Filipino newspaper readers and publishers were saddened over the closure of the Baguio Midland Courier, a community newspaper that has served Baguio City and neighboring towns in the Northern Luzon for the past 77 years.
On July 22, the newspaper will officially cease its operation, citing the “worldwide trend that newspapers are facing unprecedented challenges.”
Founded in April 1947 by brothers Oseo and Sinai Hamada and their half-sister Cecilia Afable, the newspaper announced in late June that “the decision to cease publication was a difficult one, and the management deeply regrets any impact this may have on our esteemed readers, newsboys, supporters, contributors, and advertisers.”
“Baguio Midland Courier’s legacy cannot be forgotten: community journalism at its finest. Tts long history of public service has made a significant dent to its readers and the entire community that value journalism as key component to enriching the lives of Cordillerans where it matters the most,” said Ariel Sebellino, executive director of the Philippine Press Institute (PPI), the national association of about 60 newspapers and considered as the oldest professional media organization in the country.
“Sad to hear this news. Community newspapers that fold up represent already marginalized voices in the national discourse,” added Joyce Pañares, managing editor of Manila Standard.
Danilo Arao, an associate professor at the Department of Journalism, College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, maintained that the closure of Baguio Midland Courier “is a sad chapter in Philippine journalism, especially community journalism.”
In her op-ed article for online news hub Mountain Beacon and republished by the Baguio Midland Courier on its Facebook page, writer-teacher LA Piluden also expressed her sadness over the publication’s closure, saying: “Like many community newspapers, the Baguio Midland Courier is a keeper of public memory. Its closure, therefore, is not even about the print and digital divide. It’s about the end of collective memory. The postcolonial thinker Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o once said: ‘A people without memory are in danger of losing their soul.’”
