desktop Publishing”. He then asked the participants, “What is the most important aim of layout and page design?” As stated by Mr. Paul, the message should be clear for intended readers, whilst layout and page design should be appropriate to readers with regards to their age, and as an artist, they should know what the audience caters to.

To make things clear, there is no superior style of layouting the bottom line; it would still be how they can present the output to be published. Hence, the layout is not everything because people look more at content, but they shouldn’t consider layout as unimportant because it affects the content since they are tackling collaborative desktop publishing.

Continuing, he explained that in today’s generation people love visual excellency, they engage more on visuals rather than contexts. With this it's also better to aid content with photos and graphical explanations. Also, simplicity is the name of the game, outputs can be more neat-looking and minimalist.

He then moved forward to the different design foundations and design elements. In design foundation, it includes the following: Balance, Emphasis, Movement, Pattern, and Variety. With regards to design elements, people should consider these: Line, Shape, Color, Texture, and Space. Mr. Paul also showed some examples regarding how the design foundation and design elements were applied. The use of elements and design should be clean and detailed. It should be synced and harmonized.

Following, he tackled the Balanced Layout and the New Age. In a balanced layout there are things that should be considered: Focal Point, Rule of Thirds, White Space, Hierarchy, and Space. The New Age is what artists consider on their layout, these were the things that they consider in today’s time: Minimalist Way, Color Schemes, Flat Look, Eye-Friendly Fonts, Font Size Consistency, and Alignment.

As his discussion came to an end he provided some software applications that could be used such as MS Publisher, Adobe Indesign, Corel Draw, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Peacemaker. The participants then were given a chance to ask questions for the Question and Answer portion of the event. Thereafter, Mr. Villamor explained the guidelines for the competition, followed by the Awarding of Certificate of Appreciation to the guest speaker. The morning session ended with the closing remarks of Mr. Lorence Ramos, as he thanked the guest speaker and the participants, as for the event wouldn’t be possible without them.

Driving forward to the afternoon session, the hosts, Ms. Justin and Mr. RD, called on Mr. Daniel Aquino, Junior News Editor of CLSU Collegian to deliver the opening remarks. “To inform the public and give information, these are the primary roles of news articles. It is important as views, opinions, and discussions can be formed after being presented with such information. It can be an eye-opener to those who have limited knowledge in societal issues,” Mr. Daniel stated.

After this, Ms. Michaella Del Rosario, former News Editor, Opinion Editor, and Editor-in-chief of CLSU Collegian was introduced as the speaker for news writing. She started her discussion with an activity done via Menti, explaining the essential of writing news articles. She also discussed the types and elements of leads while citing examples. “In one paragraph, in 1 sentence na binasa natin sa ating lead, alam na agad natin kung ano yung istorya. Nasagot na yung mga katanungan mo, pwede ka na sa susunod na pahina. Ganon ka powerful ang pagsusulat ng lead.” Ms. Michaella said.

Furthermore, she shared some examples of published news articles and accessed them to strengthen her previous points. Ms. Michaella also gave some things to remember when writing a news article:

1. One sentence, one paragraph.

2. Make an outline.

3. Look for a good angle.

4. Accuracy, brevity, and clarity.

5. Open your ears, eyes, and mind.

6. Read. Research. Investigate.

To end her discussion, she expounded these and noted that journalists shouldn’t just look at what's in front and walk in a straight and narrow path. Instead, they should look in every direction possible to get the full scope.

The hosts then opened the floor for the question and answer portion where Ms. Michaella answered questions about how journalism changed her life and why it’s important. “Sa sitwasyon ng campus journalism ngayon sa sobrang daming information at mga platform ng information, dapat matuto tayo makinig, magmasid at syempre ibukas natin yung isip natin sa iba’t ibang opinyon at impormasyon.” she affirmed.

Moreover, the masters of the ceremony introduced Mr. JR Paco, the publication adviser, to deliver the closing remarks. The last installment for SUHAY 2022 successfully came to an end with a photo opportunity.

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