IT’S (NOT) ABOUT THE MONEY, MONEY, MONEY:

A STUDY ON THE COMMUNITY PRESS AND CENTRAL LUZON’SECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

ANNE URIEL CAMARA GUIANG

DANICA MAE MALLARI LACSON

COLLEGE OF MASS COMMUNICATION

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES DILIMAN

JUNE 2017

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Bachelor of Arts in Journalism

ANNE URIEL CAMARA GUIANG

DANICA MAE MALLARI LACSON

It’s (Not) About the Money, Money, Money: A Study on the Community Press andCentral Luzon’s Economic Development

Thesis Adviser:

Professor Reynaldo P. Guioguio, PhD

College of Mass Communication

University of the Philippines

Date of Submission

24 May 2017

Thesis Classification

F

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ANNE URIEL CAMARA GUIANGDANICA MAE MALLARI LACSONCollege of Mass CommunicationUniversity of the Philippines

IT’S (NOT) ABOUT THE MONEY, MONEY, MONEY:A STUDY ON THE COMMUNITY PRESS AND CENTRAL LUZON’S ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENTCOLLEGE OF MASS COMMUNICATION

by

ANNE URIEL CAMARA GUIANGDANICA MAE MALLARI LACSON

has been approved forthe Department of Journalism

and the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communicationby

Professor Reynaldo P. Guioguio, PhD

Professor Elena E. Pernia, PhDDean, College of Mass Communication

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA

PERSONAL DATA

Name Anne Uriel C. Guiang

Permanent Address #12 Cireneo Compound, Tapuac District, Dagupan City

Cellphone Number +63 917 763 0082

EDUCATION

Secondary Level Fourth Honorable Mention, Francisco Q. DuqueMedical Foundation Special Science High School,Tapuac District, Dagupan City

Primary Level Salutatorian, Creative Montessori Center, TapuacDistrict, Dagupan City

ORGANIZATIONS UP Journalism Club

UP Subol Society

UP ASTRUM SCIENTIS SORORITY

VOX CMC 2017

WORK EXPERIENCE Intern, Philippine Information Agency, June to July2016

Intern, GMA Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho, June to July2016

ACHIEVEMENTS College Scholar: 1st Semester AY 2014-2015 and 2ndSemester AY 2015-2016

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA

PERSONAL DATA

Name Danica Mae M. Lacson

Permanent Address 1400 Purok Pau, Calulut, City of San Fernando,Pampanga

Cellphone Number +63 917 984 4169

EDUCATION

Secondary Level First Honorable Mention, St. Scholastica’s Academy,City of San Fernando, Pampanga

Primary Level With Honors, St. Scholastica’s Academy, City of SanFernando, Pampanga

ORGANIZATIONS Tinig ng Plaridel

WORK EXPERIENCE Intern, Radioworld Broadcasting Corporation 95.1 RWFM, June 2016

Intern, PEPTV Channel 3, July 2016

ACHIEVEMENTS University Scholar: 1st Semester AY 2012-2013

College Scholar: 2nd Semester AY 2013-2014,1stSemester AY 2014-2015, 2nd Semester AY 2014-2015,1st Semester 2015-2016, 2nd Semester AY 2015-2016

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This thesis was completed with the help and support of many people.

First, we offer our deepest gratitude to our GOD Almighty, the author of

knowledge and wisdom, for His guidance and unwavering love.

For providing us with every bit of support they could give, we are forever grateful

to our family, our source of inspiration and strength. Thank you for the patience, the

encouragement and for being our inspiration since day one.

To the University of the Philippines and the College of Mass Communication,

thank you for being a home and being a source of valuable knowledge. Our professors

who guided us and taught us with honor and excellence, may our ‘thank you’ reach you.

This thesis will never be possible without the guidance of our advisers. To our J

199 adviser, Professor Diosa Labiste, thank you. And to our thesis adviser, Professor

Reynaldo Guioguio, we thank you for guiding us in this study, for your comments and

assistance.

To our respondents, to the community newspapers that trusted us with their words,

our sincere thank you. This study will never be completed without your help. May this

help the community newspapers in the country to thrive and strive.

Lastly, to our relatives, friends and everyone who supported, helped and wished

us the best for the completion of our college years through this thesis, thank you!

DEDICATION

To my parents

Melchor and Gina Guiang

May this achievement complete the dream that you had for us when you choose to give

us the best education you could.

Love, Anne,

To my parents

Armando and Rowena Lacson

Everything was possible because of you.

And to my grandfather Dominador Mallari

May it reach you wherever you are.

Love, Danica.

ABSTRACT

Guiang, A., & Lacson, D. (2017). It’s (Not) About the Money, Money, Money : A Study

on the Community Press and Central Luzon’s Economic Development. Unpublished

Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.

Media institutions, like community newspapers which have close links to the

community, reflect the conditions of the society in which they operate that is along with

is growth, community newspapers go along. Studies have shown how the economic

conditions of the area can make or break a newspaper because of its production

dependence on materials of production such as technology, transportation, raw materials

and advertising revenues.

This thesis examines the effect of the economic development of Central Luzon to

its community newspapers by interviewing journalists, publishers, owners and marketing

managers of 11 community newspapers currently operating in the region. Interviews with

stakeholders like Philippine Information Agency, Pampanga Press Club and Bataan Press

Club were also conducted.

Community newspapers in the region are affected by the region’s progress

through advertisement revenue due to the increasing number of businesses. However,

aside from advertisements revenue, economic growth in Central Luzon has minimal

positive effect on the newspaper’s circulation, frequency and the paper’s number of staff

and pages.

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Title Page i

Approval Sheet ii

Biographical Data iii

Acknowledgments v

Dedication vi

Abstract vii

Table of Contents viii

List of Tables xi

List of Charts xii

List of Figures xii

I. INTRODUCTION 1

A. Background of the Study 1

B. Statement of the Problem and Objectives 9

C. Significance of the Study 10

D. Scope and Limitations 11

ix

II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 12

III. STUDY FRAMEWORK

A. Theoretical Framework 19

B. Conceptual Framework 21

IV. METHODOLOGY

A. Research Designs and Methods 22

B. Locale and Time of the Study 22

C. Respondents of the Study 22

D. Subjects of the Study 23

E. Data Collection Methods 23

F. Research Instruments 23

G. Data Gathered 24

H. Data Analysis 24

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A. History and Profile of Community Newspapers 25

B. Common Features and Challenges of Community Newspapers 40

C. Community Newspapers and Central Luzon’s Economic Development 58

VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 64

x

VII. IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 67

BIBLIOGRAPHY 69

APPENDICES 74

xi

LIST OF TABLES

Number Title Page

1 Date of Establishment of the Eleven Community Newspapers 57

LIST OF CHARTS

Number Title Page

1 Number of Pages per Issue of the Eleven Community Newspapers

Interviewed

42

2 Frequency of Publication of the Eleven Community Newspapers

Interviewed

43

3 Circulation of the Eleven Community Newspapers Interviewed 45

4 Number of Staff of the Eleven Community Newspapers Interviewed 47

5 Monthly Revenue of the Eleven Community Newspapers Interviewed 49

6 Monthly Expenses of the Eleven Community Newspapers

Interviewed

51

7 Type of Ownership of the Eleven Community Newspapers

Interviewed

53

LIST OF FIGURES

Number Title Page

1 Central Luzon’s Geographical Distribution of the Provinces 5

2 Central Luzon’s Proximity to Metro Manila. 8

xii

3 Model for Critical Political Economy of Mass Media 20

4 Integrated Model for Critical Political Economy of Mass Media 21

1

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Community newspapers are vital form of media in a society. The presence of a

newspaper is a key component of maintaining quality of life in an isolated city, town,

barangay or village by promoting and increasing civic engagement in the community in

addition to presenting readers with information on decisions affecting their community.

What defines a community newspaper is its strict focus on local news as compared to

most daily newspapers, which focus on local content in addition to national and

international stories.

A Southeast Asian archipelago’s geographic dispersion is a natural setting for

community newspapers to thrive and for communities to continually prefer reading local

news. In category of Asian newspapers, the Pakiran Rakyat which is located in

Indonesia’s third largest city and educational center Bandung, is bigger than most Asian

provincial newspapers and one of the rare few which are owned by a cooperative of its

staff members led by Sakti Alamsyah. It is both a financial and an editorial success with a

viable economic enterprise, as well as, a respected mouthpiece of public opinion in West

Java. The paper today devotes 70 per cent of its space to editorial matter and 30 per cent

to advertising, the maximum allowed by the government (Maslog, 1985)..

In the Philippines, community journalism remains glued to the geographic

reference of the concept (Maslog, 2012). “Community press” was the chosen handle

adapted by the Philippine Press Institute in 1970 to describe newspapers being published

outside the National Capital Region. Author and media scholar Cripsin Maslog said,

2

“They used to be called as “provincial newspapers” to the distaste of editors. “Provincial”

was a throwback to ‘promdi’, a Filipino colloquialism for persons or practices plucked

out of the rural areas, thus unfairly perceived to be backward.”

The growth of community newspapering in the Philippines may be tied to there

being critical change agents or opportunist facilitators. Some community newspapers are

critical change agents in the sense that journalists — many of them with roots in rural

communities — know what prevails locally and feel compelled to report these

community-level developments. (Opiniano, Arcalas, Mallari, & Tuazon, 2014).

Nevertheless, and amid the prevailing weaknesses and challenges confronting

community newspapers, Philippine community journalism is currently enjoying a

window of opportunities from not just the Internet, but also from visibly felt local

economic growth and the gradual increase of the middle-class in provincial communities.

These economic opportunities offer a favorable time for civic journalism, if practiced by

community newspapers, to reconnect journalists with their communities. These

provincial communities may continually resort to old ways in using media and in

consuming news, as community newspapers then embrace innovative ways of producing

and disseminating news. But one may wonder if there is a prevailing disconnection

between the community newspaper and the community and its members. A ramification

of this development, even with today’s penchant for civic journalism, is that audiences

may not understand the community newspapers’ stories, or do not care about these stories

(Opiniano et al., 2014).

3

The number of Philippine community newspapers circulating in the archipelago

has grown through the years with some publications recording more than a century in

existence and those that are relatively new in the industry (Opiniano et al., 2014).

Out of 100 or so community newspapers in the Philippines, The Sunday Punch, is

one of the established community newspapers in the country which is located in

Pangasinan. The Punch continues its strong sense of social commitment by providing

information to the common man. According to an interview with Ermin Garcia Jr., the

owner, the newspaper is involved in an independent ownership which is easier to operate

compared to other types of ownership. The stakeholders do not need to put different

interests. Garcia pointed out that, “Circulation is dependent on the content”. The Punch

focuses on the interest of the readership that the newspaper can benefit from. He also

shared that the readers themselves tell what exactly they want to read (E. Garcia, personal

Communication, April 28, 2017).

Seventy percent of the revenues of the Sunday Punch come from the advertisers.

A total of ten percent comes from the judicial notices and legal notices while some

community newspapers consider these notices as their main source of revenue. Garcia

said that some local governments cannot afford to subscribe so the newspaper is given for

free just to keep the community involved (E. Garcia, personal Communication, April 28,

2017).

The Sunday Punch faced a lot of challenges because of the advent of internet but

have grown more than ever with the newspaper adopting some changes like the changing

its a lay-out and focusing more on image stories (E. Garcia, personal Communication,

April 28, 2017).

4

As a community newspaper, the Punch heavily depends on the content in order to

maintain the revenue of the newspaper, the position of the newspaper vis-à-vis the

community. Because if there is acceptance, then the people in the community will watch

out for the news, content and opinion, then advertisers go for that newspaper. The Sunday

Punch really relies on their commercial strength into the market (E. Garcia, personal

Communication, April 28, 2017).

There are even more community newspapers that are members of the Philippine

Press Institute (PPI) in the second poorest region Eastern Visayas than in developed

regions such as CALABARZON, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Davao. Levels

of local economic growth in these poorer regions have not deterred publishers from

publishing printed publications of all types which reveal that levels of local economic

growth are not a stumbling block to the establishment of community newspapers

(Opiniano et al., 2014).

However, community newspapers are generally viewed dying as they suffer from

several factors that contribute to their deaths. Maslog (1971) said that the view that

community newspapers’ potential for national development was great, but this sector

“needs to be developed first” before such role can be fulfilled.

Despite dire predictions that print is dead, it’s still the backbone of many

community dailies and weeklies nationwide (Knolle, 2016).But, aside from the changes

in the newspaper business, the environment in which these newspapers operate

continually change along with the times as developments and discoveries in technologies,

new policies and administrations, consumers’ attitudes and the most vital factor,

5

economic stability (or instability), among others, take place. These changes in the

environment also affect the operation of the media.

The focus of the study is the region in the Philippines with an interesting

economic environment, the Central Luzon, comprises the largest plain of the country.

Based on the data from Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),

Central Luzon is a region in the island of Luzon covering a total land area of 2,201,463

hectares.

Figure 1. Central Luzon’s Geographical Distribution of the Provinces

Source: Official Gazette. (2016). Bottom-Up Budgeting funds projects in Central Luzon.Retrieved May 23, 2017 from www.gov.ph

6

It is comprised of seven provinces namely: Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija,

Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales and home of several special economic zones as it is

strategically located at the heart of Asia, accessible through Clark and Subic, two of the

country’s leading international gateways. It has globally competitive enterprises given the

low cost of doing business and the critical mass of transport infrastructure.

Central Luzon is a combination of towering mountains, extinct and active

volcanoes, lush, verdant farmlands, and natural sea harbors. It is one of the leading

growth regions in the Philippines. According to the National Economic and Development

Authority (NEDA) Philippine Development Plan (2011-2016) MIDTERM UPDATE, “62

percent of the Philippines’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is accounted for by the

National Capital Region, and its two adjacent regions, CALABARZON to the south and

Central Luzon to the north. Not surprisingly, these regions host the provinces with the

lowest incidence of poverty (National Statistics Office, 2012).

The economy in the region remained robust. Inflation in the region sustained its

low level for the whole year. Central Luzon remained the top producer of palay, chicken,

hog, tiger prawn and tilapia.

Central Luzon became a major contributor in the Philippine economy. It is slowly

but steadily transforming its economic landscape into a high potential investment

destination. As a player in national development, its current level of development allows

it to significantly contribute to the growth of the national economy.

Region III lies between Manila and Northern Luzon. It is composed of seven

provinces, 12 cities and 118 municipalities. Its seven provinces are Aurora, Bataan,

7

Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales. Its 12 cities are Balanga from

Bataan, Malolos and San Jose del Monte from Bulacan, Cabanatuan, Gapan, Muñoz,

Palayan and San Jose from Nueva Ecija; Angeles and San Fernando from Pampanga,

Tarlac from Tarlac; and Olongapo from Zambales.

It includes all land area north of Manila Bay from the tip of Bataan peninsula on

the west, and all the lands north of the Caraballo Mountains on the east. It is the longest

contiguous area of lowlands, and is otherwise known as the Central Plains of Luzon. The

region produces one third of the country’s total rice production, thus is also called the

Rice Granary of the Philippines.

Located adjacent to the National Capital Region (NCR), it has benefited from the

“spill over” from Metro Manila. Central Luzon’s proximity to Metro Manila affects the

economic standing of the newspapers. It is a part of the National Industrial Core Region,

together with NCR and Region IV or the Southern Tagalog Region. The Core Region

contributed 70% of manufacturing value added in 1988. It has emerged as an alternative

area for investment to Region IV, but is still overcoming the effects of the Mount

Pinatubo eruption in 1991.

In terms of population, Region III was the third largest region, containing 10.50

percent of the 76.5 million human beings of the country as recorded in Census 2000.

Located at the crossroads of Asia-Pacific, Central Luzon is one of the dynamic and

vibrant regions in the Philippines. It caters to European and American business

organizations desiring to penetrate Asia (DENR, 2017).

8

Figure 2. Central Luzon’s Proximity to Metro Manila.

Source: Global City Map. (n.d.). Central Luzon Map. Retrieved May 23, 2017 fromwww.globalcitymap.com

Central Luzon accounted for 8.98 percent of the country's Gross Domestic

Product (GDP) in 2013. Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) grew by 4.30 percent.

Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing sector comprised 16.97 percent of the regional

economy and it went by 5.37 percent in 2013.

According to Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Region III (2017), there are

55 community newspapers existing in Central Luzon. Out of the 55 newspapers, the

researchers focus on 11 community newspapers from various parts of Region III to study

and analyze their financial viability in terms of circulation, revenue, expenses, number of

staff, number of pages, frequency and publication. The newspapers that were chosen by

the researchers are: Bataan Chronicle, Bataan Peninsula Times, Central Luzon Business

9

Week, DahongPalay, D’Watchers Newspapers, NEWS CORE, Newshawk Newsweekly,

Punto! Central Luzon, Ronda Balita, Sun Star Pampanga and Tarlac Weekender.

An interview of these newspapers will provide an overview of the extent of the

economic development of Central Luzon and its effects to community newspapers. From

the interview, the researchers examine the effects of the region’s economic growth using

six categories namely, circulation, revenue, expenses, number of staff, number of pages

and frequency.

B. Statement of the Problem and Objectives

Community newspapers have risen and fallen through time due to several factors

that affected their growth and survival. The economic environments of the places where

they operate contribute to the increase and decrease of these papers. Recognizing this,

the researchers intend to consider the economic conditions of the Central Luzon region

and their effects on the community newspapers of the areas especially in terms of

circulation, revenue, expenses, number of staff, number of pages and frequency.

Research Question

How does the economic condition of the region of Central Luzon affect the content,

frequency and circulation of their community newspapers?

Objectives

● To trace the history and look into how community newspapers in Central Luzon

coped with the times particularly on

10

● To know and understand the circulation, revenue, expenses, number of staff,

number of pages and frequency of publication of Central Luzon community newspapers

● To compare the newspaper and business profiles of community newspapers of

Central Luzon with each other and with Sunday Punch which is considered as one of the

most successful newspaper in Luzon

● To find out if the economic conditions of Central Luzon have affected the

circulation, revenue, expenses, number of staff, number of pages and frequency of

publication of the community newspapers in the region

C. Significance of the study

Mainstream newspapers dominate readership and given much focus, while

community newspapers continue to thrive with competition, patronage and publication.

Community newspapers are vital in evoking a grassroots attitude and filling the void left

by mainstream media in their coverage of the local communities. It seeks to educate and

entertain, to inform and amuse, and to create a big tent under which its listeners can

engage and challenge each other as well as their political leadership. These operations

tend to be smaller, community-based and managed, with a reliance on local support that

may include advertising but more often is reflected in donations and volunteerism.

It is important to know the underlying conditions in which the community

newspapers operate to understand its operations, practices, circulation and content. If a

community paper fails, it does not achieve its duty to choose stories that will help people

make informed decisions because the primary role of journalism is to provide people with

information to set them free.

11

D. Scope and Limitation of the Study

The study will cover the economic conditions especially the economic growth of

Central Luzon from 1986 up to present and how it affects the community papers. The

study will consider how this factor affects the content, revenue, frequency and circulation

of these community papers. The researchers intend to trace the history of the papers and

how they have changed and coped with the times. The community newspapers mentioned

in this study are those in printed form and published outside Metro Manila, in this study,

Central Luzon. The study will also compare the community newspapers of each province

in terms of numerical growth or decline and patronage brought about by the economic

factors of the provinces that affect the newspapers.

The study will use the Critical Political Economy of Mass Media Theory

discussed by Denis McQuail in his book Mass Communication Theory in 2010. This

theory is an approach to studying media whose focus is attenuated towards the ways in

which media is produced, distributed and consumed rather than on analyzing the

interpretations of the signs and symbols found within texts.

The researchers will interview journalists, owners, publishers, economists,

Philippine Information Agency (PIA) of Central Luzon and Press Clubs of the provinces

and read literature that could give valuable information and overview of the economic

situations of the region. Lastly, this study will make use of various related studies, both

local and foreign studies, to serve as a guide for comparison and special notes.

The duration of the study is from August 2016 to May 2017.

II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A community is a social group of any size whose members reside in a physical or

virtual locality, share government and/or have common cultural and historical heritage

(Martin & Davidson, 2014). In a community, there are political struggles which are the

bedrock and spread of information and power struggle. The struggles of the oppressed

classes in the community are the living foundation upon which communication process is

built (Labiste, 2017). For the people residing in a community to be well informed about

what is happening in the community, the mandate of the local newspapers is to inform

them. Their main mandate is to make our citizens well informed so that they can make

better decisions in life.

Community newspapers have been a subject of studies before. Theses, books and

periodicals have tackled various aspects of community press such as its history, status,

and survival through content and reception analysis, interviews with experts and

historical studies, among other methods.

This chapter looks into related literature on community newspapers, focusing on its

economic structure. This chapter also discusses the economic conditions of Central

Luzon which comprises the provinces of Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija,

Aurora, Bataan, and ZambaLes, the research settings. This aims to further the

understanding of the researchers on the community newspapers, particularly on the

effects (or lack of) of the economic growth of the region on the community newspapers.

Community media, according to Ellie Rennie (1974) in her book Community Media:

A Global Introduction, has not been the subject of much academic research. Keith Stamm

13

(1985) had the same sentiment on community newspapers, particularly on the empirical

study of its influences on community ties. Stamm (1985) cited the lack of clear

theoretical framework about the influence of newspapers in community ties and the

vague concepts of community and community ties as reasons why a “strong empirical

effort has never gotten off the ground” in the subject.

The definition of “community” have yet to be clearly defined despite the presence

of studies on the topic, which also offers various meaning of the concepts. There have

been arguments defining community based on geography and municipal boundaries,

while some researchers have argued on its multi-dimensional definition. Although efforts

have been made to provide a single definition to the concept, reducing “community” to

basic dimensions was not easy. Aside from the underlying dimensions of the concept of

“community”, “the lack of solid empirical referents for any preferred definition, even a

multi-dimensional one” remain to be an obstacle (Stamm, 1985).

Rennie (2006) said “community can be used as a type of governance, an

identifiable means to achieve certain political outcomes”, while Marcia Effrat divided the

concept into territorial and institutional view. According to Effrat, community, in the

institutional view, is a collection of institutions which fills the basic needs of its members.

The territorial view, on the one hand, put emphasis on the grounding in a particular place

of an interdependent population (Effrat, 1974).

In the topic of community newspapers, the definition of “community” leans towards

the geographical definition or territorial view of the concept. Morris Janowitz, in his

article The Imagery of the Urban Community Press in 1954, defined an urban community

press as a publication addressed to the residents of a specific locality or area of the

14

metropolitan district. Kristy Hess and Lisa Waller (2015) have linked community

journalism to local newspapers serving small town and cities.

John Hatcher (2013) defined and categorized media oriented toward communities as

community journalism, community media, grassroots journalism, community radio,

alternative media, independent media, resistance media, citizen journalism, and NGO

media. Various literature also equated local newspaper with community journalism (Hess

& Waller, 2015).

Community newspapers are alternative media. It is a journalism that is concerned

and the least heard. Community newspapers points out the wrongdoing and the culprit.

Those journalists who are working the community newspapers are responsible for the

production of meaning and the frameworks through which individual and collective

actions, events and institutions cound be understood.

Janowitz (1974) also described a community press as an auxiliary to the daily press,

not “commercialized”, not political or partisan, and an extension or reinforcement of

social contacts. Howley and Forde also described the community media as an alternative

to profit-driven media that caters to the “unrepresented” and “misrepresented” (as cited in

Hess & Waller, 2015).

Crispin Maslog, in 1988, defined a typical community newspaper in the Philippines

as one usually published in a provincial capital and other cities with population between

50, 000 and 100, 000, and in 1993, as one operating in a big city with about 181, 000

people. He also described the community newspaper as a “small business enterprise” but

15

he also identified newspaper as “public service”, with its editors, reporters and columnists

expected to carry a duty, “a public function identified with the public interest.”

According to Maslog in his 1993 survey, a typical Philippine community

newspaper is an eight-paged weekly, in tabloid format, with a circulation of 2, 500 and

printed in newsprint by offset (Maslog, 1993).

Maslog expounded that the prevailing dialect utilized by today's community

newspapers is English, albeit some are consolidating it with their local languages, for

example, Tagalog, Ilocano, Cebuano Visayan or Hiligaynon.

The varying definitions, categories and understanding of the community newspapers

offered by past studies show the multi-dimensional character of community newspapers

which is brought about by the unclear definition of the concepts surrounding it such as

“community”. It is also observed how Janowitz, Howley, Forde and Maslog offered

contrasting view of the community newspapers, with Maslog identifying it as “small

business enterprise” while Janowitz, Howley and Forde identified it as non-profit, not

“commercialized”. But all recognized the role of the community newspapers as a voice of

the people in the rural areas and their important and critical work of the community press

in fostering solidarity and aiding in national development.

Community newspapers are expected to fill in the gap of the metropolitan papers in

reporting the local events and news in the community and to give vital information

necessary in the development of the community. But the community newspapers continue

to face issues and problems that hinder them in properly fulfilling this role. Factors that

affect the operations of community newspapers were divided into internal and external

16

factors. Internal factors include editorial competence, quality, commitment, and

ownership. External factors included those found in the environment such as the political,

economic and social conditions of the newspaper operations (Maslog, 1993).

Communication is the sending and receiving of spoken or written messages

between people and places. People communicate with each other by writing letters,

sending telegrams, radio, television, computer technology, newspapers, magazines and

pamphlets; messages can be sent by telegram, facsimile machine (FAX) and E-mail

(Electronic mail) for business, trade other services.

For instance, with the development in technologies, journalism, which initially

began as official announcements, simple proclamations, and posting of decrees and

pronouncements of rulers has evolved into various forms of media and has expanded its

reach to a wider audience. The change in government and leadership also affect the press,

especially its freedom, because with new administration, new policies and laws are also

approved and implemented.

If a region or province is economically viable, the community newspapers or local

newspapers will thrive (Beltran, Personal Communication, 2017)

According to Denis McQuail (2010), the media is part of the economic system with

close links to the political system. He also situated media as part of the society and

dependent on the society, recognizing that media institutions are affected by the

underlying forces in the society such as political, economic and social conditions of area

of their operations, and that each media institution differ from one country to another and

change overtime.

17

However, according to Ellie Rennie (2006), author of the book Community Media: A

global introduction, “Community media has received surprisingly little scholarly

attention, even within the field of media studies itself,”. Community media is an area

worth exploring for this very reason. There have been some dramatic changes in the

newspaper business in recent years. The proliferation of the Internet has required

newspapers to establish an online presence. Rising costs and falling revenues were

exacerbated by the recent global recession (Sawisky, 2010).

