Celebrated media practitioners took turns in playing mentors to young mass communicators at the “Pinoy Media Congress Year 12” recently held by ABS-CBN and the Philippine Association of Communication Educators (PACE) at the College of the Holy Spirit Manila (CHSM).
Journalists led by ABS-CBN Integrated News head Ging Reyes, Jeff Canoy, and Christian Esguerra, media personalities Bianca Gonzalez-Intal and Bela Padilla, creative heads Rondel Lindayag and Vanessa Valdez, and digital experts Ben Ravina and Dennis Lim bannered the speakers in the event participated in by over 1,200 students and teachers from all over the Philippines.
With the theme “Beyond Hits and Hashtags: Harnessing Digital to Help Build a Better World,” this year’s PMC tackled the most pressing issues in news media today, such as the proliferation of fake news on social media that was discussed in a session with “Bayan Mo, iPatrol Mo” head Rowena Paraan, ABS-CBN head for Futures, Standards, and Ethics Chi Almario-Gonzales, journalist Inday Varona, and UP professor Clarissa David, and the evolving newsroom and journalists of media organizations, as told by Ging and Manila Bulletin executive editor Pinky Colmenares.
It also touched on how digital technology is being used in producing new experiences for Kapamilya viewers like in the case of Bagani, which according to ABS-CBN creative manager Ays De Guzman will soon have an online extension, as well as in restoring classic Filipino films, just like what is being done by Leo Katigbak and the ABS-CBN Film Restoration.
Pia Bacungan-Laurel of ABS-CBN International Sales & Distribution also shared how the company’s goal of putting Philippine artistry in the map is taking shape with more and more Filipino programs and artists already making waves abroad.
Subject matter experts Prof. Yvonne Chua of VERA Files and Comm. Raymund Liboro of the National Privacy Commission, meanwhile, oriented students on Digital Safety and the Data Privacy Law, respectively.
Some of the speakers expressed on social media their joy in being able to share what they know and what they have learned in their careers to students.
Bianca posted on Twitter, “It was such an honor to speak about Social Media For Good at the Pinoy Media Congress! Thank you to all the students who were so engaged and nodding their heads haha. #PMC2018.”
Bela, who said it was her first time to speak in front of a large crowd, also said, “I had so much fun speaking in front of students today in Mendiola for the Media Congress and also to the students from Cebu via satellite! I hope I imparted a piece of my experiences that you can use and that will move you to do something progressive soon!”
Jeff, meanwhile, said it was inspiring to see the students so invested in journalism.
“They had killer, incisive questions about the industry. I know there’s a lot of worry about the future of the craft and all. But from what I saw today, I think we’re gonna be okay. Puso!,” he said.
For the second year, the two-day event held an interactive live broadcast in Visayas, where hundreds of students were able to watch the sessions and ask questions live via satellite from the Cebu Technological University.
A first this year is the staging of a special edition of I Can See Your Voice, complete with host Luis Manzano and sing-vestigators Andrew E., Bayani Agbayani, Wacky Kiray, and Jona, while CHSM students served as contestants. Other Kapamilya stars also dropped by to entertain the crowd led by McCoy De Leon, Elisse Joson, and Alexa Ilacad of The Good Son, Darren Espanto, and Niel Murillo, Ford Valencia, Tristan Ramirez, Russell Reyes, andJoao Constancia of BoybandPH.
ABS-CBN and PACE also awarded the winners of the 1st Class Project Mini-Documentary Competition, which was ruled by a group of students from De La Salle University – Dasmarinas. Their winning piece Lupang Pangako: Mga Rizalista ng Ronggot aired on April 6 on Knowledge Channel’s “Class Project Winners Festival” that features the winning documentaries of the contest.
As a special treat to the delegates, ABS-CBN also prepared educational activities for the delegates that were held in ABS-CBN. There was a Ricky Lee Scriptwriting workshop, a BMPM Citizen Journalism and Media Literacy seminar, film screening of restored classics, and studio tours.
Now on its 12th year, the PMC aims to help prepare the next generation of mass communicators for the field they are about to enter by providing a venue where seasoned practitioners and subject matter experts can share their wisdom and knowledge with them.
