Paaralang Roger Sese’s 5th Week Workshop: Advocacy Journalism, Editorial and Opinion Writing

John Paul Vidal & Kirsten Dane Olivas

SATURDAY, November 27, 2021 - The 5th and last week of the Paaralang Roger Sese’s weekly journalism training facilitated by UPLB Perspective commenced “Encircling the fundamentals of Advocacy Journalism (2:30 PM), Editorial and Opinion Writing (4 PM)” aired via Zoom Conference and Facebook Livestream.

The program started with a quick introduction to the emcees and a swift overview of what the participants could expect to learn from the workshop. They also mentioned the current works and upcoming projects of Paaralang Roger Sese.

To formally kick off the workshop, the webinar hosts welcomed Mr. Juan Sebastian Evangelista, a former Editor-in-Chief of UPLB Perspective, a BA Philosophy Student, and a Spox and Coordinator of College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) Southern Tagalog.

Mr. Juan started as he explained the essence and function of Journalism, and the common misconceptions and mistakes that writers should try to prevent. “A free press is the people’s defense against deception, intimidation, and subjugation from forces contrary to their welfare,” he embarked. Mr. Juan then opened another discussion regarding press freedom — to which he thoroughly expounded the significance of press freedom for the journalists out there and for the public that reads the information.

Continuing with the discussion, he emphasized the benefits of using advocacy journalism as the alternative writing style for producing news and information. Mr. Juan, too, stated that advocacy journalism is a type of journalism that serves as an information source that supports an issue from a specific point of view. Whilst explaining the environment of advocacy writing, he then encouraged other journalists to try and engage themselves in the field of advocacy journalism. He shared and presented some examples of different advocacy journalisms and works for additional knowledge to the audience.

The emcees opened the floor for the Q&A portion as soon as Mr. Juan concluded his discourse; thus, the first topic came to an end as the hosts delivered their appreciation towards Mr. Juan Evangelista and as well as to the attendees.

Diving into the second topic, the master of the ceremony enthusiastically introduced the current Editor-in-Chief of UPLB Perspective and a Convener of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) Southern Tagalog, Mr. Mark Famatigan, for the subject of Editorial Writing.

“Opinion is yung stance ng individual, in contrast, yung editorial is the stance of the publication,” Mr. Mark exclaimed, starting off his lecture with differentiating editorial from opinion articles. Moreover, he mentioned why editorials are written and clarified that the common perception of neutrality in media is false.

“Dito papasok yung idea ng myth of objectivity. Basically, ito yung concept sa Philosophy na nag de-debunk ng idea na may objectivity sa mundo...Hindi totoo na kayang makamit ang ‘totoong’ neutrality, you can be factual pero there’s no such thing as unbiased media. Kasi to write is to choose,” Mr. Mark stated.

He further expounded it that a writer has to choose their words, and integrate society’s context, hence, making writing biased. “For instance, the writer has to make an article about a forum as a student publication, yung pinaka highlight ng article is the students. So, deliberate yung pagpili sa students. Does that mean na biased yung student publication? Yes, kasi there’s no other choice but to pick an order on how to write it,” he cleared. Mr. Mark then discussed the modified Toulmin method, otherwise known as the Toulmin method of argumentation. According to him, this is a style of writing or argumentation that breaks arguments down into different parts that encompass each other, further discussing it through providing examples.

To end his lecture, he provided tips on writing an effective editorial article — followed by the introduction of the last speaker, Ms. Aesha Sarrol, a BS Economics Student and the current Opinion Editor of UPLB Perspective.

Ms. Aesha asked the audience to describe opinion in one word as she kicked off her discourse. She then elucidated that an opinion is a belief, a stance, or view of an individual.

She also brought up what an opinion article is, and where the issues discussed in it come from. “Actually, sobrang daming pwedeng pagkuhanan ng source, pero, I just narrowed it down nalang to news articles, red-letter dates or holidays, social media uproars, events, and systematic oppression or discrimination,” she said.

Ms. Aesha then presented articles from different local publications serving as examples in her discussion. Thereafter, she points up the basic structure of an opinion article, and the different writing styles: Deductive and Inductive. According to her, deductive is going from general to specific while inductive is specific into general. “But, note that every opinion article is different. Thus, their structures vary. There is no one way to write an opinion article,” she clarified.

Whilst with the discussion on the objectives and the characteristics of an effective story, Ms. Aesha stated: “Hindi ibig sabihin ng opinion article ay: ‘Respect my opinion nalang’ — no, dapat factual.”

As Ms. Aesha concluded her lecture, she answered the question: ‘Are there wrong opinions?’

“We have entitlements to our own opinion, but not all opinions are informative as well as cater to the interests of the marginalized. So, it all boils down to our stances, because if your opinion excludes, discriminates, or steps on the rights of others, then, you should engage in more discussions.” Ms. Aesha responded.

The emcees then gave the chance to the attendees to ask their questions and fill up their curiosities. This was followed by the closing remarks delivered by the UPLB Perspective’s Officer-in-Charge, Ms. Sonya Castillo, and a photo opportunity. The weekly journalism training of Paaralang Roger Sese organized by UPLB Perspective Finally reached its end.

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