Maslog (1993) has noted in his survey of the ten most financially viable and

independent community papers in the country how population size, economic

development, literacy rate, geographic location, and government incentives were factors

for the success of these community newspapers.

Maslog (1993) said the population of the area is an important factor to support

these papers when they were just starting. The economic development and geographic

location are also interrelated wherein cities at the crossroads of commerce and principal

commercial centers for their provinces contribute to the survival and financial viability of

the paper as these cities attract more people as places of convention centers, tourist

destinations and industrial centers.

In terms of the economic development of a particular community, geographic

location is very important. In the case of Region III, Pampanga is the center of the region.

So Pampanga is a busy province that there are a lot of information the community

newspapers could publish.

18

Professor and media scholar John Lent (1982) in his book Newspapers in Asia:

Contemporary Trends and Problems has cited the effects of the economic conditions

where a media operates to the community newspapers. He presented cases in various

regions and countries in Asia to show how a country’s economy has affected its

newspapers.

Considering the 1973-1975 Great Recession that started in the West and has reached

the East, Lent observed how advertising income of newspapers in Indonesia and Thailand

fell short of its target in the particular period where the economy is struggling. The

increasing cost of production has also pushed for an increase in newspaper prices which

limited their reach. He also discussed how increase in import and export taxes affect

newspapers as raw materials used in its production are usually imported to other

countries such as its newsprint. Aside from this, he cited the importance of transportation

and technology in the survival of community newspapers.

Lent’s study showed how the economic conditions of the society where a community

newspaper operates can make or break a newspaper because of its production dependence

on the materials of production such as technology, transportation, raw materials and

advertising revenues.

III. STUDY FRAMEWORK

A. Theoretical Framework

The researchers used the Critical Political Economy of Mass Media discussed by

Denis McQuail in his book, McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory in 2010.

McQuail, in his view of the Political Economy Theory, said “the media institution is

to be considered as part of the economic system, with close links to the political system”,

recognizing that various forces have the capability to affect the operation and content of

the media (McQuail, 2010).

The mass media institution was also situated by McQuail as part of the structure of

society, and its technological infrastructure as part of the economic and power base,

while ideas, images, and information disseminated by the media are evidently an

important aspect of our culture.

McQuail also wrote, “The key to the unusual character of the media institution is that

its activities are inextricably both economic and political, as well as being dependent on

continually changing technologies.” The media, having its technological infrastructure as

part of the economic and power base, is dependent on the economic capacity of its area of

operation to support the continually changing technology and keep up with the times of

changes in the economic atmosphere (McQuail, 2010).

Media institutions, like community newspapers which have close relations to the

community of their operations and a publication addressed to the specific locality or area,

are said to reflect the conditions of societies of which they are a part. McQuail (2010)

20

also discussed the relations between media and society saying, “Media are dependent on

their society.”

Figure 3. Model for Critical Political Economy of Mass Media

This model is inspired by McQuail’s model in his McQuail’s Mass CommunicationTheory, 6th Edition.

EconomicFactors

Region CommunityNewspapers

EconomicPressures

21

B. Conceptual Framework

The study is anchored on the idea that the economic condition where the media

operates affects the newspapers economic viability particularly in terms of its circulation,

revenue, expenses, number of staff, number of pages and frequency.

In this framework, economic factors and pressures in Central Luzon that may

have influenced the economic viability of the community newspapers are enumerated.

Under economic factors, population, gross regional domestic product, industries and

proximity to the capital (Manila) are listed.

Figure 4. Integrated Model for Critical Political Economy of Mass Media

This model is inspired by McQuail’s model in his McQuail’s Mass CommunicationTheory, 6th Edition.

Central Luzon

Circulation

Revenue

Expenses

Number ofStaff

Number ofPages

CommunityNewspapers inCentral Luzon

Population

GrossRegionalDomesticProduct

Industries

Proximity tothe Capital

IV. METHODOLOGY

A. Research Design and Methods

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of economic conditions of

the community newspapers of the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. A quantitative

data analysis was conducted for this study. The circulation, revenue, expenses, number of

staff, number of pages and frequency of publication of the newspapers mentioned in this

study were examined using qualitative approach. Respondents were interviewed via e-

mail, face-to-face and phone call.

B. Locale and Time of the Study

The study was conducted in Central Luzon, one of the main development areas in

the Philippines. Region III lies amongst Manila and Northern Luzon. Regarding populace,

Region III is the third biggest locale, containing 10.50 percent of the 76.5 million

individuals of the nation as recorded in Census 2000. Situated at the junction of Asia-

Pacific, Central Luzon is one of the dynamic and energetic locales in the Philippines. It

obliges European and American business associations wanting to enter Asia.

C. Respondents of the Study

The key informants of the study were journalists, editors, owners, publishers and

marketing officers of the Central Luzon-based community newspapers. The Philippine

Information Agency, The Pampanga Press Club and The Bataan Press Club were also

interviewed.

D. Subjects of the Study

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All of the 55 community newspapers were contacted for interview regarding the

circulation, revenue, expenses, number of staff, number of pages and frequency and

publication of the newspapers. The researchers received 11 responses of community

newspapers that still exist up to this day, and are subjected to interviews on their

newsroom staff.

E. Data Collection Methods

Interviews were conducted to supplement the study and to enable the researchers

to obtain in-depth information regarding the community newspapers of Central Luzon.

The researcher conducted an interview with the publishers and/or editors/staff of the 11

community newspapers to get their profiles. The object of study can be all sort of

recorded communication (transcripts of interviews, discourses, protocols of observations,

video tapes, documents and others).

The qualitative method (interviews) helped identify the issues and factors that

affect the circulation, revenue, expenses, number of staff, number of pages and frequency

of publication of the newspapers.

F. Research Instruments

The interviewees were asked on the circulation, revenue, expenses, number of

staff, number of pages and frequency and publication of the newspapers that are

mentioned in this study. The questionnaire for the journalists, editors, owners, publishers

and marketing managers, as well as for the Philippine Information Agency, Pampanga

Press Club and Bataan Press Club is situated at the Appendix A of the thesis.

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For the qualitative part of the study, an interview was conducted, and was answered

through face-to-face interview and some were answered through email and phone

responses. The aim ofthe interview is to know the viability of the community newspapers

and whether the economic condition of the region affects the circulation, revenue,

expenses, number of staff, number of pages and frequency and publication of the

newspapers. The actual interviews were conducted from March to May 2017.

G. Data Gathered

The data gathered from the newspaper publishers and/or editors and staff were the

landscape of the community newspapers. Under this were the history, newspaper and

business profiles as well as commonality and differences with other community

newspapers.

H. Data Analysis

Data gathered from the interview was coded, transcribed, and analyzed by the

researchers using the qualitative interview approach. Only two coders – the researchers,

were employed during the interview and the analysis of data to ensure accuracy.

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Region III listed 55 community

newspapers in Central Luzon on its media directory. A request for interview has been

sent to all these newspapers via SMS and e-mail. After several follow-ups through SMS

and phone calls, only 11 of the 55 positively responded to the request. A total of 11

journalists, owners, publishers and marketing officers from community newspapers in

Central Luzon namely Bataan Chronicle, Bataan Peninsula Times, Central Luzon

Business Week, D’Newswatchers, Dahong Palay, News Core, NewsHawk Newsweekly,

Punto! Central Luzon, RONDA Balita, Sun.Star Pampanga and Tarlac Weekender were

interviewed for this study. PIA Region III, the Pampanga Press Club and Bataan Press

Club were also interviewed.

The discussion is arranged in three sections – the History and Profile of the

Community Newspapers, Common Features and Challenges of Community Newspapers

and the Community Newspapers and Central Luzon’s Economic Development. The

History and Profile of the Community Newspapers section discusses how these

newspapers came about and their newspaper and business profiles. The Common

Features and Challenges of Community Newspapers section consolidates these profiles

and discusses the similarities and differences of the newspapers, as well as, the

challenges the community newspaper industry in Central Luzon face based on the

interviews. In this section, the 11 Central Luzon community newspapers were compared

with Pangasinan’s Sunday Punch, one of the most successful community newspapers in

Asia (Maslog, 1985) which also served as the standard of a successful community

newspaper – that it is economically viable. The last section, Community Newspapers and

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Central Luzon’s Economic Development, looks into how the economic development of

the region affects community newspapers by discussing the economic condition of

Central Luzon using the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Region

III’s

The interviews were also arranged in alphabetical order using their publication and

organization names. Out of the 14 interviews conducted, three were conducted personally,

one via phone interview, while the remaining 10 were done via e-mail. Interviews were

done in English and/or Filipino. One interview also used Kapampangan in minimal parts

of the interview. Quotes from these interviews appear on this part in English and Filipino

with translations provided in brackets Transcripts of the interviews in their non-translated

form and as sent by the respondents through e-mail are provided in the Appendices

section of this study.

A. History and Profile of Community Newspapers

1. Bataan Chronicle (Lourdes Levera, owner and publisher)

Bataan Chronicle released its first print out in the second quarter of 1996 as a bi-

monthly newspaper with a focus on community development news. It was founded by a

former professor at Tomas del Rosario College and Municipal Agriculture officer of

then-Bureau of Agriculture in Bataan Lourdes “Lulu” Levera. According to the

newspaper’s former writer Arnold Cajilig in his “The Brief History of Bataan Chronicle”

article, putting up a newspaper that will cater the people of Bataan of fresh and

qualitative news on various developments that transpired in the province was a dream of

Levera and her daughter Thess. Aside from being the owner, Levera is also the

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newspaper’s publisher and a writer who maintains a column in the newspaper. Her family

members like her son and daughters, granddaughter and nephew make up more than half

of the staff. Levera also added that contributions from outsiders come once in a while, but

the paper may not see new names in its line up soon as she wanted to keep the paper

among family members.

The staff receives no monetary compensation for their work aside from a

commission from advertisement revenues. Staffs have their own professions or “bread

and butter” outside the newspaper.

The Balanga-based newspaper has since shifted its frequency beginning in the last

quarter of 1996 to weekly due to increased in the reading public’s demand.

It also shifted from broadsheet size to a smaller paper size (A3 paper size) in 2014.

According to its publisher Mrs. Levera, the publication can no longer support the cost of

printing broadsheet-sized newsprint. Because of this change, the number of its pages

increased from four to eight per issue, reaching 12 pages during Christmas season. But

despite the change in the number of pages, the space size remains the same. The number

of articles usually ranges from 10 to 14, with most stories filed under staff columns. The

front page usually runs two to four stories.

Bataan Chronicle enjoyed a circulation of 1,000 copies in its earlier years. However,

the paper began trimming down its expenses by minimizing the number of print-outs to

500. It also Bataan Chronicle did not have its own printing press, however, at present, the

paper prints out its own copies using a digital printer, which, said Levera, cost less. For

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1,000 copies, the newspaper used to spend Php 5,000 at a local printer in Pilar, but with

its own printer, it spends Php 1,000 to 2,000 per week.

Those 500 copies are then distributed for free at city halls, toda and barangays

despite a selling price of Php 8.00 posted on its pages. Public service, said Levera, was

her reason for not selling copies of the paper. “Kung ibebenta ko, mabebenta, pero ayoko

nang pumunta sa ganun kasi ang objective ko kasi service sa tao (If I will sell it, it will

sell, but I do not want to go into that as my objective is to serve the people),” she said.

Because of this, no revenue is gained from circulation. Most of its revenue is from

advertisements and legal notices which sees an influx in December. According to Levera,

the paper earns Php 10,000 to 50,000 from advertisements. Revenue from advertisements

then shoulders the paper’s expenses such as printing, paper and ink, as well as utility

expenses of their office space which usually amounts to more or less Php10,000.

2. Bataan Peninsula Times (Mario Supnad, publisher and editor)

First published in 1991, Bataan Peninsula Times is a community newspaper

published weekly and located in Balanga City. According to its publisher and editor

Mario Supnad, the idea of putting up a local newspaper in Bataan came outright after his

graduation that prompted the birth of Bataan Peninsula Times.

At present, a minimum of 5,000 copies to more than 10,000 copies of a four to 12

paged newspaper are printed out every week which is dependent on the volume of

readership and advertisement, according to Supnad. There is also no problem

economically, he added, because there are regular ads that are “mandatory to be

published”. Aside from subscription, legal notices from local courts and government

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units are the newspaper’s source of revenue. However, he admitted that the newspaper

experiences losses and “little gains” that they recover through advertisement and

subscription revenues.

Bataan Peninsula Times is made up of “more on news reporting for the benefit of the

reading public.” Its number of staff is around five to 10 personnel and writers, said

Supnad that never declined.

3. Central Luzon Business Week (Mina Cabiles, marketing officer)

The first and only business newspaper in Central Luzon, Central Luzon Business

Week was launched in November 9, 2005 with an aim “to provide substantial business

news to the people of Central Luzon, as well as, to potential investors and locators”. It is

published weekly by the Stotsenberg Media Productions, Inc. of the Lazatins of Angeles

City.

According to the newspaper’s marketing officer Mina Cablies, the idea to come out

with a community newspaper began when Tarzan Lazatin was still mayor of Angeles

City. Lazatin, along with then-Sun.Star Pampanga writer Ivy Calaguas and another

individual that Cabiles opted not to name thought of putting up the first business paper in

the province since no other business paper exists.

The newspaper is circulated in Tarlac, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Zambales,

Pampanga, Metro Clark and Metro Subic areas and enjoys a circulation of over 2, 500

copies per week that are sent through subscriptions, dealers and mail. An increase in the

number of copies may be made, according to Cabiles, if a need to do so arises. However,

since its establishment in 2005, the newspaper rarely increases its print-outs. She also

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added that the newspaper does not earn anything from circulation. “Sa circulation, wala

kaming kinikita. Actually, pinamimigay lang namin ‘yan for free (In circulation, we do

not earn anything. Actually, we give out the paper for free),” she said. The selling price

of the paper printed on its front page is Php 10.00, which increased from Php 8.00 in

2015. Cabiles said the increase in price is due to the increase in printing cost. Central

Luzon Business Week has 22 subscribers which include private companies and

government agencies. The newspaper’s subscription rate is priced at Php 500.00 a year.

Most of its revenue is derived from commercial advertisements and legal notices

from courts. Companies such as SM, SSS and those owned by the Lazatins are the

newspaper’s usual advertisers. “Halos lahat ng income niya sa advertisements niya

kinukuha kasi sa circulation, wala kaming nakukuha. Siya ‘yung may pinakamalaking

bearing (Most of its income come from advertisements because we do not get anything

from circulation. It has the biggest bearing),” Cabiles said. Legal notices contribute the

most in the paper’s revenue which are priced depending on length and ranges from Php

4,600 to Php 26,000.

Central Luzon Business Week earns Php 30,000 to Php 100,000 in a month

depending on the entry of advertisements. The newspaper’s revenue sees a spike during

its anniversary, more than the election or Christmas season. Expenses, on the one hand,

are around Php 50,000 which is dependent on the number of pages and the

correspondents’ story contributions. Much of its expenses are on printing, amounting to

Php 9,000 a week. “Hindi ka pa kumikita nagbabayad ka na (You haven’t earn yet, you

already have to pay),” said Cabiles. Currently, the newspaper has 12 regular staff which

grew from less than five in 2005. According to Cabiles, the increase in staff is due to the

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need for more manpower to handle the circulation of the paper. Four of the 12 staffs are

writers. Central Luzon Business Week also has five correspondents who are paid per story

published. It is also not open for hiring due to its limited financial resources, said Cabiles.

The newspaper is neither gaining nor losing in revenue. She said, most of the time it

hit the break-even level. Despite being owned by a corporation, Cabiles said the

newspaper is a “stand alone” as no funding is being given by the owners since 2014.

The newspaper is composed of eight pages on an average with half of its content on

news and the other half on advertisement. The number of pages saw a decline from 12

during its earlier years until 2008, but according to Cabiles, the number of pages

increases depending on the advertisements. She added that there was an instance that

Central Luzon Business Week reached 20 to 23 pages.

4. D’Newswatchers Newspaper (Florida Teodoro)

D’Newswatchers Newspaper is a weekly community newspaper situated in Malolos,

Bulacan which began its publication on February 10, 2008. The community newspaper is

owned and published by Donato Teodoro. The newspaper, whose content was described

by Florida Teodoro as “community information around Bulacan province”, came about

because of Mr. Teodoro’s intent to serve his community and as a fulfillment of his

childhood dream to be a writer.

The community newspaper is a single proprietorship and a family business which,

according to Mrs. Teodoro, makes the newspaper self-sufficient. Although circulation,

which range from 500 to 1,000 copies, greatly affects the newspaper’s revenue, judicial

and legal notices contribute the most revenue to the newspaper. Advertisement fees from

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business establishments also add to their revenue which amounts to Php 500,000 to Php

700,000 annually. “I think it’s a growth and upward trend,” said Mrs. Teodoro on the

newspaper’s revenue since its establishment in 2008.

However, despite the growing revenue, the newspaper experiences more break-evens

than gains due to increasing expenses brought about by inflation. The newspaper usually

spends Php 250,000 to 500,000 wherein printing and labor costs take the biggest pie

share. To address this, according to Mrs. Teodoro, they resort to solicitation of other

printing works.

Since its establishment, the newspaper has also maintained its frequency of

publication as per court requirement, but saw an increase in its number of pages from

four to eight. The increase, said Mrs. Teodoro, was due to the growing number of stories

and advertisement.

Four staffs currently comprise the newspaper. According to Mrs. Teodoro, their

staffs are properly compensated such as they at least receive the minimum wage and

enjoy benefits like PhilHealth.

5. Dahong Palay (Milo Salazar, editor and publisher)

Started in 1963, Dahong Palay is a weekly community newspaper located in

Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. It was established by Pedro Salazar with a financial help

from his friend and then-Councilor Ben Sandoval. The newspaper was being printed

somewhere in Manila. In 2013, Milo Salazar took over after his father’s death. “I

assumed being the editor/publisher and we are the only registered owners of this

newspaper,” he said, adding that Dahong Palay is their family’s “bread and butter”.

33

Circulation, according to Salazar, is not fixed but the newspaper usually publishes

400 copies per week which can cover the whole province of Nueva Ecija and neighboring

towns. Most copies are mailed and others are “hand-carried” or “papel de abot”. Dahong

Palay’s main markets are government officials and employees, although, said Salazar, the

newspaper caters people of all walks of life. Since its establishment in 1963, the

newspaper saw an increased circulation in a steady pace, said Salazar, which he tries to

maintain by “always being true to their clients and subscribers, maintaining good

harmony with them.”

Aside from circulation, Dahong Palay relies heavily on legal notices for revenue

which also accounts to most of the newspaper’s revenue. Commercial advertisements are

rare. There is no fix amount of revenue earned, according to Salazar, but he recognized

the big contribution of advertisements and legal notices in the newspaper’s survival. “You

cannot survive this business without it,” he said. Printing costs, on the one hand, give the

biggest bulk in expenses. The newspaper prints out eight pages per issue on an average

which has increased since 1983 because of demands in the publication of ads and legal

notices. “Not news,” said Salazar, adding that content “depends but preferably wanted

news about development”. Although there is no fixed amount of expenses as it depends

on the demands of copies to be circulated, the newspaper saw an increase in its expenses.

“Lahat naman tumataas (Everything increases),” said Salazar, “Effort, more effort.”

Dahong Palay was described by Salazar as a “one-man army” and is not open for new

hires.

6. NEWS CORE (Carmela Reyes-Estrope, owner and editor-in-chief)

34

Established in October 2006, NEWS CORE is owned by former Philippine Daily

Inquirer (PDI) correspondent Carmela Reyes-Estrope “for advocacy journalism”.

According to Estrope who also serves as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, her

experience in PDI where her some of her stories were left unpublished and not used due

to space constraints pushed her to start her own publication.

“I deemed the stories wasted and I can feel the frustrations of the people hoping their

ordeals will be heard that’s why I decided to put up my own local weekly,” she said.

The newspaper is currently a “one man army” as described by Estrope aside from

one or two relatives helping her out in the collection of payments from clients and in the

paper’s marketing and advertisement.

NEWS CORE publishes weekly with 1,000 copies which are circulated in

government offices of 21 towns and three cities in Bulacan and also distributed through

subscription, postal mail and courier services. Despite the steady number of circulation in

the past 11 years, Estrope observed that there is decline in people’s reliance on print

media due to the presence of the internet and social media.

Circulation only contributes 15 to 20 percent of the newspaper’s revenue. The

biggest revenue generator for the newspaper is court notices which sustain the weekly

operations of the paper. “With court notices, it was about Php 500,000 to more than Php

1 million a year,” said Estrope. Due to the ongoing renewal of accreditation with the

Regional Trial Court (RTC), publication of court notices ceased beginning 2015 which

resulted to a decline in revenue and losses despite earning revenues from advertisements

and bulk orders from businessmen and politicians. “But today without that, only around

35

Php 50,000 to Php 80,000 annually,” Estrope said which is not sufficient to finance the

Php 6,000 weekly expenses of the paper that supposedly decreases because of the

“individualized system of running newspaper copies through purchasing one’s own

newsprint, self-contracting for the plate of the newspaper, layout design and the printing

costs”. However, gasoline and other transportation expenses add to the cost. Losses in

revenue also prompt Estrope to fish out money from her own pocket to support the

paper’s operations and to maintain the current number of staff which is two.

The number of pages NEWS CORE enjoys also depends on the amount of

advertisements and news available. The number of pages ranges from six to 12, but often

settles at six pages that comprises of news, opinions and advertisements.

7. NewsHawk Newsweekly (Greg Refraccion, owner and publisher)

Started off as magazine-format newspaper composed of news features and photos,

NewsHawk Weekly first came out in early 1990s as a result of its owner and publisher

Greg Refraccion’s “strong craving to have my own newspaper.” To keep up with the

“mainstream newspapers”, Refraccion decided to change the paper’s size from newsletter

type to the usual tabloid size in mid 1990s.

Refraccion said that community newspapers usually cater to the local government

unit (LGU), the local police and village or barangay folks and the more local stories the

paper carries, the more interest it receives from local officials and people.

The newspaper prints a total of 1,000 copies per issue and saw no growth or decline

in terms of circulation. “For the NewsHawk, there is no such thing as ‘growth or decline’

in circulation since provincial papers are not sold on newsstand like national

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newspapers,” he said. Because of this, community newspapers do not depend much on

circulation for revenue.

Legal notices from RTCs and extra-judicial notices are usually the source of revenue

for newspapers. Other revenue sources include advertisements from LGUs that “come in

trickle and usually come during holiday season” and public relations (PR) jobs “which

tend to affect the image and quality of journalism in a way.” These revenue sources cover

the production cost and other expenses of the paper.

A bulk of the newspaper’s expenses comes from the printing of the paper which cost

around Php 5,000 to Php 6,000 for 1,000 copies of a four-page, black and white tabloid

newspaper which saw an increase from a more or less Php 3,000 for the same number of

copies and pages and size 30 years ago. A colored newspaper will cost around Php 7,000

to Php 10,000.

Aside from covering expenses, advertisement also dictates the number of pages of

the newspaper which usually comes out with four pages. “More ads, more pages,” said

Refraccion who also admitted that he remove “not-so-interesting news stuff to give way

to more advertisements”. Although he assured that important stories must not be

sacrificed.

NewsHawk Newsweekly is run by what Refraccion called a “one-man-army-team”

that is practiced in most community newspapers. “Most provincial papers are run by

‘one-man-army-team’ who does the news gathering, lay-outing, editing, proof reading

and finally fetching the finished product from the printing press,” he said. Although he

welcomes contributors, Refraccion is not intending to hire other staff.

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8. Punto! Central Luzon (Joanna Nina Cordero, marketing manager)

Punto! Central Luzon was established in 2007 by a group of Kapampangan

professionals who saw the need for a local newspaper that is credible, fair, fearless and

balanced. According to marketing manager Joanna Nina Cordero, the newspaper started

as a national daily tabloid based in Manila which had a special section for Central Luzon

news. “Atty. Gener Endona with his friends decided to get a franchise of Punto to be

printed and circulated solely in Central Luzon,” she said. The newspaper is owned and

published by LLL Trimedia Coordinators, Inc. Among the owners are Atty. Gener

Endona, Cordero and editor-in-chief Caesar “Bong” Lacson.

The newspaper used to be a daily newspaper which covers business and political

news in the region. However, due to financial constraints and the need to sustain the

business, it shifted to a bi-weekly basis in 2010. Punto boasts of 20,000 copies in

circulation with 42 percent of its readers are from the AB cluster. Pampanga contributes

50 percent in circulation, excluding Clark which contributes 3,000 copies in circulation.

Aside from Pampanga, the newspaper is also distributed in Subic, Olongapo, Bataan,

Tarlac and Bulacan through newspaper dealers, news stand and subscriptions. Free copies

are also given out to establishments such as coffee shops, hotels and offices. Asked to

describe the growth of circulation, Cordero said it’s the same since 2007. “We have not

decreased the number of circulation. We sustain it.”

Advertisements are Punto’s bread and butter, according to Cordero. “This is the

life blood of the paper,” she said, “We make sure we serve our advertisers well and

maintain or widen visibility.” Aside from a newspaper, Punto is also present online

38

through its Facebook page and website www.punto.com.ph which is under reconstruction

to make it mobile-friendly.

A bulk of the newspaper’s expenses is printing cost. Currently, Punto has five

regular employees and more or less 10 correspondents assigned to different provinces in

the region. “We follow all government rules and regulations and pay monthly

contributions and taxes,” Cordero said.

9. RONDA Balita (Manny Dineros Balbin, owner and editor-in-chief)

Currently owned by four individuals including editor-in-chief Manny Dineros Balbin,

RONDA Balita is a weekly newspaper in Bulacan that first appeared on March 9. 2015. It

boasts a circulation of 1,000 to 2,000 copies a week that are distributed through

subscription and delivery to offices. According to Balbin, there is no such thing as “trend

in circulation” in community newspapers as they maintain the same amount of copies

published in a week. But more copies of the paper are being read or bought during

election period when politicians order copies of the newspaper to distribute to their

districts.

Politicians and private individuals, said Balbin, are also contributing factors in the

increase of a newspaper’s number of pages. “It is only increased once that certain issue

of a community paper had orders coming from a politician or private individual,” he said.

Balbin’s paper prints normally eight pages, but at times, reaches ten to 12 pages. It has

also maintained a weekly frequency of publication since its establishment in 2015 which

is the standard for a community paper in Bulacan or any other provinces, according to

him.

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Three staff namely the printer, delivery boy and the person assigned in collection are

employed by the newspaper at present. Balbin cited “low salary” as the common reason

why employees leave. Writers and columnists, on the one hand, are paid per article

submitted and are not considered as staff.

Much of RONDA Balita’s revenue is derived from court notices, extra-judicial

notices as well as ordinances of LGUs where publication to newspapers is required.

Balbin did not disclose how much revenue the newspaper enjoy but said revenue is

generated once a paper is authorized by the court to join raffle for notices which are

equally divided or raffled among accredited newspapers in Bulacan. These notices, along

with advertisements, cover the expenses of the paper which see printing cost as the

biggest pie sharer. “The only time that a community newspaper is down when their

accreditation is already lapsed,” he said. Accreditation from the court last for five years.

10. Sun.Star Pampanga (Jose Victor De Leon, editor-in-chief)

Began as Sun.Star Clark in November 27,1995, Sun.Star Pampanga is a daily

community newspaper in Pampanga and part of the networks of newspapers owned by

Sun.Star Publishing, Inc. The Pampanga chain of the paper is owned by Laus Group of

Companies which, according to De Leon, makes the newspaper stable and sustainable.

The newspaper has a circulation of 2,000 copies which are distributed through

dealers, subscriptions and special orders. Its usual markets are from the A, B, upper C

and C classes that contribute to readership by “pasa-basa”. De Leon also recognized the

role of the increasing readership as the contributing factor to the newspaper’s steady

upward circulation growth. Circulation, according to him, generates 70 percent of

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Sun.Star Pampanga’s revenue which sees an annual increase of 50 percent due to

increased readership. However, he also pointed out advertisements from business firms

which appear as traditional and native advertisements in the paper as the biggest revenue

generator of the newspaper.

Along with a growing revenue and circulation, the newspaper also saw increases in

its expenditures due to inflation. Printing accounts for its biggest expenses which are

covered through revenues from advertisements and dealer sales. Sun.Star Pampanga

prints a minimum of 16 pages and an average of 18 per issue. This number has increased

from 12 pages because of the increasing number of stories, sections and advertisements.

The number of its staff, on the one hand, is maintained to 25 as per staffing policy.

Employees enjoy above minimum wage and benefits like SSS and PhilHealth.

11. Tarlac Weekender (Roldan Ramos, publisher)

Tarlac Weekender is a new weekly community newspaper, having started publication

in May 2016. It was established by Roldan Ramos who also serves as the paper’s

publisher. The newspaper is distributed in selected government offices on complimentary

basis.

It has eight pages that are usually comprised of opinion and straight news. Ramos

said that there is an intention to increase the number of pages and copies of the paper

once the need to do so arises. Tarlac Weekender is currently made up of three part-time

staff. According to Ramos, production cost is subsidized out of his own pocket and all

part of start up capitalization.

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He also added that local politics will always be a contributing factor in the survival

of community newspapers.

B. Common Features and Challenges of Community Newspapers

Author and Professor Crispin Maslog (1987) in his The Rise and Fall of

Community Newspapers described the profile of a Philippine community newspaper as:

A typical Philippine community newspaper is as an eight-page weekly, in

a tabloid format, with a circulation of 2,500 and printed in newsprint by offset.

Maslog added that it is a small business enterprise, with a full time staff of four,

operating in a big city of about 181,000 people. Its volume of business yearly is

a little over half a million pesos, with a net profit of Php 140,000. It usually has

three or four competing newspapers in town, and therefore hardly makes both

ends meet. It is making a small profit at best, breaking even most of the time, or

losing money at worst.

Thirty years after Maslog’s survey, his findings still resonate in today’s community

newspaper with little changes. In this study of 11 community newspapers in Central

Luzon, similarities and differences have been observed. Looking into the 11 community

newspapers’ circulation, revenue, expenses, frequency, number of staff and pages, the

researchers have noted that the profiles of these community newspapers in the region

echo Maslog’s profile in 1987.

Chart 1 shows the number of pages that each of the 11 community newspapers

interviewed publishes every issue. Though some of these newspapers provided range on

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the number of pages, the average and usual number of pages was taken into account in

the chart.

Chart 1. Number of Pages per Issue of the Eleven Community Newspapers

Interviewed

The average number of pages of community newspapers in Central Luzon is still

eight and in accordance with Maslog’s 1987 survey. The number of pages also increases

depending on the advertisements present and not because of the increase in stories.

According to Manabat, this is to lessen the expenses in printing. “Kung wala namang

advertisements bakit ka mag-12? Bakit hindi na lang eight kasi sayang rin ‘yung four

pages. Magkano rin ‘yun? (If there are no advertisements, why will you do 12? Why not

eight so as not to waste four pages? How much will that account for?),” he said.

43

Most of the community papers interviewed have maintained the number of pages

they had since their establishment, while there are some that decreased the number of

pages. It is rare, based on the interviewees, that a community newspaper increases its

number of pages. Most of these newspapers are also in black and white aside from the

front and back pages. Only Bataan Chronicle prints out a full colored issue every week.

Chart 2 presents the current frequency of publication of the 11 community

newspapers interviewed. The chart is divided into four categories namely daily, bi-

weekly, weekly and monthly.

Chart 2. Frequency of Publication of the Eleven Community Newspapers Interviewed

Out of the 11, nine are published weekly. Only one is published bi-weekly and daily.

No community newspaper of the 11 is published monthly. The results of the interview

show that even after 30 years since the Maslog survey, community newspapers

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particularly in Central Luzon are often published weekly. According to Bataan Press

Club officer Rafael Viray, financial problems prompt newspapers to often publish weekly

rather than daily to minimize expenses. Punto! Central Luzon used to come out daily but

such frequency, according to its marketing manager, is difficult to sustain.

Chart 3 shows the circulation enjoyed by each newspaper. The researchers

considered the minimum circulation based on the range provided by the interviewee since,

based on the interviews, the number of copies printed out is usually at minimum and only

in special circumstances that additional copies are printed out. In order to create a proper

comparison, Sun.Star Pampanga’s circulation was multiplied by seven as it publishes

daily, while Punto’s circulation was doubled as it comes out bi-weekly. No information is

inputted for Tarlac Weekender as the respondent chose not to disclose it.

The maximum unit was set to 40,000 and the minimum was set to zero. The major

unit in the axis was set to 2,500 based on Maslog’s profile.

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Chart 3. Circulation of the Eleven Community Newspapers Interviewed

Contrary to Maslog’s profile, most of the community newspapers interviewed have a

circulation below 2,500. Only four of these newspapers recorded a circulation of 2,500

and above. Punto has the highest circulation with 40,000 copies in a week, while Sun.Star,

which enjoys a circulation of 2,000 a day, has the second highest weekly circulation of

14,000. Bataan Chronicle, D’Newswatchers and Dahong Palay boast circulation below

1,000.

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Due to high cost or printing, circulation of community newspapers which assures

wide reach in the locality is limited between 1,000 to 2,000 copies which should be at

least at 5,000 copies per week, said Pampanga Press Club member and iOrbitNews

Online editor-in-chief Arnel San Pedro. “News print is costly and the presses are

charging more,” he added. The low circulation of community newspapers, according to

Viray, is because of lack of finances to support a daily issue and competent people to

manage the paper. He added that decline in community readership due to people’s

exposure to social media also affected the circulation

However, publishing weekly can also be problematic, according to Philippine

Information Agency (PIA) Region III Regional Director William Beltran. Marketing the

paper becomes a challenge because of the existence of competition such as television and

social media. According to him, an advertiser will most likely advertiser his product

online or through TV as it is more immediate compared to a weekly publication.

At present, the usual circulation of a community newspaper particularly in Central

Luzon averages at 1,000 copies. Increases in the number of copies printed happen but are

rare and usually occur only when a sponsor shoulder additional copies. Christmas season

and election see an increase; however, this is not true in all of the interviewed community

newspapers who do not increase publication during this season.

Chart 4 shows the number of staff of the eleven community newspapers interviewed.

The data presented is a mix of full-time and part-time workers as distinction was not

made by most of the community newspapers interviewed.

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Chart 4. Number of Staff of the Eleven Community Newspapers Interviewed

Three out of 11 community newspapers interviewed said they are running the paper

as a “one-man-army” such as Dahong Palay, NEWS CORE and NewsHawk Newsweekly.

That is one person takes the entire job in managing a community newspaper such as lay-

outing, news writing, marketing, and the like. Among the eleven, Sun.Star Pampanga has

the most number of staff which it also maintains because of company policy.

San Pedro admitted that community newspapers pay less compared to Metro Manila

newspapers and some publications do not cover benefits such as SSS or PhilHealth for its

employees. It also cited “to seek greener pasture” as common reasons of decreasing

employment in the community newspapers. “Most of the local writers found employment

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overseas. I, for a time, worked in the Middle East and United States as section editor just

to make ends meet,” he said.

At an average, a community newspaper has around five or six staffs that are either

full-time or part-time, not taking into account correspondents and contributors. They are

also not open for hiring but are open for contributions.

“Community newspaper does not create jobs,” said Viray, “The publisher himself is

the editor, advertisement solicitor, collector, news gatherer and columnist.”

Chart 5 presents the revenue that the eleven community newspapers receive in a

month. The minimum revenue is accounted in this chart because it is usually the amount

that these newspapers earn. Newspapers such as Bataan Peninsula Times, Dahong Palay,

NewsHawk Newsweekly, Punto, RONDA Balita, Sun.Star and Tarlac Weekender did not

divulge the amount of revenue they earn.

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Chart 5. Monthly Revenue of the Eleven Community Newspapers Interviewed

Much of the revenue of these newspapers is derived from advertisements. Among the

sources of advertisements, legal ads such as judicial notices and memorandum that

needed to be published in newspapers of general circulation take the biggest pie share in

the revenue generation of community newspapers.

According to Viray, advertising is also dependent on the marketing team of the

newspaper that also determines the fate of publication of copies. “An aggressive

marketing team will make a difference in newspaper operations,” he said.

Community newspapers participate in “raffles” of judicial notices which are very

helpful in financially sustaining the newspaper. According to Kapampangan journalist

Ashley Manabat, legal notices bring a lot of revenue for community newspapers. Legal

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notices come in notices like foreclosure, adoption, change of name, inheritance and the

like. Former President Ferdinand Marcos signed Presidential Decree No. 1079 which

revised and consolidated all laws and decrees regulating publication of notices,

advertisements of public biddings, notices of auction sales and other similar notices

required by Republic Act No. 4569, as amended by Republic Act No. 4883 and

Presidential Decree No. 795. The Supreme Court (SC) of the Philippines also released a

circular on newspapers’ accreditation in publishing these notices through A.M. No. 01-1-

07-SC. According to the decree and SC circular only accredited newspapers or

periodicals may publish judicial or legal notices. Accreditation is valid for five years.

“Various community newspapers from Central Luzon cropped up in Pampanga, most

of them only joining raffle of legal documents that needed to be published such as

Invitation to Bids,” San Pedro said.

The importance and role of these legal notices in the finances of community

newspaper is best exhibited by NEWS CORE whose revenue decreased from Php 500,000

to Php 50,000 due to an ongoing renewal of accreditation with the Regional Trial Court

(RTC).

Viray also described the community newspaper business as unstable in the past years

due to the proliferation of broadcast media and social media. Among the 11 community

newspapers interviewed, only two, Punto and Sun.Star have their online equivalent.

It is through exploring online, according to Beltran, that community newspapers can

cope up with the increasing competition. “ I think the best way for our community

newspapers to cope up is to search through the waves of change also,” he added.

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Chart 6 shows the expenses of the eleven community newspapers in a month.

Expenses in this chart are recorded at minimum as increase in expenses happens when

newspaper increases the number of copies printed which is a rare occurrence.

Newspapers such as Bataan Peninsula Times, Dahong Palay, Punto, RONDA Balita,

Sun.Star and Tarlac Weekender did not disclose the expenses they garner.

Chart 6. Monthly Expensesof the Eleven Community Newspapers Interviewed

Printing cost takes a bulk of the monthly expenses of the 11 community newspapers.

Aside from Bataan Chronicle which uses a digital printer, not one of the 11 owns a

printing press. Printing saw an increase in price throughout the years because of news

print cost which also caused a decreasing trend on the number of pages of community

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newspapers which has an average of eight pages. The number of copies is also trimmed

down to accommodate the finances of the newspaper. Utility expenses such as electricity,

water and office space also contribute in the expenses. Inflation, which is the percentage

of annual increase in price level, also affects the expenditures of newspapers as it affects

the movement of price levels of goods.

Three of the interviewed community newspapers said they are breaking even, while

two said they are experiencing more losses than gain. Another two, on the one hand, said

they see increases in their profits, while four did not comment on this.

After laying down the six categories in which the researchers focused on for this

study, the researchers also looked into the type of ownership in which these community

newspapers operate. Chart 7 presents the type of ownership of these papers, categorized

into sole proprietorship, franchise and corporation since it was only these types of

business that emerged during the interviews.

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Chart 7. Type of Ownershipof the Eleven Community Newspapers Interviewed

Most of the papers are sole proprietorship, indicating the newspapers small

operations and the personalized nature of community newspapers which Maslog has

observed in his 1987 survey wherein 59 percent of his respondents were sole proprietors

of the papers. The owners of the community newspapers interview are also journalists

and correspondents of national papers like Carmela Reyes-Estrope of NEWS CORE who

worked as Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI)’s correspondent. “Local publishers are mostly

correspondents of national papers with no big-time financier,” said Viray.

Newspapers such as Bataan Chronicle, D’Newswatchers and NEWS CORE, though

sole proprietorship in nature, are helped run by family members by working as writers or

helping in the marketing operations of the business. Most of Bataan Chronicle’s writers

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and staff are relatives of publisher and owner Lourdes Levera. According to Florida

Teodoro of D’Newswatchers, a sole proprietorship makes the newspaper self-sufficient.

RONDA Balita is owned by four individuals including its editor-in-chief Manny

Balbin. Central Luzon Business Week and Punto, on the one hand, are owned by

corporations who do not affect the newspaper financially or its content, according to the

interviewees. According to Manabat who also writes for Punto, the owners are aware of

the purpose of journalism and let the newspaper on its own. “They are professionals¸” he

said. For Mina Cabiles of Central Luzon Business Week, the newspaper receives no

funding from its owner and left to stand on its own. She added that other businesses of

the Lazatins who own Stotsenberg Media Productions, Inc., place ads on the newspaper

which they also pay.

Sun.Star Pampanga is part of the Sun.Star Publishing Inc. and currently franchised

by the Laus Group of Companies. According to its editor-in-chief Jose Victor De Leon,

this type of ownership makes the newspaper stable and sustainable.

Although San Pedro noted that community newspapers, at present, have the same

passion for service and sense of responsibility that early community newspapers had,

they were often times also manipulated by “scheming businessmen and politicians” who

also own most of the local newspapers like Sun.Star Pampanga of the Laus Group of

Companies which also owns CLTV36 and 95.1 RW FM.

According to San Pedro, community newspapers in Pampanga, which “chronicles

events in the local scenes” and “seeks to inform the community”, began with the

Baluyuts’ The Voice and San Pedros’ (in which the respondent is a part of) Luzon

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Courier (now Pampanga Newsweek) that both came out after World War II. Although

newspapers exist during the Spanish colonial period, they have long-ceased publication.

Other community newspapers such as Headline published by the Pineda clan and a

newspaper by the owner of food processing company Pampanga’s Best folded up due to

absence of “editorial independence”, recognizing that despite the financial viability,

editorial quality remains a factor in the newspaper’s survival which Beltran also

acknowledged. “It’s the credibility of the media and the accuracy of report,” said Beltran.

Aside from viewing the profiles of the 11 community newspapers side-by-side with

the profile Maslog observed in 1987, the researchers also looked into these community

newspapers in comparison with Pangasinan’s Sunday Punch, which is one of the most

successful newspaper in Asia (Maslog, 1985).

Sunday Punch was founded by Ermin Erfe Garcia, Sr. on July 15, 1956 with a group

of friends who pooled Php 20,000 to set up Publics, Inc. that will publish the weekly

newspaper. In its maiden editorial, Sunday Punch proclaimed its role in the community as

a medium of news information and forum of public opinion and to stimulate public

thinking on the basis of the objective of news reports. At present, Sunday Punch is owned

and run by Ermin Garcia, Jr. as a sole proprietor which, according to him, is easier to

manage. Family members also help in the operations of the paper which is also true to

most of the community newspapers interviewed.

A sole proprietorship ownership gives the newspaper more leeway in its operations

compared to corporations. Corporations provide more stability to the newspaper as more

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finances are available for it through contribution to advertisements like in the case of

Central Luzon Business Week and Sun.Star Pampanga.

However, the type of business ownership of the paper does not really affect the

newspaper’s financial viability as no funding is given to them by the owners. “Stand

alone” as Cabiles said. Much of the finances of the newspapers still rely on

advertisements which is also one of the reasons of Sunday Punch’s financial viability.

Garcia Jr. said they are growing in terms of revenue because of the presence of “Manila

advertisers” like Toyota, PNB, Isuzu, San Miguel Corporation and Cebu Pacific.

Advertisers from the capital provide more income in advertisements compared to local

advertisers, said Levera of Bataan Chronicle. The presence of advertisements from big

corporations is very helpful in generating revenue. According Manabat, a big bulk of

Punto’s revenue is from “institutionalized ads” of companies like SM, Cebu Pacific and

Air Asia. The revenue these big corporations, which said Manabat amounts to Php

100,000 at the very least, give a newspaper is very much evident in Punto and Sun.Star

which enjoy the biggest circulation and number of pages among the 11 newspapers.

Sunday Punch enjoys a circulation of 5,000 copies per week which saw no increase

since its establishment 60 years ago due to the cost that increasing copies will bear. “Cost

is prohibitive,” said Garcia, Jr. The newspaper has a bigger circulation compared to most

newspapers interviewed for the study. But it has the same concern as other newspapers

with increased expenses especially in printing. However, despite the increasing cost of

printing, the newspaper increased its number of pages from 12 to 14 that reaches 16

pages. Its number of pages is also above the average eight pages.

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Contrary to most of the 11 newspapers, Sunday Punch, said Garcia Jr., is gaining. It

has also more staff compared to the average with seven staffs who are properly

compensated with at least a minimum pay and benefits, he said. They are also open for

hiring, which is not the case for the 11 newspapers.

The newspaper has been running since 1956 and has maintained its growth and

financial viability which Maslog has already observed in 1987. Aside from Dahong

Palay which is the oldest of the newspapers interview with 53 years, most of the

community newspapers are relatively new, dating back to no later than the early 1990s.

Table 1 shows the date of establishment of each of the 11 community newspaper.

Table 1. Date of Establishment of the Eleven Community Newspapers

Community Newspaper Date Established

Bataan Chronicle 1996

Bataan Peninsula Times 1991

Central Luzon Business Week 2005

D’Newswatchers 2008

Dahong Palay 1963

NEWS CORE 2006

NewsHawk Newssweekly 1990s

Punto! Central Luzon 2007

RONDA Balita 2015

Sun.Star Pampanga 1995

Tarlac Weekender 2016

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Ask what is the secret behind the survival of Sunday Punch, Garcia Jr. credited it to

commitment. Similarly, most of the community newspapers interviewed cited their

commitment to publish the paper and sent forth their advocacy of public service to

readers.

Based on the results of the interview, community newspapers in Central Luzon are

mostly eight-page weeklies with a circulation of 1,000. They are small business

enterprises of sole proprietorship, usually run by a “one-man-army”. They earn most of

their revenues from advertisements in forms of legal notices and commercial ads. They

do not rely on circulation and readership for survival. Instead, copies are given out for

free or through subscriptions and mailing.

C. Community Newspapers and Central Luzon’s Economic Development

Composed of seven provinces namely Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Nueva

Ecija, Bataan and Aurora, Central Luzon comprises about seven percent of the country’s

total land area or 2, 147, 036 hectares. As of the 2015 Census of Population, the region

has a total population of 11, 218, 177 with the province of Bulacan recording the biggest

population with 3.29 million, while Aurora had the smallest size of 214,000.

The gross regional domestic product (GRDP) of Central Luzon posted a positive

economic growth from 2015 to 2016 with 9.5 percent and is one of the ten regions

recording accelerated economies. The region pegged a GRDP of Php 773.28 billion in

2016 which was primarily driven by the manufacturing industry, particularly from the

manufacture of food, beverage and other transport equipment. Aside from this, significant

revenue increases from the major industries namely agriculture, hunting, forestry and

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fishing (AHFF) brought a double value compared to the 2015 figures. Central Luzon’s

service sector also posted a growth in 2016 due to expansions in financial intermediation,

public administration and defense and compulsory social services, trade and repair of

motor vehicles, motorcycles, personal and household goods, and other services. (PIA

Region 3, 2017).

The economic growth of Central Luzon has been evident with the existence of

establishments like shopping malls, hotels and infrastructures like airports. “Central

Luzon is generally economically viable,” said Beltran, while Manabat described it as

“very healthy”. San Pedro of the Pampanga Press Club also credited the “vibrant”

economy of Pampanga as a contributor to the growth of community newspapers due to

the entry of more investors that turn into advertising clients for the papers. A growing

economy for Viray is also means “more investments or locators, more advertising

clients”. He added that a growing economy is a big factor to improve the newspapering

business.

All the interviewees of this study recognized the booming economy of the region,

particularly the provinces in which they operate. They also acknowledged the role of the

growth to the growth and survival of their newspaper.

Levera of Bataan Chronicle admitted that Bataan’s economy has been helpful to the

paper, also recognizing the improvement in the province as evidence by the growing

number of businesses. According to her, there are more stories and more advertisers

because of the economic growth.

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Supnad of Bataan Peninsula Times also recognized the growing economy of Bataan

which is brought about by the pour in of investments. “If the economy improves, it yields

positive effects to local newspapers,” he added. He also acknowledged the contribution of

politics in the economic viability of newspaper. “It contributes to the economic situation

of local newspapers since some of the politicians resort to tapping our services to boost

their propaganda.”

Mrs. Teodoro of D’Newswatchers also recognized the growing economy of the

province of Bulacan, acknowledging the improvements it has underwent in the past 30

years and its effects to businesses, including community newspapers. Salazar of Dahong

Palay also acknowledged that Nueva Ecija’s economy is growing along with the times, a

flow that the newspaper goes with.

Estrope of NEWS CORE said that the improving economy of Bulacan affect her

paper’s operation as more companies exist which becomes marketing and advertising

clients. De Leon recognized the growing the economy of Pampanga which he credited to

good governance in the province as having positive effect on the newspaper due to the

existence of businesses that open up to advertising. “The paper becomes the main conduit

of business,” he said. Aside from advertising opportunities, increases in the people’s

purchasing power widen the circulation of the newspaper, hence, increasing its revenue.

He also sees minimal effect of Pampanga’s proximity to Metro Manila to Sun.Star

Pampanga because it has “retained its identity as a community newspaper”.

However for Cabiles, Refraccion and Balbin, the booming economy of the region

does not translate to a positive effect on the newspapers. Although Cabiles recognized the

booming economy of Central Luzon, she said it does not affect the newspaper because

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despite the growing number of establishments particularly in Pampanga, the businesses

do not necessarily tap community newspapers for advertising. She added that most of

them even wanted to be advertised for free or lower down the prices of the newspaper’s

standard advertising rates.

The community newspaper industry in the region is growing, according to Cabiles of

Central Luzon Business Week. However, as the number of newspaper increases,

competition also increases, adding to this the advent of social media.

“When the province’s economy improves, publications do not follow since no one

from the business sector place advertisement in the local paper,” Refraccion of

NewsHawk said, but recognized that even though the newspaper is not progressing along

the growth of the region in terms of economy, the economic condition of the province

cannot also affect the newspaper negatively.

Although Balbin sees a big improvement in Bulacan’s economy as income-

generating and multinational companies, BPOs and malls have invested and sprouted in

the province, RONDA Balita is only “a little bit” affected by it.

Some of the interviewees also admitted that the region’s proximity to the capital is a

problem. “Proximity to Metro Manila is also a given problem to local newspapers

because instead of patronizing local papers, they would rather have the national papers

widely circulating in the news stand,” Estrope said which Balbin echoed saying,

Bulacan’s proximity to Metro Manila as a hindrance because advertisers would rather tap

Metro Manila newspapers instead of the community newspapers. San Pedro dissented as

for him proximity of Pampanga to Metro Manila is not issue because “locals seek local

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news from local writers” and that “the paper’s survival is not hinged on the proximity of

Manila.”

Balbin added that the economic condition of the province is not a necessity in the

survival of the paper but said that politics, especially in Bulacan, is “very necessary to

survive” as it affects the paper’s revenue, circulation and content. Refraccion also

admitted that community newspapers are dependent on LGUs for revenue because of

ordinances, Invitation to Bid and other government announcements, however, he clarified

that newspapers are not beholden to LGUs when it comes to editorial policy. “We can

criticize them if the need arises, but we can also massage their ego if needed without

compromising the truth,” he said. Also, that a newspaper can survive with or without

politics. “We will try to survive no matter what what and without compromising the truth

and the quality of journalism we have been practicing,” he added.

Not only the economy, but politics, according to De Leon, has effects to Sun.Star

Pampanga because it is the top news generator, affecting content as well as circulation

and revenues especially during election season. “People love to read politics,” he said.

Politics also affect the viability of community newspapers according to Estrope.

“Many publishers also tend to befriend politicians to be able to get contracts for

publication of ordinances which is also a major source of income for the paper,” she

added. Publishing stories favorable to politicians lead to “incidental bulk orders” that

also becomes major revenue source for publishers.

However, Estrope also believes that politics is not a vital factor in a newspaper’s

survival. “Many newspapers survive on their own, legitimately publishing news without

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fear or favor and is as self-sustaining,” she said, also pointing out that her advocacy

journalism allow NEWS CORE to continue publication for the past 11 years.

This sentiment was also echoed by San Pedro. According to him, he also does not see

the province’s economic condition and politics as a necessary factor in the paper’s

survival. “With or without a rosy economic condition in Pampanga, local newspapers

will persevere,” he said, adding that the community newspapers’ sense of responsibility

may contribute a much bigger piece to community newspapers than the economic and

political scene of the province.

It is undeniable that the economy of Central Luzon is growing, with its continuous

expansion in GDRP and growth of its industries. However, despite this feat, there is no

direct translation of the boom to the community newspapers in the region. Although a

booming economy helps in pulling in businesses for advertisements, not all community

newspapers benefit from this. Proximity to Metro Manila also becomes a concern

because advertisers and clients would rather tap national dailies than local newspapers.

However, community newspapers remain optimistic that with our without a booming

economy they will survive and continue to thrive because of their stories, public service

and advocacy as well as commitment.

VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

McQuail wrote that the media is dependent on the economic capacity of its area of

operation and that it reflects the condition of societies of which they are part. However,

after interviewing the 14 respondents for this study, the researchers has concluded that

community newspapers suffer financial difficulties and less growth but more break-evens

and losses that do not reflect the expansion of Central Luzon’s economy.

From the information acquired through the researchers’ interviews among

community newspapers namely Bataan Chronicle, Bataan Peninsula Times, Central

Luzon Business Week D’Newswatchers, Dahong Palay, NEWS CORE, NewsHawk

Newsweekly, Punto! Central Luzon, RONDA Balita, Sun.Star Pampanga and Tarlac

Weekender and interviews with the Philippine Information Agency, the Pampanga Press

Club and Bataan Press Club and keeping in mind the objectives of the study, the main

points can be summarized as such: Community newspapers in Central Luzon publish

1,000 copies per issue, observe minimal growth in its circulation and do not really

consider circulation as its source of revenue because most of their copies are distributed

in government offices and for free; Community newspapers in Central Luzon rely heavily

on court notices and advertisements as sources of revenue. Community newspapers in

Central Luzon are mostly published weekly with an average of eight pages and which has

been mostly maintained; Printing cost accounts for the biggest pie share in terms of

expenses which are covered through revenue from court notices and advertisements;

Community newspapers in Central Luzon do not employ over five staff and writers and

columnists are not hired full-time but are contributors paid per article submitted.

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All respondents recognized the growing economy of the region. Community

newspapers in the region are affected by the region’s progress through advertisement

revenue due to the growing business firms existing in Central Luzon. Also, expenses and

operation costs are affected by inflation that leads to increases. However, aside from

advertisements and expenses, economic growth in Central Luzon has minimal positive

effect on the newspaper’s circulation, frequency and the paper’s number of staff and

pages. Because community newspapers do not rely on circulation and newspaper

consumption is not considered as an immediate need, increase in people’s purchasing

power does not necessary translate to a bigger and wider circulation. Many newspapers

have maintained the weekly frequency of publication and the average number of copies

and pages to satisfy the requirement to qualify for court accreditation for notices. Staff

count is at minimal because operations of community newspapers are small and usually

sole proprietorship in type. The economic growth of the region did not also translate to

salary increases or employment increases because along with increase in revenue from

advertisements and other sources is an increase in expenses brought about by price

inflation, making keeping a large number of employees difficult.

Community newspapers are sources of information that ideally carry out local stories

more relevant to the community, making their existence in a community necessary for

development and to create a self-governing citizenry for the betterment of society.

However, it is undeniable that a community newspaper is also a business entity that relies

on revenue to continue its operation. In this aspect, economic viability of the community

in which the paper operates affects the financial viability of the newspaper. However, the

economic condition of the community is not the only factor that must be considered in

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the operation of community newspapers because despite its effect to the newspaper, other

factors such as politics, the judiciary and advocacy contribute much bigger parts in its

survival.

VII. IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The results of the study imply that the economic conditions of Central Luzon

affect the viability of community newspapers in terms of revenue because of the presence

of advertisements. However, in terms of other categories it has little to no effect.

Community newspapers continue to thrive but they also continue to face difficulties

especially in their finances that do not mirror the lauded economic development of the

region in which it operates. It means that media institutions is considered as part of the

economic system, with close links to the political system recognizing that various forces,

other than the economy, have the capability to affect the operation and content of the

media.

As with any other research study, there are gaps and walls that were,

unfortunately, not addressed thoroughly.

Thus, the researchers suggest that a nationwide study about the community

newspapers in the Philippines should be studied especially those community newspapers

distributed in government agencies and offices or non-government organizations (NGOs).

All community newspapers in Central Luzon should be analyzed and their newspapers

and newsroom staff to be interviewed to see their similarities and differences and to cover

the totality of the economic condition of the region. To fully realize the objectives of the

study, there is a need to conduct a survey to the readers of every newspaper in the region

to know if the newspapers are really serving their purpose as the main source of

information of the people in the community.

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Further specification of media consumption of the residents may also be

undertaken to find the best medium to propagate ideas for economic growth of the region.

A comparative study with the situation of other provincial newspapers can also be

done to understand more the interconnectedness of economic growth of journalism in the

society of today.

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APPENDIX A

This questionnaire was sent to the respondents via e-mail. This was also the basis

of the questions asked during face-to-face and phone interviews.

Name of Publication:

Date of Start of Publication:

Address:

Owner of Publication:

RESPONDENT:

REPONDENT’S DESIGNATION IN THE PAPER:

History

How did your newspaper come about? Please share a brief history of how yournewspaper was established.

Ownership

Who is the current owner or publisher of the paper? If possible, please also includewho were the previous owners or publisher.

How does the paper's ownership affect the paper especially on its economy?

Circulation

Who are your paper’s markets? How do they contribute to the circulation?

Did your newspaper's circulation increase or decrease in the past 30 years (since1987)?

How will you describe the growth (decline) of your paper? Was is at a steady trendor did you observe an irregular trend in the circulation?

What factors contributed to the growth (decline) of your circulation?

If circulation is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth ofyour circulation?

Revenue

In terms of revenue, how much does circulation contribute to it?

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What are the other sources of revenue does the paper have? How do they generaterevenue for the paper?

Which of these sources (including circulation) give the most revenue to the paper?

Did revenue observed a growth or decline in the past 30 years (since 1987)? Howwill you describe the trend of its growth or decline?

If revenue is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth of yourrevenue?

Expenses/Cost

Have the paper’s expenses increased or decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)?Why is this so?

What usually contributes the biggest expense of the paper?

How does the paper cover the expenses? Is there a gain or loss?

If the paper is losing, how do you address this? What were the solutions undertakenby the paper?

Staff

How many staff does the paper have at the moment? Has this number increased ordecreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)?

If the number of staff is decreasing (increasing), what are the usual reasons why theyleft (stayed)?

Are staff properly compensated such that they receive at least the minimum wageand enjoy benefits like SSS, PhilHealth, etc.? Why so?

Is your paper open for new applicants or hires at the moment? Why so?

Number of pages

How many pages does your paper usually have?

Has this number increased or decreased in the last 30 years (since 1987)?

What factors contribute to the increase (decrease) of the paper’s pages?

How will you describe the content of your paper? What usually comprises the pages?

Advertisements

Who are the usual sources of advertisements?

In what form do advertisements come about in the paper (through news article, photo,etc.)?

How does advertisement help in the survival of the paper?

Frequency of Publication

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How often does the paper come out?

Has this changed in the past 30 years (since 1987)? If yes, why so?

What factors contribute to the survival of the paper?

Economy of the Region

How will you describe the economic condition of your province in the past 30 years?Has there been improvement? If yes, in what way?

How is the paper affected by the growth (decline) of the province’s economy?

If the paper is affected (not affected), why is this so?

What facet of the province’s economy is the paper most affected?

How do you think does the economic condition of the province be most helpful to thepaper? Do you think the economic condition of the province is a necessary factor inthe paper’s survival? How and why so?

Politics

How do politics in your area affect or influence news coverage?

Does it also affect the paper’s revenue, circulation or content? If so, in what way?

How do you think does the political condition or situation in the province affect thepaper? Do you think politics is necessary for the paper to survive? How and why so?

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APPENDIX B

The interview transcriptions are in this section. Three out of the 14 interviews were

done personally, one via phone and the remaining 10 were done through e-mail.

Interviews conducted via e-mail were done in English, while personal and phone

interviews were a mixture of English and Filipino. One interview used Kapampangan in

minimal parts of the interview.

The legend R will be used to indicate the researcher’s words in the interview, while

interviewee’s parts will used their initials.

Interviewee: Ashley Manabat, Punto! Central Luzon

Date of Interview: April 3, 201

R: What is the history of Sun Star po?AM: I started with Sunstar with the wire services. In Sun Star Clark, Subic, Mabuhay.There are a lot of Sun Star here, it is the advent of community journalism. That 1995, thebeginning, it was November 1995 and then although before that there were a lot of localnewspapers already pero weekly. Pampanga used to be known as the killing fields oflocal newspapers because of its proximity to Manila. Advertisement will come up on thesame day at the same time. Unlike in Cebu the national dailies arrive in Cebu by noontime or after lunch by then community journalism became the byword because of thechanging reference of people. They want to read community journalism which is moredetailed, which is more neighborly, which is more familiar rather than read newspapers,stories that are irrelevant to their everyday lives. With that advent of the bustlingeconomic activity of Clark freeport before it was Clark economic zone most specially theClark International Airport, then it became a catalyst for development. That is why notonly local newspapers thrive, there were daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, therewere radio programs, radio stations and even, as a matter of fact television stations here,several of them. Including national television stations which are now branch out inPampanga like ABS-CBN, GN 44, blank TV is regional unlike ABS and GN and there'sanother one, UNTV. They all have base of operations here. They all have their brancheshere. Unlike CLTV, is the first regional television network here in Central Luzon.Unfortunately, they do their news broadcast in Tagalog because their target audience isthe whole of the region and the region is not speaking in Kapampangan. Unlike ABS-CBN in Pampanga and GN 44 especially GN 44, those two, they really target theKapampangan people, the Kapampangan region. Not only the Kapampangan in regionbut also the kapampangans in Tarlac, the Kapampangans in Bataan there are

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Kapampangans in Nueva Ecija, the Kapampangan region is wide but that was a long timeago.R: Sir how about our newspapers po? Di ba hindi rin sila Kapampangan?AM: We have a provincial ordinance, if you are publishing a local newspaper, you shouldbe publishing atleast one Kapampangan column that is why we have Kapampangancolumnist so to nurture the Kapampangan dialect or language itself, every localnewspaper has a small corner where we advocate Kapampangan culture, language andothers.R: Are present po ba, masasabi niyo po ban a the present newpapers here in Pampangaare still thriving po ba?AM: Yes definitely! They are still thriving. You can judge by how many of them now,easily I can count almost 10. There are locals, weekly, dailies, there are a lot. With theadvent of social media now, there are digital newspapers now like I-orbit, Rappler,Bulatlat. Iorbit was established last October by the Pampanga Press Club. Becauseeverybody has their gadgets now, just look around. Social Media is very much relevant.Journalism is different, It is the history at a day.R: How long are you writing na po?AM: I was a journalist before around 1995. So it is different if you are a writer of ajournalist.R: Sir will you describe the newspapers here in Pampanga as true to their, di ba po theyare expected to tell the stories of the community?AM: Yes! They are thriving. In the Philippines, people are looking at local newspaperdifferently because more detailed, you can read your neighbors, read relevant thingshappening in your environment. That is why people read local newspapers now, althoughthey also read national dailies because of the controversy generated by our nationalleaders, by actors, actresses, celebrities, by the national circle, but generally now localnewspapers are thriving because of the economic activity generated by the airport, theClark airport and the Subic airport. Like SM Clark would not advertise in the Inquirer orthe Bulletin, or Star because their target audience is the Kapampangan and it costs a lotand waste of money because nobody from Mindanao will go to the sale. Nobody from theVisayas will go here just to buy from the sale. So they would rather advertise in Sun Star,Punto, Observer, Business Week, The Voice, because you know why? Dito lang siya eh.They get the money from here and it going to be circulated.R: Punto publishes twice a month po ba siya?AM: Punto publishes twice a month. A weekly then became a daily, then it was affiliatedwith Philippine Star at present not anymore. During its long history of 10 years, then itbecame affiliated with Philippine Star for quite a while. And then it broke off, it becamethrice a week, for economic reasons also. So we realize we compete head to head withSun Star. So we realized it was quite effective, we stayed for three times a week. But withless activity, we try to experiment for twice a week but it was also effective. We beat theweeklies by one issue, we are far behind with the dailies, because we come up withstories which are not even in the dailies. So as much as possible, we take care of ourstories, to be more detailed more appropriate to Kapampangans.R: Sir our thesis po kasi, we are interviewing community newspapers in Central Luzonpo. Ano pa ba things you can share with me, in Central Luzon?

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AM: Pampanga is the cradle of Philippine Journalism and I think that is undisputed. Allthe best newspapers, all the best TV staions and radio stations are based in Pampanga.And the most active press club is in Pampanga Press Club by three years. PampangaPress Club is group of journalists not necessarily Kapampangan but based in Pampanga.They write in different mediums like newspapers, broadcast journalism, TV and radioand even now with the advent of social media, the Iorbit news the news portal. But theKapampangan in news media incorporated is a group of senior Kapampangan journalists.You’re cannot be a member of the KANMI of you don't have a kapampangan blood. It isan exclusive group. There was a time in the past, that all the captains of the industry ofmedia in Manila are kapampangan. In kapampangan in media is a group of seniorkapamapngan, when I mean senior, I mean senior. Most are retired but others are stillactively writing columns. Other are about to retire like Dr. John Manalili, sila kasi careereh. Kapampangan in Media are group of senior kapampangans based in Manila mostlyalthough there members based here. So you cannot be a member if you are not akapampangan and your don't have atleast 10 year of writing experience as a journalist. Inthe Pampanga press club, you cannot be a member if you don't have 5 years writingexperience behind you. Based on your output, based on your deportment, character as amember of the press. Wala ka dapat major na kaso. Otherwise you will be kicked-out bythe news agency or media outfit and especially the Pampanga Press Club.R: Paano po nakakatulong yung mga organizations na iyon?AM: When you go to the field or beat there are dangers, provincial journalists are themostly killed for example here in Pampanga, "tayo ang pinapatay." People especially thepartisans, the corrupt ones beleive in the sunshine principle. We try to expose that bywriting on their dirty tactics.R: How about in politics po, kamusta po ang mga community newspapers?AM: In politics, community press is highly affected that's why we try to maintain ourcredibility as a journalist. Because if that is compromise, that is a huge problem. Ajournalist's credibility is the most imp thing people believe. If you are not credible andnobody will believe you.R: What's the difference between citizen and real journalism?AM: Real journalism does not hide behind a pseudonym. We do not hide behind a trollaccount or whatever. "Ako yung record holder sa Inquirer and Sun Star ng libel cases."That is why our role is very important as members of the fourth state, watchdogs ofsociety. That is why our credibility is very important so that we can police not only ourown ranks but also the community. Because community journalism is the in thing now.You are a journalist, you write objectively, your write as much as possible balance. Youcan use your common sense. If you start covering something, "dapat pinagaralan mo nayun. Sino ba yung mga personalities dito. Sino yung involved dito." No stories worthdying for. Kapag alam mong delikado jan wag kang pupunta jan, tanga ka kaoag pupuntaka jan. Ang dami na ngang pinapatay sakin eh, Because we are the unheralded, we are thelow temple of the organization. That is why they silence us. Community journalism coverthe political side which is one aspect of the society, meeron din crime jan, mayeconomics, sports and lifestyle. So if you are a community journalist you should beadaptable and flexible. Pero dito we cover everything because general assignment due tothe set-up of media organizations.Although some newspapers nakikiprint lang like Punto,twice a week, wala kaming printing press. At that time yung Conrad Ad and Hour

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Foundation from Germany, nagbibigay yan ng Printing Press, unfortunately di kaminakakakuha kasi masyadong mahal they cost five million to ten million.R: How does your newspaper cope with the times like today’s digital age?AM: Digital age, meron na kaming website so it multiplies the newspaper into muchreaders as you want. Even if you are in Alaska, if you have internet you can access Punta.You can access news about your neighbors or your community. Although advertisers likeSM they would see the hardcopy.R: How do you publish stories? How do you edit your stories?AM: I was the last editor of Sun Star Clark and first editor of Sun Star Pampanga when itwas acquired by the Laus Group. Then I was the founding editor of the Central LuzonDaily Headline ng Gitnang Luzon, Banner Central Luzon. I was the editor of The Voice.It up to you how you multiply your pay. Pag lumabas sa Business Mirror, ilalabas ko rinsa Punto.Sa Punto, tingnan mo naman maraming advertisements.There wasa time 36pages or 37 pages, 38 page syung dyaryo so most of teh the time mga ten pagesa angmadals minsan nagiging eight peor very rare lang yun most of the time ten or twelvemisnand 16 so ibig sabihin twice a week lang kaming umalabas meron akminginstitutionalize ads na dumadating. For instance, Cebu pacicific, kung mag adinstitutionalize yan so they pay in a year. So included na sila s abudget so kapagnagdedeliberate ng budget angCP meron na silang appropruate amount na akaearmakrkforadvertisements nila.minsna naman meron silang advertsiers sa aknila, deangadvertisingcompanies a ren ating lang tatalnan products at kumpanya kaybat ilangmaghandle professionally karing advetrisements da.minsan ilang kadeal mi ren. Tehamrketing department is the one that ahdles tha. It should be completely independentR: So meron po talaga staff ang newspaper for marketing.AM: Yes, dapat dpaat otehrwise we will not survive. Yun na nga ang sinasabi ko. Kaisnagkakaroonngconflct of interest. How can you be intervieweing me at the same timegetting my advertisarial or whatever. Diba? Definietly slanted na.R: Sino po nag usual sources of advertisements po ng Punto?AM: CP, Air Asia, samga airline companies Kantar pero yung CP isntitustionalize yan.Kaya minsan kapag may adverse na story sa kanila kung minsna kung hindi namanimportante hindi na anammin pinapalabas. Otherwise we lose their advertisement.Perokung talagang necessary we inform them we need to comeup with this story butyou betterput your side. Sbai nilaokay, eto yung side naman. Balansiado.R: May ganon incident na po ba?AM: Definitely angdami.R: Pinipigilan pong…AM: Ay hindi nila pinipigilan kapag pinipigilan then we drop them of the paper but theyare professionla they know na hindi pwede yan. Dito s atrabaho natin, alaht professionalang mag akusap mo. Otherwise what will distinguish you from the tsismosa.Magkanu inginstitutionalie ad, minsa 100000.R: In a year?AM: Wa.Mnsan mayna ya pa ita. For example, nung siguro full color ya ing fullpagesiguro mga 20,000 ya. Dinan meng dicount skasi institutionalize ya,. Nung everyweek atin ya, magkanu ya? O once a week yaat least four times a month ya, 4 times 12tapos times 20,000. Apin ita. Not so much king circulation pero kingadvetrsiers. Minsanating lang pagagawang adveroral story ay pero advertisementya.

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R: May disclaimer po ba?AM: Hindi walang disclaimer meron lang this is an advertorial. Minsna ala oneng balumu naman.R: Mas dependent po nag mga newspapers sa advertisements kaysa sa circulation?AM: Yung circulation talaga wala yan. Ating kang web page. Ot salwan ke ing dyaryunung atin namanglibre. Itdoes not ake any sense nung talagang magconcentrate ka kengcirculation. You lose. That is why maka 10 pesos ya mu.ala naman ping sasali.R: Mga ilang newspapers po ang nabibili?

AM: 1,000 lagi yan. Ang supreme courts naglabas ng resoultion dapat ang newspaper ofgeneral circulation. Dpaat eto ang number of copies na pipiniprint nya.otehr wiser idkapwedeng tumanggap ng extra-judicial announcmenet.oren deng matas my rin. Can youimagine bawat etung aren tsa 6,000 namu.Kadan mu nung per page 10,000 nung 10 pagesya yan e di 100,000 pero nu g eka magcomply ketang supreme court resultion makananumenbfg tanbggapan ita? That’s why you have to com-ply. Atin lang size ding fontna elapwedeng malait,ela pwedeng maragul. Anggang ding national makanyan mu naman. Atimo ding mafoforeclose ang property dapat advertise dala naan den. Atin mong mikawanikayu ning asawa mu meannull ka. Atin mo pepa change kang lagyu. Deta pipapaten da laden ning local newspapers kasi maragul ing panakitan den.R: Kailan po naestablish ang putnto?AM: 2007, Ala ya pa yatang10 years.R: Sino pong owner?AM: Lazatin. Not the Lazatin poliutician, Tarzan lazatin. Lazatin of San Fernando.R: Jimmy Lazatin?AM: Pinsan na la.R: Sila na po ang owner dati pa?AM: Yes.R: Paano po naapektuhan ng mga owners yung newspaper? May parang say po ba angmga owners?AM: Meron pero syempre alam naman nila yung newspapering business is all about.R: How did Punto come about?AM: Yung Lazatin nagbigay ng pera gusto niyang magtayo ng newspaper.SO kinausuapang mga kakilala nila. Si Edgar Mobido yung unang kinausuap nila. Kais karing localnewspapers keni ing pinakamalambat dili ing The Voice e. Dekada ne yan e.1940s ya payata ngeni. Manalakad kang anggang nanung dyaryo keni, mathrive ya because of theeconomic, bustling economy off the clark free port, Angelescity, mabalacat. And even theairport, darakal la ring flights ken. Makaanchor ngan ingpaag asa na ning Kapampanganken snaa magtake off na.R: Nung umalis po ba ang mga Americans, humina po ba?AM: Remenber nagkaroon ng pinatubo. The americans were forced out of Pinatubo. 1991the senate decided tto nuliffy the military base agreement. Anggang atyu laringAmericano ken ing empleyado naning Calrk 19,000 ngeni 100.000. Can you imagin from19 to20 thousand time ng Amerikano.meging lang 100,000 and still growing. Dati limalang locator ken. Balu mu ngeni pilan, 900 business locator. Yung mga hotels ngayondyan ang dami. So yung rvenues yun mga institutional ads tsak yung mag extra judicial

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legal ads. Ren ding lifeline da ring newspaper. Ding alway fly by night lang newspaper,magprint lang 50 copies bahta lang manikwa ka ring legal ads.R: Meron na po bang newspaper sa Pampanga na parang natigil?AM: Marami.R: Kailan po ang pinakamadaming newspaper?AM: Ngayon. Because of the economic activity dakal.R: Ano po yung usual market ng Punto?AM: Ing circulation naman, kasilibre lamu,kami pamye milamu, although karingnewstands present la. Kasi ring advertisers lalung lau na ing SM ela mag-advertise nungalayu king newstands. Karing malls, coffeeshops, karing bangko, oren ding didinan daring circulation manager. Karin laring ammaasa e. Ampo karing opisina,atin mu ringmagsubscribe. Atin kami rin pung subscription.R: Pero usually po sa mga establishments po talga?AM: Oo, karing library local government units?R: Yung circulationpo ba ng Punto in the past 10 years increasing or decreasing?AM: Increasing kasi we are still in and atthe sam time as evidence by our website whichgets 100 or close to 100 hits a day every time a new issue is uploaded.R: Kailan po nagstatrt ang website?AM: Matagal na halos kasabay ng paper. E ne kalupa ning iOrbit, Bulatlat,Rappler dengatin lang breaking news nung ating milyari atyu ne agad. Ikami ali.Nung ala mungbayung newspaper.R: Sir sabi nyo po Punto’s circulation is increasing, ano po sa tingin nyo ang mgafactors…AM: No no no I did not say thecirculation is increasing. The readers are increasing asevidence by the number of hits of our website kasi itang kekaming ciruculation is always1000.R: Hind po nag-iincrease?AM: Pwera na lang for example I apung lolita mo meg-advertise ya kekami.karela ya ingrights na ning SCTEX. 19 signages na ning NLEX, Pampanga’s best exit makanta. Printye adang makanta. O kaya nung mikabit ya forntpage pasalwal yu kaming300 copiesmakanyan. Oyta mag-increase kami. Pero usually 1000. That’s the minimum. Ating rules.Tsaka ing printing press e naka tanggapan nung paprint kang 500, ya naman nung paprintkang 500 at 1000.R: Magkano po ba ang pagpiprint?AM: 8 pesos ata per page. I;m not so sure.R: Ano po yung pinakabulk na expense ng isang dyaryo?AM: Ayan sa printing press. Magkanu ing bayaran mu ken 20,000 to 30,000 for 1000copies. O ding sweldu da pa ring magobra atin kami pangtilities abyaran.sulu, ilaw,danum, telepono, internet, although maka-ex deal la rin. Like ing internet, emiyababayaran.Atin yang advertisement ing Converg kekami just to offset. Gamitan me ringing common sense. For example ring correspondents mi ating lang 300 pesos per story alulwal kekami e do namna collectan.kasdan mu matipun la.After two months, threemonths karin do kwanan.R: Ganyan po ba lahat ng community newspapers per article po yung bayad?AM: Wa. King Manila per column centimeter ing bayad. Oneng keni ditak la ring staffkaya bibilangan da no mu ring story.

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R: May benefits po ba ;ike SSS, Philheallh..AM: Ding office workers atin la. Pero ikaming correspondence ala kami kais e na kamiman regular e. E na kami man covered kin kayiR: Ilan po yung number ng correspondents…AM: Ah madakal la. Atin sigurung apulu. Pwera pa staff. King office siguru seven oreight la ring regular?R: Growing po ba ang revenuw ng punto?AM: Siguru.Nagbibigay silang bonus.R: Ano po ang nagcocontribute sa growing revenue?AM: AdvertisersR: Mas amrami pong advertisers?AM: Yeah yeah maraming advertisers, institutionalize ads, minsan emu na baluadvertorial ya pala. Although ngeni didinan milang this is a paid advertisementsR: So yung usual sources of revenue nyo po?AM: Advertsiements in the form of instutionalize ads. Legal ads den talaga ring magdalaR: Yung expenses po ba nag-iincrease po ba?AM: Circulation den, printing ding expenses.R: Are you losing or gaining po?AM: Yung overhead naman merong bibanabayaran na utilities, regualr employess,gasolina mga empleyado yun lang hidni nag-iincrea eyan. Kung merong specialoperationsfor examples may binabayaran kang 300 copies na ganito, 500 copies merongcorresponding amount of monye na nakalaan dyan.R: May mga llowance po ba ang mga writers?AM: Meron din lalong lalo na kung malaya. Common sense lang din gianagamait nila.R: Yung pages po ng Punto ilan?AM: Yung usual is 12. pero sometimes nagtitipid tayo kung wala namang advertsiementsot magtwelve ka ot enaka mag 8 syaang la ring 4 pages magkanu la rin deta. Pero ngenimalagad na kami mung mag 10 uling madakal advertisments. Oneng minsna anggangmadakal advertisementmag 12 ya pa ya murin bawasanan na no mu ring stories.R: 12 na po talaga sicne 10 years ang Punto?AM: Ali, Not necessary 12 but we try to maintain 12. Most papers 8, 10. Ngeni atin ring5, 6 kanita ali malyari ing makanyan.R: Paano nyo po idedescribe ang content?AM: Lahat naman binabanatan namin. Politika . yung mga police stories laging anyanyan.R: Kapag lection po ba kumakapal siya?AM: Kapag election the same. Marami lang mga poliutical stories.R: How will you describe the economic condition of the province?AM: Very healthy.In fact yung quarry industry, maraguyl, 1 million a day in revenue.Ukarin ka mantung probinsya 1 million a day ya ing rveeneu king quarry pa.R: Stady growth po ba?AM: Yes yes. Specially now with Nanay BabyR: Ano po ang main indutsry ng province for you?AM: Quarry. It was a curse nung Pinatubo but now number one ang quarry.R: Yung po bang growunge economy helpful s aPunto?AM: Yes, hindi lang sa punto sa ibang community newsppaers din and other medium.

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R: Do you think po ba magiging continuous?AM: Sana, many are syaing na its the end of community newsppaers industry. Becausepeople now a days want everything via fingertip na lang. Pero I doubt that. Newspaperswill still be. Even Punto. It will be along time for Punto to fall down kasi very idneepntdeya ing Ounto.Eya beholden to anyone We can put out any story we want.R: As journalist po ba? In ten years po ba?AM: Yes, journalists they never retire.

Interviewee: Regional Director William Beltran, Philippine Information Agency

Date of Interview: April 7, 2017

R: What is the PIA definition of the community newspapers?WB: Well, for PiA community newspapers are also vital just like what the mainstreamnewspapers are. WHen you say community newspapers, it contains information about thecommunity. It is on a smaller scale because it touches more on the basic necessities, thebasic information needs of a particular community. And since PIA is the focalinformation, public information and development communication of our government, it isalso our mandate to inform the public about what the government programs, projects andservices are. Meaning itongmga to, itongmgabinabalitanamin would help the community.That's why it is very very important also that community information, information fromthe national are also cascaded to the community. And the role of community newspapersdoonpumapasok. Di ba? If there are community newspapers, there around circulating diba in the communities mas magiging well informed I would like to supposed. Masmagiging well informed yungmga citizens.R: So how does the agency poba, what's the relationship of PIA with communitynewspapers po?WB: Okay, how would you define community newspapers on your course?R: Community newspapers their circulation is within community po.WB: Provincial or those are local newspapers. The question is?R: How would you decribe the relationship of the agency with community newspaperscirculating around?WB: Atleast I would speak for Region III. Atleast we have a very strong linkage withcommunity newspapers. I would not call them community newspapers, I will call themlocal newspapers or provincial newspapers. The relationship is so strong because we feedthem news, we feed them press releases about the government programs, projects andservices which they publish in their publications. Their releases usually kasi many areweekly. Few are daily. Other few are forthnightly. In a sense we help them because ofthat relationship, we are able to help them. Nafafacilitatenaminyung work nila becausewe supply news to them nanagagamitnilasa publication nila. Kasi di ba when we saycommunity newspapers it has limited, very very limited resources. It has very verylimited funding, it has very very limited manpower also. Kung meronsilang writers, verylimited also who could just do a little. So the PIA dun pumapasok. We feed them newsnaginagamitnila for publication. So more or less, yung work burden ng communitynewspapers, or these provincial newspapers napapagaan ng kontikahitpapaanobecuase ofthe releases we're issuing.

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R: So you mention pokaninana you won't call them as community newspapers but you'llcall them as local/provincial newspapers. Why so?WB: They are also regional. Kasi there are newspapers that circulate on a regionalcontext. Parang ganun. Why so? Because, provincial naman is also a community, But Iwould like them to, kasi for example, we don't call our local media, local media. I callthem provincial media. SO atleast there is this context, their anokasi, their kasi when yousay community yung concept natin ng community is very minimal. I mean very, what doyou call that, hindi very malaki. When you say community it's just a small communityparang ganunna small area langangsakop. But when you see a province it gives atleast adistinction to the newspaper that it circulates around the province and it caters to theinformation needs of a particular province.R: So yunlangpo mas malakiyungsakop ng provinvce? Sir they say pokasina communitynewspapers tell the stories of the community. Do you think our local newspapers aresuccessful in doing so?WB: Okay. To some extent yes but there's just like everything else. There are lot ofthings that our community newspapers should do. I think angnagkukulangkasi they touchmore kasion political issues, on government issues mgaganun. They tackle those. Whatlacks is that they do not tackle more on the people's needs. Like for example, they maykasi parang pwedenilanggawin like, they may expose, they may report a particular needof a particular barangay so that these could reach a higher level. Meaning, yung neednayun because of their reporting sanamakakatulongsila dun sacommunity nayun o dun sabarangay nayun to raise that concern or issue. Let's say for example to the government, tothe concerned government agency or maybe even to the president if that issue or concernis pressing.R: But the local newspapers are influences?WB: Local Newspapers are very minimal very minimalyungnapapansinnaminsamgaganun.R: Sir does PIA still conduct studies on newspapers poba? Bec the last data nameronpois2010. Bakitpo kaya?WB: Actually hindimasyado. First it’s not really our mandate. Our mandate really is toinform the public. About government projects, programs and services. Our main mandateis to make our citizens well informed so that they can make better decisions in life. SOfar as research, we do researches as it's not, we have not tackled yet about communitynewspapers. I think in many many years na.Kasi hindinaminsiya mandate because PIAjust serve as partners. So we do not really regulate community newspapers, we serve astheir partners.R: Pero yung last statistics niyopoilanpoyungcommunity newspapers nameronpoangcentral luzon?WB: For the whole country I don’t have the figure. I don’t have the exact. That is also theproblem of PIA. Because we don't really regulate. If we update our directory. We justrely on the things nakakilala. So yungmganarereceivenaminnameron,hindinaminmamomonitorlahat. I mean the exact figure, we don't have that. Angmeronlangkami yungmganakikita naming active or we were informed about theirexistence. Through nagpapadalasila ng copy saaminmgaganun.R: Mgailanpoyungmasasabiniyo?

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WB: Can I just email you. I don't have the exact figure. Email naminsayoyung mediaprofile. So you would have, just regional context langyun ha. If the only update. sohindinamin maR: How will you describe the condition of the community newspapers here in CentralLuzon.WB: Well in terms of proficiency, they're very very good. In terms of proficiency.Proficiency very good I think also credibility is also okay. Quite good naman. The realchallenge of community newspapers is really funding on how to sustain their operations.R: Does government provide funding?WB: No because we, sabikongawalakamingclout over those. The PIA has no clout overprovincial or regional media because sabikonga partner lang kami.R: Why do you say pona proficient ang community newspaperWB: Because I've seen their releases.R: Sa credibility namanpo?WB: On credibility I have seen organizations or newspaper managementnakapagnakitanilayungisang reporter nilana he's really not doing good, meronginagawangthey fire him or her out. Mgaganungbagay. Meorngmgaganungpolicies sila. I meananother one on credibility is that, their credible because they do not write just to write.They really dig deep into the information needed.R: Anong community newspaper in Central Luzon, province wise. Anong provinceponaparang mas overreacting?WB: Okay, it;s in Pampanga. We have Pampanga very very active also Tarlac.R: How about po like Zambales?WB: Zambales, kokonti because of geographic location. Ang busy district of Zambales isOlonggapo and Subic di ba? Pero if you go to Iba, which is the capital, I think angmganewspaper doonisa lang or dalawa in the whole because of geographic location.R: So how importantpo is the geographic location po to the viability of communitynewspapers?WB: Very important because like for example, when we say geographic, yung Pampangakasi is the center of the region. So more or less very busy yung province so there are a lotof information that you could publish, write about and publish. But for Zambales kasi,yung geography ng Zambales and I think also it would matter also yng demographics.Like yung Pampanga compared to Zambales is not really well off, soyungmgaganungbagay.R: Iyunnaman pong proximity to metro Manila, do you think poba may effectrinpoiyonsamga community newspapers?WB: Yes. I think yung proximity to Manila, because Manila isanonamanyunyungpinakatalagangmainstream natin. Eh kung baga parang yunyungdunkalatyung media dun kalatyungmganewspapers. Ang pinaka proximate natinnaprovincesa Region III to Manila is Bulacan. But from community newspapers, Bulacan is alsodoing well. They have a lot but I think it also affects because the information from, Imean newspapers from Manila, reaches very easily di ba? To Bulacan. Mga tabloid,mgaganyan. So they would rather, it's not really a significant factor but somehow itaffects. Because yunnga, people living proximately to Manila, on a personal anonalangah. I think, I would rather buy tabloids national tabloids compared to provincial. So that's

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why in Bulacaneven if it is provimate to Manila, there is no daily. There's no dailyprovincial newspaper, everything is ano weekly.R: Pero maramirin pong community newspapers?WB: Yes, quite a number din. Pero out of the provinces, Pampanga poyung maypinakamarami? Yes yes. And yung Pampanga yungmeronsiyangmore regular issues.R: Sir yunnaman pong economy of Central Luzon. How would you describe yungeconomy of Central Luzon in relation to information and communication?WB: Kasi in terms of economy pag economically viable angisang province, di ba more orless newspapers community or provincial will thrive. Because there will be people whowill be interested to find the publication mgaganunor to serve as their dragon business. Ifits economically viable many people who are inclined to information really would try tomake information also a business mgaganun. I will not tackle on, on ano communitynewspapers one sample ko is TV.R: In Pampanga, we have a right of TV, TV stations operating. Why?WB: Because Pampanga is economically viable. Very very progressive. Now businessmen will look at the information as pet. Kasi di ba if you have business, it’s not just purebusiness. You have to promote also and to advertise. So one way of advertising isinformation. And where do you get information? It's through print, through broadcastmgaganyan. A business man, for example if he has a business eh digawinnaniyangmagtayosiya ng sariliniyang station. Di ba? So that the advertising of hisTV nacacater ng station at the same time yung TV is a business in itself narin. Samethroughtwith newspapers ganun din. It serves as an avenue also for a business to thrive.Kasi yunngalibrenayung advertising mo, at the same time makakakuha ka pa ngadvertisement from organizations, business and government even. Andbakitnilaginagawayan? Because the purchasing power of Pampanga or any provincenamedyoeconomically viable. malakas di bayungpurchasing power. And they have tocompetitions. They have a lot of, say for example your business is about cars. You have alot of competition mgaganun, selling cars and all BUt if you have this business alongsideyour car business, di bayung advertising of your car business, nacacaterna for free byyour ano.R: Aside from Pampanga poba, are other provinces in Central Luzon in your opinioneconomically viable?WB: Well Central LUzonnaman generally, is eonomically viable. One it's because of itsproximity to Manila. So the travel of goods is very easy. Travel of products and servicesis very easy. Pampanga and BUlacan are the most proximate. So that's why Pampangaand Bulacan are very progressive.Among all provinces of Central Luzon. But there areprovinces also in our region na even if compared other provinces of other regionsmedyoangatsila but for the region medyomababasila like Nueva Ecija, Zambalesmgaganun.R: Eh Aurora po?WB: Aurora ookasamayung Aurora. But they have their own mechanism naman on howto cope up di ba? But in terms of the seven provinces, talking about the seven provinces itis really Pampanga and Bulacan which thrives.R: Sir how do you think the existence of TV stations in the region affects the printindustry.

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WB: Yes. Okay. It affects the print industry especially the weekly because one, TVstations provide news and information. Not really instantaneous di ba? Mas mabilis di ba?Compared to weekly newspapers affected. That's why a lot of newspapers now asidefrom national also provincial and regional newspapers have an explored social media sothat they could make sabay with the tv stations di ba in terms of bringing information tothe people in a more, in a quicker manner.R: In talking about social media po, how does social media affect the communitynewspapers po?WB: Well it affects the, social media actually natatabunanniyayung print. If you producehard copies, print hardcopies of information or newspaper for that matter, labasniyan let'ssay for example today yung news, bukas pa anglabasniyan. Social media anjanna eh. It'sin the instancy of the news.R: In your opinion, are they competition? Makakatulongpobasila?Sir: For me social media should compliment the print. For me kaasi, we don't haveregulatory, no regulation in social media. Everybody can post. Everything can be posted.Yun langanglaban ng print. If it's on social media, social media you can post real time.DIba? Halimbawangcocover ka, halimbawainiinterviewmoakongayon. You can postanytime kung anoyungsinabikona.Bt print for print, and advantage ng for print becausemagpriprint pa sila di ba? it has to take a day pa. They would have the chance ofverifying the information. More or less I'm not saying that information in social media isnot credible or they are not accurate. Just the same and point kolang, print media have teelbow time to verify information before they print it out or before disseminating theinformation.R: Sir what can you say about the coverage of community newsapers on governmentnewsppaer and policies? Anopomasasabiniyosacovergae ng community nespaperssapolicies? Kunyaripo you gave them press releases po, as is pobanilangpriniprint?WB: No! Some media would do that kasinganaman if it's press releases it's for everybody.But some media would always dig deeper into the issue. If it’s a press release syempre itsmore advantageous to the part to release it di ba? Bacuasehindinaaalteryung angleyungmessage. but of course some media would lways find a way di ba? To dig deeper into thestories. So para mas mapahaba pa ganun.Para mas mapahabappa and para mas magingmore comprehensive yung story.R: Meronpo bang mga news na parang news nanirereleaseyungmga communitynewspapers naparang medyoaltering message? So far wala panamankamingnamonitornaganun. Or yunganopo?WB: That is why PIA and the private media atleast here in the regional area we arepartners. We haven't experienced that nanaalteryung message.Parang kasiang viewpointng media natindito, if the release come from PIA, it must be good. More or less its moretruthful and accurate. SO parang yunyungnagiging parang on their own yunyungnagigingcontribution nila for development contribution.R: Yung PIA namanpo, on your part poba, parang how do you deal poba, is there an issueon the president. Is it you mandate poba to defend the president?WB: Yes. We do not really defend. I don't like that term, defend. But siguroang termkonalang is to bridge the gap, we bridge the gap between the president's pronouncementwith how will the media perceive like for example yungsinabi ng president. Ang role

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namin is paanobanamin to mapapaintindisa media na it's not the way they think. So it’sreally bridging.R: Di namanponagcoconflict?WB: If there are attacks to the president, we monitor. but not the role of PIA to issuemessage but is is the role of presidential communications. We will raise that tomalacanang, then the PCOO will release messages. PIA will disseminate messages. PIAlangangang may on the ground communication. Each sitting president is distinct. Maykanyakanyangatake depending on how they percieve things and how they see things moreviable and more applicable.R: Halos lahatpo ng pinapatayna journalists po ay situated samga community newspapers?WB I think maybe yungmga media killings it's because the media conerned attackssomebody na influential. If you are not that influential you will not kill. I mean if thatmedia is not credible or kung hindi credible and kung hindi somehow totooyung report diba? There are ways on how to eviate di ba? Pero if you resorted to killing, that means naguilty ka. So it's the credibility of the media and the accuracy of the report. Becausenathre-threaten yung other side. Meron ding kasing media killings na media related butthis is very kokonti in line of work meron may utang lang. so parang away langtalaga.Community newspapers tackles what is happening around the community, around theregion, around the prvince. They are more intimate doonsa issues surroundng the localityor the province.R: Do you think community newpspaers who use the dialect cater the community?WB: Community news this is the reality, if youre not a daily id ka for benta. Like forexample ditosa Pampanga, ang daily namin, Sun Star. So it is really for sale market ka.Challenge is funding really and also marketing. How do you market. Kaya ngayungSunStar ang subscription mga offices tapos may mga complimentary pa samga governmentagencies or LGUs mgaganun. In terms of marketing mahirapna daily pa yan. Panopagweekly ka may bibiliba ng weekly? Wala! Kaya circulation ng weekly natin,bakasaisangdyaryomaraminayung one thousand and yung one thousandnayunbakitnabubuhaysila? Now angadvertisemntpag community newspaper, kaya sabikoTV yung most viable. Pag print ka na weekly ka, angadvetismentmo very limited mgakung sa judicialR: Kailanganpo one thousand ang circulation di ba?WB: YesR: Sun Star owned by the Laus Sir? How does ownership affects coomunity newspapers?Since its owned by Laus businessmen. Like for example like GMA is owned by Guazon,so therthanthe network may other businesses posila. So if the news is against a certainbusiness?WB: Yun yungsinasabikosayo that is an advantage of course if you own it, you have youradvertisement free for your business and at the same time no attacks. At the same time onthat media channel that you have.R: Does it affect poba the credibility of community newspapers if ganunpoba?WB: Well I think, if its runned by a private business man it doesn't di ba? Pero if it's ranby a political personality, it is. The reality is that people will not go that. So kung ganunlike for example, you have one thousand copies of that newspaper, you distribute it to onethousand people and you own that, and negative personality mo. May issue sayoperohindika inaatake ng dyaryonaito instead yungdinidistributanmona one thousand,

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tinginmoilanyung may alamnaang may ari is politiko. So if you will conduct a surveyabout that, credibility issue the one thousand, out of the one thousand people baka lessthan a hundred lang mag no. So still malalaki pa rin.R: Yung agency pobanagkaroonna ng tie up like seminars and forums samga communitynewspapers before?WB: Yes what we do pero it’s not really on capability build up. Earning capabilitybuilding on writing hindiganun. Ours is more on issues mgaganun. Let's say for exampleforum on west Philippine sea, we gather media. Another on is we gather media becausethere is this project of NCCA they arepromoting something mgaganun.R: Anopoyung most recent naginawaniyo?WB: I think it was in December yung NCC. We had pala last December, we invitedmedia for aworkshop with pro Metrobank foundation so it’s really aon journalism.R: Responsive namanpobayungmgacoomunitymedi when you conduct those things?WB: Yes they participate. Becasuekasingakokonti. If meronmgaganun aside from sourceng mga news nilayun for their channel they get to learn something. So it's really a gain ontheir part.R: In your opinion how does community newspapers help the country po?WB: Well, one is somehow community newspapers perpetuate the culture of the industrynaanjan pa rinyung print natin. Nanjan pa rinyung print natin despite moderntechnological advances other than perpetuating. Kasi community newspapers help also in,one thing din is they help government, they help even private organizations and businessorganizations about their life. For example ngayungmga publications naganyan. Asidefrom it is mura, compared to advertiisng in Manila based newspapers mas mura to. Interms of info sharing, I think doonkailangan ng medyoayudapa especially now kasiyunginformation natin, everybody has a cellphone na. The modern communication way isreally cellphone na. Di ba? So that is why malakingepektoyunsacomuunity newspapersnatin. So in terms of information yungpagdownload ng information doonsa community,medyonanganganidyungcoommmnewsppanatin. The life our community newspapers is inperil aside from kasinga challenged nangayungfundng and the yung market panilamedyomahirapnnagipenetrate. Because of the new technological advances we have, Imean the modern communication way is through cellphone. I think it will not perishnaman. Yung media natin, a lot of media kasi is passionate about their craft, about whatthey are and who they are. Yung concern nilaanjan pa rinlagi.R: Will there be chance of growth poba?WB: We are speaking about the hardcopy. I think what's the best way for ourcommmunity newspapers to cope up is to search through the waves of change also.Instead of having or selling hardcopies why not explore online, Online communitynewpapers. Not all newspapers stands have Sun Star in their selling. I thinkI just don'tknow kung meronnang, I think meronnamanna online payment for online portals. But notall can pay through oline. So if you are selling a community newspaper online you haveto compliment this especially at the barangay level. But you cannot sell your communitynewspapers tojust ordinary citizens, butyou can sell those to barangay captains. Themarket of community newspapers really different na.

Interviewee: Lourdes “Lulu” Levera, Bataan Chronicle

Date of Interview: April 10, 2017

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LL: Kasi lahat umaasa doon sa raffle. Ay hindi, sila ano sila. Hindi ko alam kung anongginagawa nila. Malakas silang magkapera.R: ‘Yung ibang newspapers po? Prior to 1996 po ba? Kasi tinayo nyo po ‘to kasi paranghindi nyo po nakikita na nagke-cater po ba ‘yung mga newspapers sa dapat i-cater po nila?LL: Oo, kasi ako ‘yung mga tricycle driver association dito lagi kong binibigyan tsakalahat ng munisipyo pinapadalhan ko. Tapos ‘yung hindi ko ma-afford na lahat ‘yungdapat ‘yung mga barangay captains sana para sa mga constituents nila. Isa sa kinatutuwako, alam mo ‘yung mga teachers kung minsan nagsususlat sila ng article kasi ang basis ngpromotion ngayon isa is they must at least have one article published in the localnewspaper. Ngayon sila na ang kusang pumupunta dito hindi na ako. Marami nangpumupunta dito. Pumupunta na sila dito. ‘Yun naman ang bayad doon 500 kungpinublish ko, kung sila ang gumawa ng article. Hindi rin naman nawawala minsanpinapagawa pa sa akin. ‘Pag ka naman ako pa ang susulat at ipupublish pa dito, sinisingilko na ng 1500 kasi kako kapag kinumbida akong mag-lecture 2000 ang binibigay. Sabiko kung baga parang professional fee. Tapos kung minsan ‘yung mga maliliit na ano,mga extra-judicial pagkatapos ‘yung mga bilihan, sila na rin pumupunta dito. Basta kontilang.R: Ano po ba member po ba ‘yung newspaper ng mga parang press club? ‘Yung mgaorganization po ng mga newspaper?LL: Noong ano, ‘yung BIND. Isa ‘yun sa mga ano. Ako ‘yung presidente nun. Lahatnaman ng ano dito parang patay. Magaling lang nung una. Meron dito ‘yung BataanMedia Force. ‘Yun ano dun treasurer ako dun pero wala na rin. Tapos meron dito, BataanPress Club, ‘yung Bataan Press Club ‘yun yung pinakamatandang organization dito. Sila-sila lang.R: Hindi po kayo member?LL: Hindi ako member doon. Sila-sila lang.R: Hindi po lahat member?LL: Dapat lahat. Meron pa dito yung national na nag-organize dito.R: Sa PAPI po ba member kayo?LL: Ano ako dun ‘yung sa education, committee on education pero ano rin ni isang beseshindi nagmi-meeting. Ngayon kakagaling lang namin dun sa national grid. Tinawagankami.R: Ano po ‘yung national grid?LL: Sa electricity. Doon kami nagmeeting sa Subic. Lahat ng media dito kinumbida perowalo lang kaming nag-attend. Tapos ‘yung sa Zambales, ang dami nila. Siguro triple sakadami namin. Ngayon i-o-organize kami, combined, pero naisip ko, hindi kamimagkakaroon ng puwang kasi wawalo lang kami. Sila ang dami nila. Parang sinuggest kodoon na presidente na lang ang I-elect. Tapos kako dun sa vice-president for print dalawa.Isa sa kanila, isa sa amin and the rest of the position. Nag-oppose y’ung taga-Zambales.Ang sinabi nung sa Zamables ‘wag na raw magkaroon ng officers basta miyembro nalang kaming lahat ng national grid. Pero sabi ko, “The reason that we were called and thereason why we were organized para magkaroon sila ng katulong. Kung magmimiyembrotayong lahat, e di sila rin ang kikilos.” Hindi nila gusto ‘yun so ang nangyari, kanya-kanya na lang. Set of officers ng Zambales, set of officers namin. Alam mo paanonamemaintain ang paper, isa pa sa nakakatulong, every three months nagpupublish ako

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ng magazine. Ito yung binebenta ko, 40 pesos ‘yung puhunan ko dyan. 50 pesos kungtinitinda. Pang-sustain so I can print the paper.R: Kailan po pinupublish?LL: Every three months.R: Until now po ba nagpupublish?LL: Oo.R: Kapag finifeature nyo po sila nagbabayad po sila?LL: Oo.R: Kailan po kayo nagstart magpublish ng magazine? Anong year po ba?LL: Ako palagi sumusulat ng cover story.R: Kapag nafeature po sila sa magazine…LL: 10,000. Hindi naman lahat. Edi syempre ‘yung 30,000 pa ‘yung hinahanap ko.Ngayon naman yung sa anniversary. Sabihin mo ng 100 bisita o tapos 300 bawat tao,saan ko naman kukunin ‘yun? ‘Yung guest speaker na kukumbidahin ko magspo-sponsorsiya. Kamukha ni Geraldine, siya ‘yung huli naming guest. Nagbigay ng 10,000. Diproblema ko pa ‘yung 20,000. Gagawa akong meal tickets. So nami- meet ko ‘yun.R: Never po kayong nag-cease ng publication?LL: Hindi. Weekly pa din. At saka pagdating ng pasko, lahat ng mayor, governor, vice-mayor, may greetings. 2002 pala nag-start. Itong Bataan Women’s Magazine, BataanGraphics na ngayon.R: Sa inyo din po ba ito?LL: Hindi na sa’kin ngayon ito. Ganito ang nangyari. Meron kaming kapisanan na anghead ‘yung asawa ng governor, si Mrs. Vicky Garcia. Noong nakita niya ito, hiningi niyana maging project siya ng Provincial Women’s Commission. Syempre asawa nggobernador, nahihiya ka namang tanggihan. Di pumayag ako. So ‘yung first issue nya,‘yung first issue, ako ‘yung editor-in-chief pa rin pero ‘yung condition namin every issuebibigyan akong 10,000. Hindi naman natupad ‘yun.R: Hanggang ngayon po ba nagpupublish po ito?LL: Oo. Dun sa last issue, columnist na lang ako.R: Hindi po kayo binabayaran?LL: Ay hindi. Noon pero ngayon iba na. Kung tutuusin pwede kong i-ano ‘yan peroayoko na pagdating sa pera.R: Every kailan po pina-publish ‘yan?LL: Every three months na lang. Sa kanila na lang, hindi na sa akin.R: Pero noong 2005, kayo po ‘yung unang nag-publish?LL: Oo.R: Writer po ba talaga kayo noon pa?LL: Hindi pero noong high school ako nagsusulat ako sa school paper sa Cabanatuan City.R: Ano po ‘yung mga questions po regarding circulation, revenue kasi po ‘yung studynamin sa economic side ng paper.LL: Pero kung tutuusin, there’s money in newspaper. There is money pero ‘yung moneydoon parang illegal naman kasi lalapit ka sa politiko hihingan mo. Halimbawa, nagpa-press conference. Tinawagan ‘yung mga ano. E ako di ako nakakatikim ngganon.Pinagbibigyan ng pera kasi ayokong magkautang na loob sa politiko kaya’thangga’t maari ‘wag akong manghingi Pero kunwari, meron akong ginawa, may pina-publish sila, hindi naman pwedeng hindi ako magpabayad.

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R: Ano po ba, di ba po bago mag-start yung Bataan Chronicle, merong five existingnewspapers? Hanggang ngayon po ba nag-e-exist pa po sila?LL: Oo, nag-eexist pa. Although ‘yung isa doon binenta niya. Pinagbili nya ng 200,000.R: Tapos kayo po ‘yung owner/publisher ng Bataan Chronicle? Simulat-sapul po ‘yun?LL: Oo, gusto ko ituloy ‘to kahit patay na ako.R: Sino pong magta-take-over?LL: ‘Yung anak ko. Alam mo y’ung naturo sa’kin ‘yung sa lay-outing, paggawa ng title,si Thess. Siya ‘yung editor-in-chief at gusto ko ituloy ito kahit patay na ako. Ngayon sabiko, “Thess,” sabi kong ganyan, “‘pag ako namatay gusto ko ‘yung papel sige pa rin. I-take over mo.” Sabi niyang ganoon, “E naku, nanay pwede akong magsulat pero anghindi ko gusto ay ‘yung kakausap ng tao.” “E ganito,” kako, “dalawa kayo ni Jun,” ‘yungyoungest son ko nasa abroad ngayon. “Sa inyong dalawa ni Jun ko ibibigay. Si Jun ‘yungtaga-gala, taga-attend ko tapos pagdating sa’yo, sasabihin niya kung anong ginawa.”R: Nagsusulat rin po ata si Sir Jun?LL: Oo, siya ‘yung sa from “Saudi with Love.” Nasa Saudi siya. From “Saudi with Love”‘yun ‘yung sa kanya.R: Pati po ba ‘yung isang anak nyo, si Ma’am Elsa?LL: Nagsususlat sila. Lahat sila nagsusulat kaya lang kung minsan hindi nakapagsulat,ako ‘yung nagsususlat. Lalagay ko sa pangalan nila. Kasi wala silang hilig. Si Jun at sakasi Thess pwedeng pakinabanagan. Kaya ngayon palang sinasabi ko na kapag namatay akogusto ko ‘yung papel sige pa rin. Napakahalaga sa akin ng papel.R: Ano pong sabi ng husband niyo nung sinisimulan niyo po ‘yung paper?LL: Ano siya, okay sa kanya. Sa kanya dati ‘yung column na “Around the World”.R: Nagsusulat din po siya?LL: Oo, meron siyang ano. Ngayon si Jayson ‘yung nagsusulat nun. Tapos ‘yung mgasports ganun si Elsa. Tapos si Thess, “FrontLines.” Si Thess ‘yun ‘yung teacher. ‘Yun‘yung sa kanyang column. Kaya lang kung minsan, madalas akong sinsabihan “Nanay,kapag gagawa ka ng title, tatandaan mo dapat may subject, verb at object.” Syempre, masalam niya kasi siya ‘yung English major.R: Sa tingin nyo po paano po na-affect ng paghawak niyo ‘yung paper? Ano ponginfluence niyo sa paper?LL: Ang daming bumabati sa akin na hindi ko kilala kasi nga hanggat maari kung sino‘yung mahihirap ‘yung buhay sila ‘yung makabasa. Pero ano naman kung ibebenta ko,mababenta, pero ayoko nang pumunta sa ganun kasi ang objective ko kasi service sa tao.Lingkod bayan at sana ganun din ang gawin nina Thess.R: Meron po bang nag-iinvest sa paper?LL: Meron namang din ilang pero… kasi mahirap ‘yung may kasama. Meron din mgailan minsan gusto nila sa kanila na ‘yung papel. Ayokong pumayag. Hindi ko ibebenta‘yan. Kamukha nun si Mr.Medina, isa sa pinakamatandang nagsususlat dito, sa BataanToday. Kasama kong nagturo, nagteacher din ako. Mas magaling siya kasi English. E akobiologist ako e. Nagtataka ako ‘yung papel binenta nya ng 200,000. ‘Yung nakabili hindipa nagbabayad. So ang nangyayari kung kalan sila nakabunot saka na lang silanagpupublish. Ako may nabunot ako o wala tuloy ang takbo. Weekly. Ngayon ‘yungpagbebenta niya…Siguro itong papel na ito nakakatulong kahit papaano nakakatulong saakin na makatulong sa mga institution.R: Tapos po ‘yung sa circulation po. Ilang copies po ‘yung piniprint nyo po?

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LL: Dati 1000 ngayon mga 500 na lang.R: Noon pong 1996…LL: Pinakamababa na ‘yung 1000. Minsan higit pa kasi nagpapadala rin ako sa Mindanaoe. Sa Surigao ‘yung mga kakilala ko doon. Kung minsan ‘yung governor, pinadadalhanko.R: Ano po ba ito dinidistribute sa mga munispiyo?LL: Oo munispiyo ganun.R: Pinamimigay nyo rin po sa mga bara-barangay ganun?LL: Sa mga barangay, sa mga toda-todaR: Saan po siya cini-circulate po ba? Sa Balanga lang po ba?LL: Hindi, sa buong Balanga. Minsan nakakarating pa sa Cabanatuan. ‘Yung mgakamag-anak ko dun. Dito sa Pampanga. Minsan pag maraming sobra…R:Umaabot po talaga si sa ibang province?LL: Oo.R: May mga contributors din po kayo from the government?LL: Oo. Minsan pag nagpuoublsihyung mga agency. Yung munispiyo minsan madalasmagpadala dito.R: Sino pa ang mga market ng paper?LL: Siguroyung mga governement officia kais nadidistribute sa munispiyo. Nakakrating samga baranggay e.R: Ano naman pong response nila sa mga sinusulat nyo?LL: Yung gusto nila sa paper ko hindi ako nagpupublish ng mga patayan.Isa yun. Tapospangalawa,halimbawa kamukha nung minsna meron yung mga complaints.Kayakonalalaman yung pumupunta sila sa akin. Kaya kung tutuusin hindi ako mauubusan ngbalita. Maramirin OJT dito.Alammo yung mga nag-oojt dito, kahit paano kumikita. Akosa kanila, sulat kayo ng dalawang news isang Tagalog isang English sususnod dalawnagfeatures, dalawang editorial tapos yung pinakahuli, interview pagkatapos isulat nyokunganong ginawa nyp. O ngayon minsna nangunguha sila ng advertisement.minsan binibigayko sa kanila 40% kaya natutuwa sila. Ngayon hidn na ata nag-oofer ng MAssCommunication yung city college. Nagkaroon din ako ng radioprogram kais tumigil kasinahihiya rin ako sa sponsor. Yung pamagat tit aLulu at your service,my mga sulatabbasahin ko. With coreespondence andmusic and in betweek balita. Baka pagkaano ulitibubukas ulit kasi hinahanap daw ng mga ato sa bi nung radio station e naghahanap langakog sponsor.R: Marami po bang radio or TV stations dito?LL: TV wala. Ang ano power radio,smile radio siguro mga limang radio stations. Meronnga dyan may ari ng radio station sumsasam sa print. Sumasama siya sa press con kasimay kita sa press con kahit paano.May nag-aabot kasi sa press con. Ngayon ako angpakinabang ko yung give away. Kasi nga ayoko ng mayutang ng loob. Mamaya mayhingin sa yo labag pa sa kalooban mo hinid maaring hindi mo pagbigan kasi may utangnaloob ka.’Yun ang isa kong pinagmamalaki. Kaya kung minsan antipatiko sa kin yungano…R: Umaabot po kayo sa manila?LL: Oo, BDO, marami dun.Gusto ko nga sa Manila malaki ang bayad.Nakakasingilakong 20,000R: For advertosement po?

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LL: Yung nabubunot ng ganyan. Eleven kaming bumubunot. Isa lang ang bubunutinkung minsan. Kung maswertehan mo. May presyo naman e. Kapag correction of name,10,000.R: Kayo po ang nagseset nun?LL: Hindi,agreement yan ng mga abogado at publishers. Tapos kapag adoption 10,000kapag extra0judicial, 12,000 pataas. Pero kung minsan ang mabubunot mo bangko,tataasan namin ng presyo. Pero kapag dito lang hanggang dun lang sa pinag-usapan. Perokapag sa labas, pwede kang magset ng presyo.R: ‘Yung sinsabi nyo po bang 1000 to 500, although hindi nyopo siya binebenta, bakit ponabawasan?LL: Para mabawas yung gastos. Natutuwa nga ako kapag kasali akodun saraffle.Nakakatulong. Kung makakuha ka ng 10,000 at least 2 issue na yun.R: Kasi po sinabi nyopo saradio parang competition, sa audience po ba naaagaw din poba ang audience?LL: Oo. Kais kung minsan kapag nagustihan nila yung porgramamo,doon silamakikinig.Hindi na magbabasa. Palagay ko hindi naman mananalo yung radyo sanewspaper.R: Bakit po?LL: Iba kasi kapag nababasa talaga kesa sa nakikinig ka lang. Mas appealing pa rin kapagnewspaper.Mostly merong eleven newspaper,mga apat lang yung radio.R: So mas marami pa rin po ang newspaper. Paano nyo naman po idedescribe yunggrowth ng Bataan Chronicle? Growing po ba siya?LL: It’s growing.Kais in the sense na nung una yung pension ko nauubos. Pero this time,nakakasonra pa ako ng konti sa gastos. Without selling the papaer. The paper is growingin the sense na hindi na ako gumagamit ng personal na ano ko.R: Magkano po yung puhunannnyo nung nagstart kayo ng newspaper?LL: 30,000

R: Nabalik naman po?LL: Oo nabalik namanR: Mga gaano katagal po bago nabalik?LL: Kapag nakaswerte kang nakabunot ng ganito lalo na ng bangko hindi namandito.20,000 na kaagad yun. Nakukuha, nababalik/R: Yung growth po ba steady?LL: Oo. Kasi nga sabi ko sayo nung una pumapasyal pa ako sa mga possible nanagpapapublish. Nagyon hindi na sila na ang nagkukusa.hinahanapna nga nila yungBataan Chronicle. Si Jose Mari, siya yung PIA dito, pinapadal nya sa information. Kayaitong news news news column nya yan.R: Kailan po kayo nagstart ng radio program?LL: Siguro ano, siguro 2013 tapos natigi mga 2105.R: Satingin nyo po anong nagcontribute sa growth ng BC?LL: Baka yung service na nirerender namin sa kanila. Kapag kunwari sinabi nilaakailangn ipupublish.sasabihi ko sa araw na ito bumalik kayio lahat anduon na.Tasaka.baka dahilmura rin.CHeaper ang singil namin. Kasi saiba mahal ang singil. Tsakasiguro kung minsan yung pakikitungo ko sa tao.

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R: Sa mga audience po bakit s atingin nyopo binabasa pa rin ang bataan chronicle evenafter 20 yeras?LL: Bakit dahil kasi most of my news dito s abataan talaga. Isa nang dahilan don isnakaconcetrate dito. Pangalawa, yung pakikipagdeal ko sa kanila. Yung approach ko satao.R: Nagsusulat din po ba si Miss Malou?LL: Hindi.Nagagalit pa sakin yun dahil sa papael. Ngasasayng daw ako ng oras. Sabi ko,hindi mo kasi naiintindihan eto lang yung kaligayaahn ko.R: In terms or revenue naman po,magkano po?LL: Sa permit, 900. Tapos sa BIR, 1500. Sa korte 5000 kasi kapag sumali ka run maybayad kaya lang every three years naman ata yun.R: Magkano po ang kinikita ng papel?LL: Kumikita siguro ng sabihin mo na lang na nakabunot ka once every month, 10,000minsan 5,000.R: Iba’t-iba po?LL: Oo. Hindi consistent ang kita. Sabihin natin siguro mga 50,000 a month.Yung naang pinaka malaki. 10,00 na ang pinakamaliit.R: Pero kahit po ganun, nacocover naman po yung expenses?LL: Oo.R: Ano po ang pinakamalaking gastos ng papel?LL: Yung papel at tinta. Si Jayson na rin nagpiprint at nag-lalayout.R: Dati po sino ang naglaayout?LL: Ako ang naglalayout. Si Elsa yung nagtatype. E nag-asawa si Elsa, secretary ko yundati.R: Source po ng revenue nyo po ay mga sa judicial and advertisement?LL: Oo.R: Tuloy-tuloy po ba yung advertisements?LL: Oo, yearly yan.R: Yearly po yung contract nila?LL: Oo. Mga negosyo.R: Mga politiko rin po ba?LL: Oo. Once a year, ayan lahat yan. Kung talagang babaayaran,6,000 yanpero binayadlang nila 3000. Kahit presyuhan ko, kung ano na lang maibigay okay na..Once a yera yuntuwing Christmas.R: Pag election po ba maraming ano…LL: Oo. Merong nagbabayad. Pero hangga’t maari wag.R: Kailan pong season ang pinakamataas ang kita?LL: December, kasi may mga ganito. Hindi ka rin mahihiyang lumpait. Gusto naman nilayun.Minsan ako pang gumagawa ng message.R: Sa mga sources of revenues natin, ano po ang pinakamalaki ang binibigay sa paper?LL: Private advertisements kasi yun palagian.R: Minsan po ba kayo na gumagawa ng advertisements?LL: Oo. Minsan naman meron namang iba nagbibigay din. Kamukha nung sa pawnshopkapag nagsasale sila.R: In terms of revenue naman po ba, growing naman po ba ang paper? Kumikita po basiya consistently pataas o parang bumaba rin po?

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LL: Palagay ko kasi ang nangyayari pataas siguro kasi hindi ba dati wala namangpumupunta dito, ngayon meron pa ngang nakakarating sa Pampanga, kumuha siya nglupa, inheritance. Nagbayad siya ng 11,000. tatlong issue yun.R: So marami naman po talagang nagpapaadvertise sa inyo?LL: Oo, hindi namang maraming-marami pero dati wala. Nagayon meron. Hindi yannagyayari sa ibang papel kasi yung iba wala namang opisina e. Tsaka iba kapag mayopisina. Awa ng Diyos ang upa kodito 5000 isang buwan. Kumikita naman. Tsaka sakuryente 1500, 1800.R: So nacocover naman po siya?LL: Oo nacocover ko naman.R: Tapos po dun sa expenses po ng paper, tumaas po ba yung gastos ng papel?LL: Oo tumaas. Una doon sa mga printing press. Mas nakakamura ako ngayon kesa sanagpaparint ako. Dati nagpaparpint ako dun sa may Pilar. Noon 5,000 to 1,000 copies engayon. Nagyon mas amaganda pa nga nagyon kasi colored.R: Eh yung papel nyo po saan nyo po kinukuha?LL: Dito na lang binibili namin. Yung tinta mahal.R: Ano po yung pinakamalaking gastos nyo?LL: Sa papel at tinta, Kasi yung 1,000 pesos na tinta, one week lang yun e. Doon palangbumibili sa SM.R: Hindi nyo po ba naisip na magblack and whte na lang po para makamura?LL: Gusto ko na ito kasi nawili na yung mga tao and this make my paper distince fromthe rest of the newspapers. Sila basta mailagay na nila. Tsaka sa newspaper merong mgatao na gusto lang nilang kumita. Hindi yun ang objective ko. Noong nagtuturo pa ako,nagsusulat paako kay Mr. Medina duon sa Btaan Today, column. Ngayon sa loob ngtatlong taong pagsusulat ko s akanya ni isang boteng coca cola hindi ako napainom.Walang kita. Ngayon nung nagretire ako sinabihan ko siya.Mr.Medina I am going to putout my own newspaper.Diniscourage nya ako. Sabi nya magpapale ka wala namang kitasa papel. Sabi ko naman magpuput out ako hindi naman para kumita. Ang pinapaano nyana lang sakin magazine na lang. Naiispi ko ayaw lang nya na magkaroon ngkakompetensya. Dahil noong una amraming pumupunta sa akniya dahil isa sya samatandang nag aano dito. Perolater on parang kakompetensya na ako. Yung iba nyangano dito na nagpupunta most especially hindi naman ako mahal magsingil. Kasi kungminsa walang ibabayad sige na alng ako.R: Tapos po in general po ba, wala po bang pera sa dyaryo?LL: Meron. Meron kasi una hindi kolang ginagawa yung ginagawa ng iba pero kahitpapaano may natatanggapsila sa pagsusulat nila.Pangaawa sa advertisements lalopa nawhen you are a teacher and you wantedto be promoted, you gotta write an article andpublish it in a newspaper so amraming teachers ang lumalapit. Yung iba nga ako paanggumagawa e.R: Meron po ba kayong mag staff ngayon? Yung mga staff nyo po ba hindipo sila yungsumesweldo?LL: Ano na lang pamilya na lang.R: Nagdadagdag po ba kayo ng empleyado?LL: Yung mga nagcocontribute lang kasi wala namang kita kung tutuusin.Tsaka parangnadala rin ako. Merong dalawa na kinumpiskako yung ID para amkasiguro akonamurahin koman, walaakong magiging kagalit, yung mga apo ko na lang.

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R: Yung pung number of pages ng apper..LL: Eight yan pero kapag pasko umaabot ng 12.R: Pero yung mga previous anonyo po…LL: Nagdodoble yan kapag pasko.R: Consistent naman po yon from 1996 to ano po…LL: OO.R: Hindi po kayo nagbabawas o nagdadagdag?LL: Kapag pasko lang.R: Sabi nyo po mahal na ang pagpipirnt at yung paper, bakit po sinusutain nyo po yung 8pages?LL: E yun ang nakagawian e.R: Ano po yung usually ang alman ng papaer?LL: News, features tsaka mga columnsR: Pero most part po ng paper, news po ang sakopLL: Oo.R: Diba po nagstart sya ng bi-monthly, bakitpo kayo nagweekly?LL: Matagal aksi yung bi-monthly. 2 months yun. Tsaka marmaing nagbibigay ng newskailangn mapublish yun agad. Dumadami yung news.R: Ano po s atingin nyo ang nagcocontribute sa survival ng Bataan Chronicle? Bakitafter20 years po yung iba nagssasara bakit ang Bataan chronicle po still striving po?LL: Ang siang dahilan dun is yung pinaka ano ng Btaaan chroniclel is to be abirdebetween the govenrment and the people. We wante dto continue serving the people atipaabot din sa aknila ang different programs ng govenremnt para yung pwede nilangiavail ma avil nila. For a continous service of the people.R: How will you descrie naman po ang economic condition ng Bataan?LL: Maayos naman. May mga business tsaka okay ang Bataan. In fact Btaan ang firstdrug free province ibig sabihin okay ang Bataan madaling oagsabihan ang mga tao. Tsakaang role ng DTi maganda rin.R: Marami pong idnsutry?LL: Oo.R: Ano po ang major industry sa Btaaan?LL: Marami.may isda, araro. Mga kakanin. Mga seafoods.R: Booming po ang ecoomy?LL: Oo.R: Ano naman pong effect ng booming economy ng Bataan sa papel nyo o nakatulong poba siya?LL: May mga stories. Siguro naadvrtsie ng husto. Mga business.R: Kapag marmaipong business marami pong pumapasok na business.LL: Oo.R: Paano po naapektuhan ang luayo o lapit ngmetro Manila sa btaan?LL: Wala naman. Kasi sa maynila hindi naman kami nag-aano dun e.Dito lang kami e.R: Separate na po talaga?LL: Oo.R: Sa tingin nyopo ba necessary na kung saan nag-ooperate ang paper maayo s po angeconomy?LL: Oo.Kais nga nakakatulong ang paper sa pag-aadvertise ng business.

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R: E yung naman pong sa on the otehr side paano nama po nat7utulungan nge conomy ngpapel nyo?LL: Sa mga advertisements. In the sense, nag papaadvertsie tsaka dumadami ang tao.R: Sa politics po? Paano nyopo idedescribe ang politicla atmosphere po? Payapa po?LL: Oo.R: Marami pong political dynastyLL: Oo pero hindi anman negative. Parang naneuneutralize naman. There are somepolitical conflicts pero naneneutralize naman.R: Paano naman po naapektuhan ng politika ang appel?LL: In egneral, mas amrami ang dahil sa politika lumalaki rin ang kita ng papel perohindi ko pa asubukan na dahil sa politka nagakaroon ako ng kita. Kapag nasa season ngpolitika maalki ang kita.R: Kailan po bang politika para makasurvive ang dyaryo?LL: Sa akin hindi namanR: Ano po ang gsuto nyong maging elgacy ng BC?LL: To serve as a bridge between the government nad the people, a link ebtween thegovernement and the people na angprograram sng obeyrno can reach distanct palcesthrough teh appeer at yun namang need ng mag tao sa liblib an akyaunan makaratingsagovernemetR: Sa tingin nyo po masustain po yun ng paper in the future?LL: Oo. Kais sisiguraduhin ko bago ako mamatay.

The texts that follow are the responses of ten of the respondents sent via e-mail.

Greg Refraccion Reply to Interview re thesis

NewsHawk Newsweekly

Bataan Press Club Multi-Purpose Cooperative

Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan

Publisher: Greg Refraccion

BRIEF HISTORY

I think it was early 90s when I fancy coming out with newsletter type publication and hadnamed it NewsHawk. The logo actually just popped up in my mind because of the natureof the business, if you can call it that. Plus, the strong craving to have my own newspaper.A newshawk is a reporter or one who is tasked to look for news. This is ok, I said tomyself.I could no longer find a copy of its very first issue since I did not have time thento compile copies of every issue of the “little” newspaper. It was a magazine format withnews features and good photos. Copies were lost or misplaced while transferring fromone residence to another. This happened too often. It was in mid 1990s when I finallydecided to change the size from newsletter type to the usual tabloid size of provincial

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papers to keep up with the mainstream newspapers.I was then working as deskman forthe Headline Manila, a Metro Manila tabloid, when I had that intense interest to pursuewith NewsHawk. Although, financially problematic and could not maintain the continuityof a weekly newspaper, I was and still am capable of getting the news, writing the news,editing them, having them laid out and finally getting them printed.I am the originalowner and the owner’s economy, so to speak, has not changed. Still struggling to survivethe race. Given this situation where too many newspapers have mushroomed, not tomention the advent of news portals- fake and real- in the internet, mainstream media likeours find it hard to join the competition. Although in highly urbanized cities in CentralLuzon like Olongapo, Angeles, and San Fernando publishing a weekly newspaper isconsidered a thriving venture since most of the owners are already established businesstycoon in their own right.

CIRCULATION

Provincial papers like NewsHawk usually caters to LGUs, the local police and the village(barangay) folks. The more they carry local stories, the more the local folks and localofficials get more interested in your publication. Local officials like to have theiractivities published even in local papers.The circulation does not increase with the time.Local papers usually have printed copies of 1,000 per issue unless the publisher agreed tothe whims and caprices of local politician who orders additional copies…but withaccompanying additional budget for the paper. This usually occurs during election timewhen many publishers allow their papers to be used by candidates for political purposesif the price is right.For the NewsHawk, there is no such thing as “growth or decline” incirculation since provincial papers are not sold on newsstand like national newspapers.The circulation for local publication largely depends on the “enterprising tactics” of thepublisher. If he was able to get legal notices or municipal ordinances for publicationwhich are usually the bread and butter of provincial papers, chances are he may want toincrease the number of copies just to impress advertiser, not necessarily the readers.Localpublishers are not very particular with increasing the circulation because as I earlier saidprovincial papers are not sold on newsstands but are usually delivered and distributed tocity hall, town hall, and other government offices.So provincial publishers are notbothered in any way by circulation issues. The revenue is governed by the sheer effort ofthe publisher or any of his staff to solicit advertisements which mostly come fromgovernment offices.

EXPENSES/COST

The prices of newsprint, ink, and labor, of course, had tremendously increased since 30years ago and this had affected the publishing industry. Way back then, a publisher had toshell out more or less P3,000 to print 1,000 copies of 4-page tabloidnewspaper.Nowadays, a newspaper publisher had to pay the printer between P5,000 andP6,000 for the same number of copies and pages. This is the usual ordinary provincialtabloid with no color except the logo itself.It is more expensive if the publisher wants hispaper published in color sep or multi-color front and back pages but he must be ready topay the printer between P7,000 and P10,000 per 1,000 copies. But again, it all depends on

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the number of pages.The printing of the paper usually takes the bulk of expenses for anewspaper owner. And no publisher in his right mind would ever dare come out with anewspaper issue just to impress his readers. He had to have a piece of advertisement tocover printing expenses. Unless the editor-publisher wants to exercise his or her editorialbragging rights.Of course, just like any other business, newspapering has its own share ofgain and loss. You lost when your advertiser refuses to pay for the advertised material orsay when the candidate loses in the election and he refuses to settle his account.Toremedy this “loss” advertisers whether commercial or political had to pay at least 50percent of the total advertising cost. It takes gut on the part of advertiser to have youradvertising contract signed by the advertiser or you find yourself at the losing end. Insome instances, when you “accidentally” come out with derogatory articles or “banat” inplain language or critical story about your advertiser, chances are you’ll find it difficult tocollect payment for advertisement.

REVENUE

As I said earlier, revenue for provincial papers largely depends on the tacit effort of thepublisher or his staff in convincing would-be advertisers. They do not depend much oncirculation per se, since community papers are not sold on newsstands like the nationallycirculated broadsheets and tabloids. The more advertisers, the more revenue for the paper.The “connections” you make with prospective advertisers or “sponsor,” the moreadvertisements you have.In the provincial set up, you have to exercise the power of PR togain influence with the local officials without compromising newsworthy stories. Legalnotices from the Regional Trial Courts are usually the source of revenue for local papers;and publication of extra-judicial notices, though not so much for a handsome price.Walk-in advertisers come in trickle and that usually come during Holiday Season whencommercial establishments want to advertise their products.Other revenues for theprovincial paper include PR jobs which tends to affect the image or shall we say the“quality” of journalism in a way. Some local columnists had been doing PR job forcertain politicians but not a part of their compensation goes to the publisher who just playdeaf ears to the “enterprising columnist”. Since the PR job is giving the columnist a goodpay, the publisher does not have to pay him anymore in return.Just have no idea how thisPR job turn in revenue for the paper. For the columnist himself alone. The publisher doesnot have a share in the columnist’s “racket.”In 1987, local papers thrive in publication offoreclosed lands but not anymore in the year 2000 on ward. Many publishers then made akilling with the influx of publication of foreclosed lands expedited by local banks. In factmost local papers then would come out every issue with “Notices of Foreclosure” andhad to add more pages to accommodate more of such announcements. I can stillremember a colleague who was able to purchase a Heidelberg printing machine afterhaving published series of notices of foreclosures issued by banks.That was a periodwhen many land owners had no money to get back the land titles pawned with the banks.Too bad, my paper was not accredited to publish such notice by the court.For a localnewspaper publisher, the only means to maintain revenue is to save budget for newspaperprinting expenses to keep it going when advertisers don’t come along.

STAFF

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Most provincial papers are run by “one-man-army-team” who does the news gathering,lay-outing, editing, proof-reading, and finally fetching the finished product from theprinting press. That’s the way NewsHawk is.In other words, no room for extra staff. Andno plan to hire anyone else, for that matter. But I always welcome contributors.

NO. OF PAGES

I usually come out with four pages. With ad, of course. More ads, more pages. Not somuch with more news, but with more advertisements. In fact, it has been my practice topull out not-so-interesting news stuff to give way to more advertisements. What I mean is,less important stories take a backseat.But one thing I can assure you, important storiesmust not be sacrificed. That’s the way it has been and still is at the NewsHawkNewsweekly. Newsweekly daw oh..

ADVERTISEMENT

Sources: LGUs for city/mun ordinances; Local courts for legal notices. Commercialadvertisements: zero. That’s the problem with less urbanized communities, commercialestablishments there don’t bother to advertise their products. Advertising is a greek wordto them.Once in a blue moon, advertisement comes in the form of news. But then we arevery extra careful not to violate ethical standards in journalism. We edit them for libelousterms.For a newspaper to survive, it must be known, it must come out often, if not weekly.See to it that your newspaper is a “must” read; that your paper must tell it like it is.A newspaper must have its own advocacy: Come out with the truth, and nothing but thetruth.Your newspaper must carry that sense of dignity and that it should command respectby being a real newspaper complete with interesting news and respectable columnist.

FREQUENCY

Weekly. NewsHawk Newsweekly. Not necessarily. But we try hard to come out weekly.We have to beg for advertisements which are hard to come by.It has been that way sincethen.

ECONOMY OF THE REGION

Our newspaper is not affected by the growth of the region nor the province. In otherwords, the progress of the region does not necessarily means the progress of thenewspaper, unless that particular newspaper is owned by a businessman who is “closed”to the powers-that-be. We are not dependent on the economy of the province either. But itis a fact that local papers depend on local government for ads like ordinances, invitationto bids, other legitimate announcements, etc.It is a fact that LGUs under the law arerequired to publish their ordinances passed by the Sangguniang Bayan or SangguniangPanglunsod. And those are the very lifeblood of a community newspaper. Sad to saymany LGUs are no longer having their ordinances published in local papers. They citelack of fund as the main reason.It costs the municipal government from P60,000 to

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P100,000 to publish an approved ordinance depending on the length of the text. The taskof publication chore, under the law, is given to municipal vice mayor or city vice mayorwho often say they have no available fund for the publication when in fact their officesare given separate funds solely intended for publication purposes.But we are notbeholden to LGUs when it comes to editorial policy. We can criticize them if the needarises, but we can also massage their ego if needed without compromising the truth.Whenthe province’s economy improves, the publications do not follow since no one from thebusiness sector place advertisement in the local paper. If ever, they would rather advertisein the national papers than the local. This is one gray area here.The economic condition iscrucial to the survival of a provincial newspaper although itshould never be beholden to it.It is enough that LGUs are aware of the existence of local newspapers.

POLITICS

We never allow any politician to touch their dirty fingers in the affairs of local mediamore particularly the newspapering business. But the media could be very friendly tothem without any string attached.The economic condition of the province cannot affectthe newspaper negatively. But I think the two work together for a common good of thecommunity.With or without politics a newspaper can survive, we will try to survive nomatter what and without compromising the truth and the quality of journalism we havebeen practicing.But of course, politics is necessary evil in newspapering. What would bea newspaper like without politics? Politics makes news. And the news makes our paper.In other words, politics and newspapering complement each other.But too much politicsand political interference in newspaper affairs will ruin the objectivity of the media. Thisis where media corruption starts.

Name of Publication: RONDA Balita, Lingguhang Pahayagan ng Masang Intelihente

Date of Start of Publication:

RONDA Balita, Lingguhang Pahayagan ng Masang Intelihente, a weekly newspaper firstappeared on March 9, 2015.

Address: Bocaue, Bulacan & Malolos City

Owner of Publication: Corporation

RESPONDENT: Manny Dineros Balbin

RESPONDENT’S DESIGNATION IN THE PAPER: Editor-in-Chief & one of the owner

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

History How did your newspaper come about? Please share a brief history of how your

newspaper was established.BULACAN is fast becoming a bustling growth center not only in Region 3 but in thewhole country as well. With its 3 cities and 21 municipalities now experiencing boom interms of progress and development, the province needs a reliable information as well as

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educational media arm. In is in this context that a team of journalist came up with anewspaper that would complement the fast paced development now happening in theprovince.Since its maiden issue, RONDA Balita has informed Bulakenyos with timelyissues ranging from local governance, police matters and in depth views.RONDA Balitahas also courageously exposed anomalies and is still serving as an ever watchful sentinelin guarding the province from crooks and wrongdoers. It has also covered naturaldisasters and the actions taken by government units. It has also featured platforms oflocal and national candidates during the May 2016 elections. Like an eagle, it hasvigilantly covered the political exercise exposing massive vote buying in several areasand other related issues.This weekly newspaper has also been active in reporting policeaction stories and has been at the forefront of the all out war against illegal drugs andcriminal activities. My team was composed of veteran columnists who also wrote innational circulated newspaper. With more than two years of active existence, RONDABalita has become a weekly reading habit of Bulakenyos. It has already capturedthousands of readers who has been faithfully following the news events happening in theprovince as well as in-depth analysis from its hard hitting columnists.Ownership Who is the current owner or publisher of the paper. If possible, please also include

who were the previous owners or publisher.Four individual owned this community paper. The owner of the printing press,myself and the one assigned in other matters.

How does the paper's ownership affect the paper especially on its economy?Not really…

Do you have investors? If yes, who are your major investors?None.

Circulation How much circulation, at an average, does your paper enjoy?

We printed 1,000 to 2,000 copies a week How are your newspapers distributed or reach your readers (vendors, agents,

subscription, etc.)?Thru subscription or delivered to their office

Who are your paper's market? How do they contribute to the circulation?The common people. The poor.

Did you newspaper's circulation increase or decrease in the past 30 years (since1987)? ?We were only 2 years old going to 3

How will you describe the growth (decline) of your paper? Was is at a steady trendor did you observe an irregular trend in the circulation?Basically, community paper or a weekly paper does not have trend in circulation.

What factors contributed to the growth (decline) of your circulation?Maybe, during election period. The circulation growth because some politiciansordered copies of newspapaper to distribute in their district as long as their pressrelease put in good place of the newspaper.

If circulation is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth ofyour circulation?Retained the credibility and uniqueness of this paper in order to maintain circulation.

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Revenue In terms of revenue, how much does circulation contribute to it?

In community paper like us, we generate revenue once our paper authorized alreadyby the court to join the raffle for notices, extra judicial,city, municipal ordinancesand others.

What are the other sources of revenue does the paper have? How do they generaterevenue for the paper?The court is one big sources of revenue of a community paper.

Which of these sources (including circulation) give the most revenue to the paper?Still, the notices from the court

How much revenue does your paper have annually (or monthly)?Notice coming from the Court, such as changed of name, business address,annulment, and others

Did revenue observed a growth or decline in the past 30 years (since 1987)? Howwill you describe the trend of its growth or decline?

If revenue is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth of yourrevenue?Actually, you don’t have to maintained the growth of the revenue because it wasequally divided or raffled among the accredited newspapers in the province.

Expenses/Cost How much does the paper accumulate in terms of cost or expenses in a year (or

month)? Have the paper’s expenses increased or decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)?

Why is this so? What usually contributes the biggest expense of the paper?

Printing cost. How does the paper cover the expenses? Is there a gain or loss?

Expenses was usually covered by advertisements or notices coming from the Court. If the paper is losing, how do you address this? What were the solutions undertaken

by the paper?The only time that a community newspaper is down when their accreditation isalready lapsed. The accreditation period is 5 years.

Staff How many staff do the paper have at the moment? Has this number increased or

decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)?3 individual. The printer, the delivery boy and the person assigned in collection. Thecolumnist or writer does not belong a so called staffer. They paid once theysubmitted article.

If the number of staff is decreasing (increasing), what are the usual reasons why theyleft (stayed)?Low salary maybe.

Are staff properly compensated such that they receive at least the minimum wageand enjoy benefits like SSS, Philhealth, etc.? Why so?Yes.

Is your paper open for new applicants or hires at the moment? Why so?No.

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Number of pages How many pages do your paper usually have?

Normally 8 pages. But sometimes 10-12 pages. Has this number increased or decreased in the last 30 years (since 1987)?

No. What factors contribute to the increase (decrease) of the paper’s pages?

It is only increase once that certain issue of a community paper had orders comingfrom a politician o private individual.

How will you describe the content of your paper? What usually comprises the pages?Advertisements Who are the usual sources of advertisements?

Just like I said, the Court. In what form does advertisements come about in the paper (through news article,

photo, etc.)?Notices from the bank, or governement offices

How does advertisement help in the survival of the paper?It helps a lot.!

Frequency of Publication How often does the paper come out?

Weekly. Has this changed in the past 30 years (since 1987)? If yes, why so?

No. Community papers in Bulacan or in other provinces always obtainable onweekly basis.

What factors contribute to the survival of the paper?My advocacy is the main factors in order our paper survived. I want to spread goodnews among Bulakenyos.

Economy of the Region How will you describe the economic condition of your province in the past 30 years?

Has there been improvement? If yes, in what way?Yes. Big improvement in many aspect like income generated companies invested inour province, multi-national companies actually. BPO is there. Mall is also sprouted.

How is the paper affected by the growth (decline) of the province’s economy?A little bit…

If the paper is affected (not affected), why is this so? What facet of the province’s economy is the paper most affected? How does the proximity (or distance) of the province to Metro Manila affect the

economy and the paper?Since Bulacan is near NCR, they rather or the advitiser go to Manila

How do you think does the economic condition of the province be most helpful to thepaper? Do you think the economic condition of the province is a necessary factor inthe paper’s survival? How and why so?Nope

Politics How do politics in your area affect or influence news coverage?

Definitely, they affected us especially if you were known as supporter of the otherpolitician

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Does it also affect the paper’s revenue, circulation or content? If so, in what way?Yes

How do you think does the political condition or situation in the province affect thepaper? Do you think politics is necessary for the paper to survive? How and why so?Politics, especially here in Bulacan is very necessary to survice.

Name of Publication: NEWS CORE (THE REAL SCORE!)

Date of Start of Publication: October 2006

Address: No. 324 Paliwas St. Maysantol, Bulakan Bulacan

Owner of Publication: Carmela Reyes-Estrope

RESPONDENT: Carmela Reyes-Estrope

RESPONDENT’S DESIGNATION IN THE PAPER: Owner and EIC

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

History How did your newspaper come about? Please share a brief history of how your

newspaper was established. FOR ADVOCACY journalism. I am a correspondent ofPhilippine Daily Inquirer in Bulacan and not all my stories are being used andpublished because of space constraints. I deemed the stories wasted and I can feel thefrustrations of the people hoping their ordeals will be heard that’s why I decided toput up my own local weekly. Eventually, I also aimed on financial gain by applyingmy paper to the Regional Trial Court to publish Notice of Sheriff’s foreclosure whichis a major income for the paper.

Ownership Who is the current owner or publisher of the paper. If possible, please also include

who were the previous owners or publisher. ONLY ME. Except that my sisterhelped me finance the paper or had previously invested a share capital.

How does the paper's ownership affect the paper especially on its economy? Becauseof limited capital, the promotions and marketing has not reached that far. Themanagement of the newspaper is a ONE MAN ARMY system except that I have aone to two relatives in-charge in the collection of payments from clients, also inmarketing and advertising.

Do you have investors? If yes, who are your major investors? NONECirculation How much circulation, at an average, does your paper enjoy? 1,000 copies of

newspaper circulates weekly How are your newspapers distributed or reach your readers (vendors, agents,

subscription, etc.)? Subscription, postal mail, LBC Who are your paper's market? How do they contribute to the circulation? All the

municipal government offices in the 21 towns and 3 cities, the provincial governmentoffices, national agencies branches, banks, universities, schools. Partly theycontribute through share the paper scheme.

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Did you newspaper's circulation increase or decrease in the past 30 years (since1987)? Steady number.

How will you describe the growth (decline) of your paper? Was is at a steady trendor did you observe an irregular trend in the circulation? Somehow there seems to be adecline in relying on print media because of the social media.

What factors contributed to the growth (decline) of your circulation? If circulation is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth of

your circulation? The relativity, timeliness and merit and weight of the news storiespublished do matter a lot including the credibility of the newspaper. And the freesubscription to some groups.

Revenue In terms of revenue, how much does circulation contribute to it? Only about 15-20

percent. What are the other sources of revenue does the paper have? How do they generate

revenue for the paper? Court publication during 2009-2014. It is a major source andcan sustain the weekly operational expenses. Today, occasional advertisement,occasional extra judicial notices. Occasional Bulk of orders by businessmen,politicians. Personal money of the owner.

Which of these sources (including circulation) give the most revenue to the paper?The court. But today it stopped due to ongoing renewal of accreditation with theRegional Trial Court.

How much revenue does your paper have annually (or monthly)? With court notices,it was about P500,000 to more than P1-Million a year. But today without that, onlyaround P50,000-P80,000 annually.

Did revenue observed a growth or decline in the past 30 years (since 1987)? Howwill you describe the trend of its growth or decline? Underman system, poormarketing contributes largely decline in marketing and revenue growth.

If revenue is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth of yourrevenue?

Expenses/Cost How much does the paper accumulate in terms of cost or expenses in a year (or

month)? Average P6,000 a week. Have the paper’s expenses increased or decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)?

Why is this so? Supposedly it decreases because of the individualized system ofrunning the newspaper copies through purchasing one’s own newsprint, self-contracting for the CTP or plate of the newspaper, one own’s lay out design and theprinting cost. Previously, all these are done by one company and its costs bigger.However, while the job is now on separately done, gasoline expenses somehow andfare affects add to the cost.

What usually contributes the biggest expense of the paper? The whole of the printingprocess.

How does the paper cover the expenses? Is there a gain or loss? Previously whenthere were court notices, there were gains, now, there is loss.

If the paper is losing, how do you address this? What were the solutions undertakenby the paper? Personal money of the owner.

Staff

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How many staff do the paper have at the moment? Has this number increased ordecreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)? 2. The same.

If the number of staff is decreasing (increasing), what are the usual reasons why theyleft (stayed)?

Are staff properly compensated such that they receive at least the minimum wageand enjoy benefits like SSS, Philhealth, etc.? Why so? Yes with Philhealth and SSS.

Is your paper open for new applicants or hires at the moment? Why so? No. Becauseof the losing stage right now.

Number of pages How many pages do your paper usually have? 6-8-10-12, depending on the

advertisements and news. Bute regularly it is 6. Has this number increased or decreased in the last 30 years (since 1987)? What factors contribute to the increase (decrease) of the paper’s pages? How will you describe the content of your paper? What usually comprises the pages?

News, opinions, advertisementsAdvertisements Who are the usual sources of advertisements? Business companies In what form does advertisements come about in the paper (through news article,

photo, etc.)? Ads material, photos, Bidding, ordinances How does advertisement help in the survival of the paper? Serving as income to

sustain operational expenses.Frequency of Publication How often does the paper come out? Every week Has this changed in the past 30 years (since 1987)? If yes, why so? No What factors contribute to the survival of the paper? Advocacy journalism of the

ownerEconomy of the Region How will you describe the economic condition of your province in the past 30 years?

Has there been improvement? If yes, in what way? Yes. A very large improvement. How is the paper affected by the growth (decline) of the province’s economy? There

are more companies to advertise and become marketing and advertising clients. If the paper is affected (not affected), why is this so? Affected because had we have

more marketing personnel to tap the companies to advertise and or if we haveenough man to strategize or even more capital to handle the marketing, there couldhave been more income for the paper.

What facet of the province’s economy is the paper most affected? How does the proximity (or distance) of the province to Metro Manila affect the

economy and the paper? Proximity to Metro Manila is also a given problem to localnewspapers because instead of patronizing local papers, they would rather have thenational papers widely circulating in the news stand.

How do you think does the economic condition of the province be most helpful to thepaper? Do you think the economic condition of the province is a necessary factor inthe paper’s survival? How and why so? Yes of course. If there are businesses around,these are material source of marketing and advertising for newspapers.

Politics

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How do politics in your area affect or influence news coverage? Local newspapersjust like national papers can easily be identified whether pro or not to a politician.While many newspapers maintain neutrality, many also tend to become politicallyattached to some politicians. They published favourable stories at times if politicianswould notice that, there were incidental bulk of orders and this becomes one of themajor income of the publishers. Other politicians and publishers pre-contacted eachother (vise versa) for a PR story in exchange of huge amount of money. Manypublishers also tend to befriend politicians to be able to get contracts for thepublication of ordinances which also is a major source of income for the paper.

Does it also affect the paper’s revenue, circulation or content? If so, in what way?How do you think does the political condition or situation in the province affect the paper?Do you think politics is necessary for the paper to survive? How and why so? However,still many newspapers survive on their own, legitimately publishing news without fear orfavour and is as self-sustaining.

RESPONDENT: ARNEL PARAS SAN PEDRO

RESPONDENT’S DESIGNATION:

Editor-in-Chief, iOrbitNews Online

Former Reporter/Columnist, Manila Times

Former Reporter, Manila Chronicle, Malaya, WE Forum, Pampanga Newsweek, MondayMail, Sun Star Pampanga

Former Section Editor, Philippine News (San Francisco, CA)

Former Section Editor, Saudi Gazette (Jeddah, KSA)

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Community journalism How will you define a community newspaper?

A community paper chronicles events in the local scene. How did community journalism started in the province?

Community newspapering in Pampanga province started out with the Baluyut andSan Pedro families although there were old newspapers in the Spanish period that nolonger exist today. The Baluyuts publishes THE VOICE while San Pedros publishesTHE LUZON COURIER. These two newspapers came out after World War II andstill comes out every week. THE LUZON COURIER was renamed THEPAMPANGA NEWSWEEK.

What is the purpose, in your opinion, of community newspapers? Are communitynewspapers living up to this purpose?Local public journal seeks to inform the community. Despite the difficulties ofputting out a community newspaper and the ownership now of businessmen andpoliticians – it continues to thrive.

How did community newspapers grow in number through the years? Was there agrowth or decline in terms of the number of papers active?

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Various community newspapers from Central Luzon crop up in Pampanga provincemost of them only joining the scheduled raffle of legal documents that needed to bepublished such as “Invitation to Bids.” One Cebu community newspaper has alsomanaged to enter Pampanga province and entered into a joint venture with the car-seller Laus Group Inc. in the City of San Fernando. Thus, Sun Star Pampanga cameout to existence. Other big businessmen such as the owner of Pampanga’s Best cameout with their weekly newspaper but due to the absence of ‘Editorial Independence’,the paper folded up after a few years. The Angeles family of the Angeles UniversityFoundation came out with ‘Angeles Observer’ while the Pineda political clan openedup ‘HEADLINE’ but the absence of ‘Editorial Indepence’ again reared its ugly headwhich resulted in the paper’s closure.

How will you compare community newspapers of the past and of the present?Community newspaper in the past had a sense of responsibility. Even with the

absence of modern techonology like today, my late grandfather, Tomas San Pedro, wasable to serve the community through responsible journalism. The current communitynewspapers still serve with the same passion but often times manipulated by schemingbusinessmen and politicians. Who usually owns the community newspapers in the province?

Businessmen and politicians with personal interests now own most of the localnewspapers.

How does the paper's ownership affect the paper?Due to the high cost of printing which is akin to a noose tightening on its survival,the circulation of community newspapers is limited between 1,000 and 2,000 copiesper week.

What is the usual circulation enjoyed by community newspapers in the province?And why do you think community newspapers have that number of circulation?For a province like Pampanga, circulation should be at least 5,000 per week. As Isaid, the high cost of printing is killing the community newspapers.

Did newspaper's circulation increase or decrease in the past 30 years (since 1987)?Circulation decreases due to high cost of printing. News print is costly and thepressers are charging more.

How will you describe the growth (decline) of community newspapers’ circulations?Was is at a steady trend or did you observe an irregular trend in the circulation?The high cost of printing will affect circulation

What factors contributed to the growth (decline) of the circulation?Same as above

How important is circulation for a community newspaper?Circulation assures a wide reach in the locality

In terms of revenue, how much does circulation usually contribute to it?At least 70 to 80 percent will go to circulation such as printing and the logisticsneeded to get the newspaper copies out

What are the other sources of revenue does community newspapers have? How dothey generate revenue for the paper?Revenue mostly comes from adverts

Which of these sources (including circulation) give the most revenue to a paper?Adverts

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Did revenue observe a growth or decline in the past 30 years (since 1987) in terms ofrevenues of community newspapers? How will you describe the trend of growth ordecline?Revenue will depend on the marketing team.

How important is revenue to a community newspaper?Revenue will determine if a community newspaper will comes out from the printingpress or not

What usually contributes the biggest expense of the paper?Printing, salaries

Have the paper’s expenses increased or decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)?Why is this so?Expenses increase through the years because of the rising cost of news print

How does the paper cover the expenses? Is there a gain or loss?Entry of more adverts will depend on the aggressiveness of the marketing team

How will you describe employment in a community newspaper?Community newspapers pay less.

How many journalists write for community newspapers in the province at themoment? Has this number increased or decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)?Most of the locally based journalist write for community newspapers or online news

If the number of staff is decreasing (increasing), what are the usual reasons why theyleft (stayed)?To seek greener pasture. Most of the local writers found employment overseas. I, fora time, worked in the Middle East and United States as section editor just to makeends meet

Are staff properly compensated such that they receive at least the minimum wageand enjoy benefits like SSS, Philhealth, etc.? Why so?Some newspapers cover their workers while others do not

How many pages does a paper usually have? Why is this so?8 pages. Again, high cost of printing

Has this number increased or decreased in the last 30 years (since 1987)?Number of pages decreased

What factors contribute to the increase (decrease) of a paper’s pages?High cost of printing

How will you describe the content of community newspapers? What usuallycomprises the pages?Top stories in the province, business stories, entertainment, events

Who are the usual sources of advertisements?Big businesses

In what form does advertisements come about in a paper (through news article, photo,etc.)?Adverts, Advertorial

How does advertisement help in the survival of the paper? Does it affect newspapersin terms of content or coverageAdverts – the lifeline of newspapers

How will you describe the frequency by which community newspapers come out?Why do you think is this so?

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The online news portal iOrbitNews and Sun Star Pampanga come out daily while theothers come out every week

We have observed that many community newspapers appear weekly. Why so? Andwhat do you think is the reason/s why community newspaper rarely appear daily?The old newspapers in Pampanga province come out on a weekly basis. The onlinenews portal iOrbitNews and Sun Star Pampanga upped the ante

What factors contribute to the survival of a community paper?Sense of responsibility

What is the role of a press club in community journalism?The press club serves as an Ombudsman to its members

How important is a press club in local media?The press club weeks to unify practising journalists

What does the press club do to help community newspapers in the area?Members of the press clubs serve as chroniclers

Economy of the Region How will you describe the economic condition of the province in the past 30 years?

Has there been improvement? If yes, in what way?Pampanga province is one of the vibrant provinces not only in Central Luzon but inthe entire country

How is the paper affected by the growth (decline) of the province’s economy?The entry of more investments contributes to the growth of community newspapersthrough adverts

If the paper is affected (not affected), why is this so?The new businesses rely on their marketing plans such as adverts etc

What facet of the province’s economy is the paper most affected?All facets of the local economy are interconnected to bring out a vibrant economythat is suitable for community newspapers

How does a province or region’s economy affect a newspaper’s circulation,frequency, number of pages and staff, revenue and expenses?As I said, an aggressive marketing team will make a difference in newspaperoperations

How does the proximity (or distance) of the province to Metro Manila affect theeconomy and the paper?Pampanga does not rely in the proximity of imperial Manila. The locals seeks localnews from local writers. And the papers’ survival too is not hinged on the proximityof Manila.

How do you think does the economic condition of the province be most helpful to thepaper? Do you think the economic condition of the province is a necessary factor inthe paper’s survival? How and why so?With or without a rosy economic condition in Pampanga, local newspapers willpersevere

How do politics in your area affect or influence news coverage?The problem comes in when politicians try to own and operate their own newspapersbecause the issue of ‘Editorial Independence’ creeps in.

Does it also affect the paper’s revenue, circulation or content? If so, in what way?

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The wily and rich politicians do not care about revenue because they can operate thenewspapers without adverts

How do you think does the political condition or situation in the province affect thepaper? Do you think politics is necessary for the paper to survive? How and why so?No, newspapers do not need politicians to survive. When the Pineda political clan ofPampanga shut down HEADLINE daily newspaper, many local journalists includingyours truly were thrown out of jobs. When politicians own newspapers, publicjournal loses its credibility because they only want you to publish articles that willglorify them. For example, the daily Sun Star Pampanga will not dare write an articleagainst the Laus Group Inc who owns Mitsubishi Cars Inc. Remember the “SuddenUnitended Accelaration” (SUA) that attended their Montero SUVs? Sun StarPampanga will not touch the issue just because the seller of Mitsubishi cars is thepart-owner of Sun Star Pampanga. The Pampanga Press Club recently opened upiOrbitNews to address the situation. IOrbitNews is an independent online news portal.The current political condition meanwhile is not good for journalists becausePresident Rodrigo Duterte does not respect freedom of the press.

Name of Publication: Bataan Peninsula TimesDate of Start of Publication: 1991Address: Tenejero, Balanga cityOwner of Publication: Mario T SupnadRESPONDENT:RESPONDENT’S DESIGNATION IN THE PAPER:-Publisher/Editor

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

History● How did your newspaper come about? Please share a brief history of how yournewspaper was established.-I came up with the idea of coming up with a local newspaper based in Bataan right aftermy graduation.Ownership● Who is the current owner or publisher of the paper. How does the paper's ownershipaffect the paper especially on its economy? Owner: Mario T Supnad. Economically,There is no problem of the local newspaper since there are regular ads that are mandatoryto be published.Circulation● How much circulation, at an average, does your paper enjoy? Did your paper see agrowth or decline in terms of circulation since its establishment? Publishing at least 5000to 10,000 copies up.● What factors contributed to the growth (decline) of your circulation? It depends on thevolume of readership and advertisement.Revenue● What are the sources of revenue does the paper have? How do they generate revenuefor the paper? Aside from subcription, there are regular legal notices coming from localcourts that need publication.

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● Which of these sources (including circulation) give the most revenue to the paper?Both● How much revenue does your paper have annually (or monthly)? Did it grow ordecline? Cannot divulge it.Expenses/Cost● How much does the paper accumulate in terms of cost or expenses in a year (or month)?What usually contributes the biggest expense of the paper? It depends on the volume ofcirculation. Printing costs.● How does the paper cover the expenses? Is there a gain or loss? Sometime loss,sometimes, a little gain. We could recover our expenses thru our ads and sunscriptionpaymentStaff● How many staff do the paper have at the moment? Has this number increased ordecreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)? At least 5 to 10 personnel/writers● If the number of staff is decreasing (increasing), what are the usual reasons why theyleft (stayed)? Never declined.● Are staff properly compensated such that they receive at least the minimum wage andenjoy benefits like SSS, Philhealth, etc.? Why so? I think they are compensated somehowNumber of pages● How many pages do your paper usually have? Did it change since its establishment?Four to 12 pages. Never changed.● What factors contribute to the increase (decrease) of the paper’s pages? Volume ofreadership and ads● How will you describe the content of your paper? What usually comprises the pages? Itis more on news reporting for the benefit of the readingpublic.Advertisements● Who are the usual sources of advertisements? Various courts, Local government units.● In what form does advertisements come about in the paper (through news article, photo,etc.)? Legal notices and commercial announcements● How does advertisement help in the survival of the paper? It is he main source ofincomeFrequency of Publication● How often does the paper come out? Did it change? If yes, what factors contributed tothe change in the frequency? Regular weekly onlyEconomy of the Region● How will you describe the economic condition of your province in the past 30 years?Improving brought about by the pouring in of investments● How is the paper affected by the growth (decline) of the province’s economy? If theeconomy improves, it yields positive also to the local newspapers.● How does the proximity (or distance) of the province to Metro Manila affect theeconomy and the paper? We circulate in the province and region alone● How do you think does the economic condition of the province be most helpful to thepaper? Do you think the economic condition of the province is a necessary factor in thepaper’s survival? How and why so? Definitely yes. The answer has been mentioned byyouPolitics

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● How do politics in your area affect or influence news coverage and the paper’s viability?Sometimes it affects severely. On the other hand, politics contribute also to the economicviabililty of the local newspapers.● How do you think does the political condition or situation in the province affect thepaper? Do you think politics is necessary for the paper to survive? How and why so? Itcannot affect but contributes to the economic situation of the local newspapers sincesome of them (politicians) resort to tapping our services to boost their propaganda

RESPONDENT: Rafael C. Viray

RESPONDENT’S DESIGNATION: Bataan Press Club officer

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Community journalism How will you define a community newspaper? What is the purpose, in your opinion,

of community newspapers? Are community newspapers living up to this purpose? Community newspaper is a weekly newspaper circulating in the locality both as a

source of income and provide information to the public. How did community journalism started in the province? When provincial correspondents of national dailies wanted to earn from public ads

and judicial notices. How did community newspapers grow in number through the years? How will you

compare community newspapers of the past and of the present? It is almost the same .no changes average circulation of 1,000 copies .most of the

local publishers have no capital to finance the regular issue costing P10,000 .Ownership Who usually owns the community newspapers in the province? Correspondents and local publication contributors with no big time financiers How does the paper's ownership affect the paper? In our locality , local publishers are mostly correspondents of national papers which

affect the publications, the news contents, opinions and other topics depending ontheir newspaper sponsors.

Circulation What is the usual circulation enjoyed by community newspapers in the province?

And why do you think community newspapers have that number of circulation? The basic problems of the local newspapers , financial and competent people to

manage them. Did newspaper's circulation increase or decrease in the past 30 years (since 1987)? Circulation remains 1,000 copies per issue except when the sponsor shoulder

additional copies most likely during local election. How will you describe the growth (decline) of community newspapers’ circulations?

What factors contributed to the growth (decline) of the circulation? The decline of community readership level is due to the public exposure to social

media How important is circulation for a community newspaper? The important role of a community newspaper is the publication of judicial notices,

announcements and other relevant promotional activities.

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Revenue What are the sources of revenue of community newspapers? Which of these sources

(including circulation) give the most revenue to a paper? Sources of revenue of local newspapers are incomes coming from extra-judicial

notices and petitions, public ads, local executives greetings, financial assistancefrom politicians and friends of the publishers

Did revenue observe a growth or decline in the past 30 years (since 1987) in terms ofrevenues of community newspapers?

Community newspaper business is unstable venture for the past years since theproliferation of broadcast media (radio stations )and social media outlets

How important is revenue to a community newspaper? Very important aspect of newspapering .Community newspapers irregularly come

out due to financial problem .Expenses/Costs What usually contributes the biggest expense of the paper? Printing cost and transportation expenses Have the paper’s expenses increased or decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)?

Why is this so? Increasing printing costStaff How will you describe employment in a community newspaper? Community newspaper does not create job ; the publisher himself is the editor, ad

solicitor, collector, news gatherer and columnist How many journalists write for community newspapers in the province at the

moment? Has this number increased or decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)? Only few print and radio mediamen are engaged in community papers If the number of staff is decreasing (increasing), what are the usual reasons why they

left (stayed)? Since 1987, community newspapers were managed by its owners or publishers only . Are staff properly compensated such that they receive at least the minimum wage

and enjoy benefits like SSS, Philhealth, etc.? Why so? Benefits ,salaries, SSS , and others are not relevant to Community newspapering

venturesNumber of Pages How many pages does a paper usually have? Why is this so? Six or eight pages , lack of budget or no notices or ads solicited Has this number increased or decreased in the last 30 years (since 1987)? Its constant What factors contribute to the increase (decrease) of a paper’s pages? Budgetary problem How will you describe the content of community newspapers? What usually

comprises the pages? Normally , most community newspapers are considered opinion friendly to

advertisers and political leaders . no negative write-ups or else ?Advertisement Who are the usual sources of advertisements?

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Local political leaders, Regional Trial Courts, traders , birthday celebrants,etc In what form does advertisements come about in a paper (through news article, photo,

etc.)? Greetings and projects How does advertisement help in the survival of the paper? Does it affect newspapers

in terms of content or coverage The policy of community paper so far, no ads no issue for the month(s)Frequency How will you describe the frequency by which community newspapers come out?

Why do you think is this so? The frequency of circulation depending on the volume of judicial notices, ads,

greetings ,etc as I have explained local publishers are mostly provincialcorrespondents without visible means of income to finance the publication

We have observed that many community newspapers appear weekly. Why so? Andwhat do you think is the reason/s why community newspaper rarely appear daily?

No local newspaper comes out regularly on weekly issue, financial problem is thecause of irregularity in circulation

What factors contribute to the survival of a community paper? Financial and the presence of dedicated and responsible journalistsPress Club What is the role of a press club in community journalism? Screening of media applicants and advised them to use their talents to well-paying

jobs instead of becoming practicing local reporters How important is a press club in local media? Press club becomes a mere fraternal group, no funding so no project What does the press club do to help community newspapers in the area? Contribute developmental articles and arrange press conferencesEconomy of the Region How will you describe the economic condition of the province in the past 30 years?

Has there been improvement? If yes, in what way? Yes, the operation of seven ecozone and tourism enterprise makes Bataan a leading

investment hub in Central Luzon How is the paper affected by the growth (decline) of the province’s economy? Community newspaper helps promote the economic posture of the province If the paper is affected (not affected), why is this so? More investments or locators , the more advertising clients What facet of the province’s economy is the paper most affected? Community papers have encouraged foreign and local investors to the province How does a province or region’s economy affect a newspaper’s circulation,

frequency, number of pages and staff, revenue and expenses? Growing economy may consider as a big factor to improve newspapering business in

the locality How does the proximity (or distance) of the province to Metro Manila affect the

economy and the paper? Local newspaper survives from the local resources including

printing,editing ,circulation ,etc

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How do you think does the economic condition of the province be most helpful to thepaper? Do you think the economic condition of the province is a necessary factor inthe paper’s survival? How and why so?

Local paper promotes the province through positive stories and ads, hopefully withthe great impact in economic activities

Politics How do politics in your area affect or influence news coverage? Local newspapers have little influence in political arena Does it also affect the paper’s revenue, circulation or content? If so, in what way? Political advertisements contributed significantly to the financial resources of

community newspaper How do you think does the political condition or situation in the province affect the

paper? Do you think politics is necessary for the paper to survive? How and why so? Of course, where do local publishers get their funding ? the best source so far from

political czars

Name of Publication:DAHONG PALAY

Date of Start of Publication: Every Sunday

Address: Cabanatuan City

Owner of Publication:MILO C. SALAZAR

RESPONDENT: MILO C. SALAZAR

RESPONDENT’S DESIGNATION IN THE PAPER: EDITOR/PUBLISHER

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

History How did your newspaper come about? Please share a brief history of how your

newspaper was established. It started with the help of my father’s friend (then city councilor in the year 1963,

Coun. Ben Sandoval) who helped him financially to start publishingDAHONGPALAY asnd it was being printed somewhere in Manila.

Ownership Who is the current owner or publisher of the paper. If possible, please also include

who were the previous owners or publisher. After my father (Pete T. Salazar) died in October 3, 2013 I assumed being the

Editor/Publisher and we are only the registered owners of this newspaper. How does the paper's ownership affect the paper especially on its economy? Economy in what aspect? In our part, it’s our bread and butter. Do you have investors? If yes, who are your major investors? I can say that my investors are our subscribers and clients.Circulation How much circulation, at an average, does your paper enjoy?

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Not fix, but 400 copies can manage to circulate the whole province and some otherneighboring towns.

How are your newspapers distributed or reach your readers (vendors, agents,subscription, etc.)?

We mailed most of it and others are handcarried or what you call “papel de abot” Who are your paper's market? How do they contribute to the circulation? People from all walks of life, specially Gov’t. Officials and employees. Did you newspaper's circulation increase or decrease in the past 30 years (since

1987)? I can say that it increased. How will you describe the growth (decline) of your paper? Was is at a steady trend

or did you observe an irregular trend in the circulation? Steady lang. What factors contributed to the growth (decline) of your circulation? There are many new newspapers that came out in the past years, I think that’s one

reason. If circulation is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth of

your circulation? Well, I can say is, always be true to your clients and subscribers, maintaining good

harmony with them is one secret to this business. (It’s no secret anymore, ha ha )Revenue In terms of revenue, how much does circulation contribute to it? More than half. What are the other sources of revenue does the paper have? How do they generate

revenue for the paper? We only rely mostly on legal notices publications more of it. Which of these sources (including circulation) give the most revenue to the paper? Legal Notice (Being raffled at RTC’s to whom we’re accredited) How much revenue does your paper have annually (or monthly)? None fix Did revenue observed a growth or decline in the past 30 years (since 1987)? How

will you describe the trend of its growth or decline? Well newspaper business I can only say is enjoying and you can live with it if you

focus on it.(Layo ba?) If revenue is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth of your

revenue? Stay focused.Expenses/Cost How much does the paper accumulate in terms of cost or expenses in a year (or

month)? Not fix also (depends on the demands of copies to be circulated or demanded) Have the paper’s expenses increased or decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)?

Why is this so? It increased, what do we expect, lahat naman tumaas di ba? What usually contributes the biggest expense of the paper? Printing cost.

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How does the paper cover the expenses? Is there a gain or loss? Sipagan lang daw yan, karamihan un ang sabi, that’s true. If the paper is losing, how do you address this? What were the solutions undertaken

by the paper? Effort, more effort, sipagan nga e.Staff How many staff do the paper have at the moment? Has this number increased or

decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)? You can call it “one man army.” Believe it. Pwede naman di ba? If the number of staff is decreasing (increasing), what are the usual reasons why they

left (stayed)? They don’t leave, they’re only around, collecting news, ha ha Are staff properly compensated such that they receive at least the minimum wage

and enjoy benefits like SSS, Philhealth, etc.? Why so? Kinda hard to explain, all I can say is, it’s a give and take, live and let live kinda

thing. Is your paper open for new applicants or hires at the moment? Why so? It is always open for everyone, but we don’t hire. (seriously)Number of pages How many pages do your paper usually have? Regularly eight (8) pages. Has this number increased or decreased in the last 30 years (since 1987)? It increased. What factors contribute to the increase (decrease) of the paper’s pages? Demands in publications mostly ads and legal notices. Not news(truly). How will you describe the content of your paper? What usually comprises the pages? It depends, but preferably we want news about developments.Advertisements Who are the usual sources of advertisements? In the local newspaper business, there’s rare ads, mostly legal notices. In what form does advertisements come about in the paper (through news article,

photo, etc.)? Rarely both in news & photo. How does advertisement help in the survival of the paper? A lot, you can not survive this business without it. Frequency of Publication How often does the paper come out? Once a Week (every Sunday) Has this changed in the past 30 years (since 1987)? If yes, why so? It hasn’t changed. What factors contribute to the survival of the paper? Honesty, loyalty and perseverance.Economy of the Region How will you describe the economic condition of your province in the past 30 years?

Has there been improvement? If yes, in what way? Yes, I think kasabay na yun ng panahon.

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How is the paper affected by the growth (decline) of the province’s economy? Pwedeng sabihing kasabay na ring nag-improve dahil sa panahon. If the paper is affected (not affected), why is this so? Hard to explain na naman. Next q. please What facet of the province’s economy is the paper most affected? xxxxx How does the proximity (or distance) of the province to Metro Manila affect the

economy and the paper? xxxxxx How do you think does the economic condition of the province be most helpful to the

paper? xxxxxxx Do you think the economic condition of the province is a necessary factor in the

paper’s survival? How and why so?Politics How do politics in your area affect or influence news coverage? For me it’s exiting and challenging, diyan mo makikita ang totoong mediamen. Does it also affect the paper’s revenue, circulation or content? If so, in what way? Yes, lalo na pag politika ang isyu you must add copies and subscribers for that issue. How do you think does the political condition or situation in the province affect the

paper? Do you think politics is necessary for the paper to survive? How and why so? Well, as I’ve said execiting nga, Mas nalalapit lalo na ang eleksyon mas busy ang

newspapers, alam naman natin lahat ang role ng newspaper local or national.

Name of Publication: PUNTO CENTRAL LUZON

Date of Start of Publication: YEAR 2007

Address: UNIT B ESSEL COMMERCIAL COMPLEX TELABASTAGAN CSF

Owner of Publication: LLL TRIMEDIA COORDINATORS INC.

RESPONDENT: JOANNA NINA V. CORDERO

RESPONDENT’S DESIGNATION IN THE PAPER: MARKETING MANAGER

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

History How did your newspaper come about? Please share a brief history of how your

newspaper was established. GROUP OF KAPAMPANGAN PROFESSIONALSSAW THE NEED FOR A LOCAL NEWSPAPER THAT IS CREDIBLE, FAIR ,FEARLESS AND BALANCE

PUNTO STARTED AS A NATIONAL DAILY TABLOID BASED IN MANILA,HAVING A SPECIAL SECTION FOR CENTRAL LUZON NEWS. THEN ATTY.GENER ENDONA WITH HIS FRIENDS DECIDED TO GET A FRANCHISE OFPUNTO TO BE PRINTED AND CIRCULATED SOLELY IN CENTRAL LUZONAND THAT GAVE BIRTH TO PUNTO CENTRAL LUZON LOCAL

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NEWSPAPER. IT USED TO BE A DAILY LOCAL NEWSPAPER COVERINGBUSINESS AND POLITICAL NEWS IN THE REGION. DUE TO FINANCIALCONSIDERATION AND TO SUSTAIN THE BUSINESS, THE MANAGEMENTDECIDED TO LESSEN THE PUBLICATION TO A BI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPERSINCE 2010.

Ownership Who is the current owner or publisher of the paper. If possible, please also include

who were the previous owners or publisher. PUNTO IS PUBLISHED BY LLLTRIMEDIA COORDINATORS, INC., OWNERS – ATTY. GENER ENDONA,JOANNA NINA V. CORDERO, CAESAR “:BONG” LACSON” AND OTHERS

How does the paper's ownership affect the paper especially on its economy? Do you have investors? If yes, who are your major investors? NONECirculation How much circulation, at an average, does your paper enjoy?REFER TO CIRCULATION AND READERSHIP PROFILE How are your newspapers distributed or reach your readers (vendors, agents,

subscription, etc.)? 1. NEWSPAPER DEALERS, NEWSPAPER STAND ANDSUBSCRIBERS2. GIVING FREE COPIES TO ESTABLISHMENTS THAT ARE NONESUBSCRIBERS

Who are your paper's market? How do they contribute to the circulation?REFER TO PROFILE

Did you newspaper's circulation increase or decrease in the past 30 years (since1987)?SAME

How will you describe the growth (decline) of your paper? Was is at a steady trendor did you observe an irregular trend in the circulation? CONSIDERINGEVERYBODY IS GOING ON-LINE , WE HAVE NOT DECREASED THENUMBER OF CIRCULATION, WE SUSTAIN IT.

What factors contributed to the growth (decline) of your circulation? If circulation is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth of

your circulation?RevenuePUNTO’S BREAD & BUTTER IS ADVERTISEMENT SALES, THIS IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF THE PAPER. WE MAKE SURE WE SERVE OUR ADVERTISERSWELL AND MAINTAIN OR WIDEN VISIBILITY OF PUNTO. INFACT, WEALREADY LAUNCHED OUR ON-LINE VERSION www.punto.com.ph TO REACHA WIDER READERSHIP. CURRENTLY, WE ARE RECONSTRUCTING THE ON-LINE / WEBSITE OF PUNTO TO MAKE IT MORE MOBILE FRIENDLY. In terms of revenue, how much does circulation contribute to it? What are the other sources of revenue does the paper have? How do they generate

revenue for the paper? Which of these sources (including circulation) give the most revenue to the paper? How much revenue does your paper have annually (or monthly)? Did revenue observed a growth or decline in the past 30 years (since 1987)? How

will you describe the trend of its growth or decline?

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If revenue is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth of yourrevenue?

Expenses/CostTHE BULK OF THE EXPENSES OF PUNTO IS PRINTING COST. WE HAVE 5REGULAR EMPLOYEES AND MORE OR LESS 10 CORRESPONDENTS ASSIGNTO DIFFERENT PROVINCES IN CENTRAL LUZON. WE FOLLOW ALLGOVERNMENT RULES & REGULATIONS AND PAY MONTHLYCONTRIBUTIONS AND TAXES. How much does the paper accumulate in terms of cost or expenses in a year (or

month)? Have the paper’s expenses increased or decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)?

Why is this so? What usually contributes the biggest expense of the paper? How does the paper cover the expenses? Is there a gain or loss? If the paper is losing, how do you address this? What were the solutions undertaken

by the paper?Staff How many staff do the paper have at the moment? Has this number increased or

decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)? If the number of staff is decreasing (increasing), what are the usual reasons why they

left (stayed)? Are staff properly compensated such that they receive at least the minimum wage

and enjoy benefits like SSS, Philhealth, etc.? Why so? Is your paper open for new applicants or hires at the moment? Why so?Number of pages How many pages do your paper usually have? Has this number increased or decreased in the last 30 years (since 1987)? What factors contribute to the increase (decrease) of the paper’s pages? How will you describe the content of your paper? What usually comprises the pages?AdvertisementsADVERTISERS MOSTLY FROM LOCAL ESTABLISHMENTS , PLEASE REFERTO PUNTO ACTUAL ISSUE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. Who are the usual sources of advertisements? In what form does advertisements come about in the paper (through news article,

photo, etc.)? How does advertisement help in the survival of the paper?Frequency of Publication How often does the paper come out? Has this changed in the past 30 years (since 1987)? If yes, why so? What factors contribute to the survival of the paper?

Name of Publication: Sun.Star Pampanga

Date of Start of Publication: November 27, 1995

Address: 2/F Tita’s Building II, Jose Abad Santos Avenue, Dolores, City of SanFernando, Pampanga

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Owner of Publication: Sun.Star Publishing, Inc.

RESPONDENT: Jose Victor T. De Leon

RESPONDENT’S DESIGNATION IN THE PAPER: Editor-in-Chief

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

History How did your newspaper come about? Please share a brief history of how your

newspaper was established. First established as Sun.Star Clark then became Sun.StarPampanga when the franchise was taken by the Laus Group of Companies

Ownership Who is the current owner or publisher of the paper. If possible, please also include

who were the previous owners or publisher. Sun.Star Publishing, Inc. Franchisee isLaus Group of Companies tri-media group

How does the paper's ownership affect the paper especially on its economy? It makesit stable and sustainable

Do you have investors? If yes, who are your major investors? NoCirculation How much circulation, at an average, does your paper enjoy? Approximately 2,000

copies per day How are your newspapers distributed or reach your readers (vendors, agents,

subscription, etc.)? Dealers, subscription and special orders Who are your paper's market? How do they contribute to the circulation? A, B, upper

C, C and upper markets. They contribute to readership through “pasa-basa” Did you newspaper's circulation increase or decrease in the past 30 years (since

1987)? Consistently increasing How will you describe the growth (decline) of your paper? Was is at a steady trend

or did you observe an irregular trend in the circulation? Steady upward trend What factors contributed to the growth (decline) of your circulation? Increasing

readership If circulation is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth of

your circulation? Stick to the pillars: Editorial, Production, Circulation andMarketing

Revenue In terms of revenue, how much does circulation contribute to it? 70 percent What are the other sources of revenue does the paper have? How do they generate

revenue for the paper? Commercial printing Which of these sources (including circulation) give the most revenue to the paper?

Ads How much revenue does your paper have annually (or monthly)? Classified Did revenue observed a growth or decline in the past 30 years (since 1987)? How

will you describe the trend of its growth or decline? Growth of at least 50 percentannually due to increase in readership

If revenue is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth of yourrevenue? Creation of other revenue streams

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Expenses/Cost How much does the paper accumulate in terms of cost or expenses in a year (or

month)? Classified Have the paper’s expenses increased or decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)?

Why is this so? Increased due to inflation What usually contributes the biggest expense of the paper? Printing How does the paper cover the expenses? Is there a gain or loss? Through ads and

dealers sales If the paper is losing, how do you address this? What were the solutions undertaken

by the paper?Staff How many staff do the paper have at the moment? Has this number increased or

decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)? 25 ever since If the number of staff is decreasing (increasing), what are the usual reasons why they

left (stayed)? Maintained as per staffing policy Are staff properly compensated such that they receive at least the minimum wage

and enjoy benefits like SSS, Philhealth, etc.? Why so? Yes, above minimum wagewith all benefits and perks

Is your paper open for new applicants or hires at the moment? Why so? Not at themoment. All positions filled up

Number of pages How many pages do your paper usually have? Minimum 16, average 18 Has this number increased or decreased in the last 30 years (since 1987)? Increased

from 12 pages What factors contribute to the increase (decrease) of the paper’s pages? Number of

stories, sections and advertisements How will you describe the content of your paper? What usually comprises the pages?Advertisements Who are the usual sources of advertisements? Business firms In what form do advertisements come about in the paper (through news article, photo,

etc.)?Traditional ads, native ads

How does advertisement help in the survival of the paper? RevenuesFrequency of Publication How often does the paper come out? Daily (Monday to Sunday) Has this changed in the past 30 years (since 1987)? If yes, why so? No What factors contribute to the survival of the paper? Resources, peopleEconomy of the Region How will you describe the economic condition of your province in the past 30 years?

Has there been improvement? If yes, in what way? Massive improvement because ofgood governance

How is the paper affected by the growth (decline) of the province’s economy?Positive as businesses open up to advertising

If the paper is affected (not affected), why is this so? The paper becomes the mainconduit of business

What facet of the province’s economy is the paper most affected? Politics

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How does the proximity (or distance) of the province to Metro Manila affect theeconomy and the paper? Minimal effect as Sun.Star retains its identity as acommunity newspaper

How do you think does the economic condition of the province be most helpful to thepaper? Do you think the economic condition of the province is a necessary factor inthe paper’s survival? How and why so? Increases capacity to purchase and read thepaper for a wider circulation

Politics How do politics in your area affect or influence news coverage? Politics is the top

news generator Does it also affect the paper’s revenue, circulation or content? If so, in what way?

Yes. Increases circulation and revenues especially during elections How do you think does the political condition or situation in the province affect the

paper? Do you think politics is necessary for the paper to survive? How and why so?Yes. People love to read politics

Name of Publication:TARLAC WEEKENDER

Date of Start of Publication: May 2016

Address: Lot 1, Block 4, St. James Subdivision, Barangay Tibag, Trlac City

Owner of Publication: Roldan P. Ramos (Twoangels Publishing)

RESPONDENT: Roldan P. Ramos

RESPONDENT’S DESIGNATION IN THE PAPER: Publisher

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Historyl How did your newspaper come about? Please share a brief history of how yournewspaper was established.

Ownershipl Who is the current owner or publisher of the paper. If possible, please also includewho were the previous owners or publisher.l How does the paper's ownership affect the paper especially on its economy?

Circulation – DISTRIBUTION AT PRESENT IS THROUGH SELECTEDGOVERNMENT OFFICES ALL ON A COMPLIMENTARY BASIS

l Who are your paper's market? How do they contribute to the circulation?l Did you newspaper's circulation increase or decrease in the past 30 years (since1987)?l How will you describe the growth (decline) of your paper? Was is at a steady trendor did you observe an irregular trend in the circulation?l What factors contributed to the growth (decline) of your circulation?l If circulation is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth ofyour circulation?

Revenue – PAPER IS STILL AT IT’S INFANCY STAGE

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l In terms of revenue, how much does circulation contribute to it?l What are the other sources of revenue does the paper have? How do they generaterevenue for the paper?l Which of these sources (including circulation) give the most revenue to the paper?l Did revenue observed a growth or decline in the past 30 years (since 1987)? Howwill you describe the trend of its growth or decline?l If revenue is growing (declining), how do you maintain (improve) the growth ofyour revenue?

Expenses/Costl Have the paper’s expenses increased or decreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)?Why is this so?l What usually contributes the biggest expense of the paper?- PRODUCTIONCOSTSl How does the paper cover the expenses? Is there a gain or loss? – SUBSIDIZEDOUT OF POCKET, ALL PART OF START UP CAPITALIZATIONl If the paper is losing, how do you address this? What were the solutions undertakenby the paper?

Staff- 3 STAFF MEMBERS (ALL PART-TIME)l How many staff do the paper have at the moment? Has this number increased ordecreased in the past 30 years (since 1987)?l If the number of staff is decreasing (increasing), what are the usual reasons whythey left (stayed)?l Are staff properly compensated such that they receive at least the minimum wageand enjoy benefits like SSS, Philhealth, etc.? Why so?l Is your paper open for new applicants or hires at the moment? Why so?

Number of pages- 8 PAGES , WITH INTENT TO INCREASE PAGES AND COPIESONCE THERE IS A NEED TO DO SO

l How many pages do your paper usually have?l Has this number increased or decreased in the last 30 years (since 1987)?l What factors contribute to the increase (decrease) of the paper’s pages?l How will you describe the content of your paper? What usually comprises thepages?- OPINION AND STRAIGHT NEWS

Advertisements – MINIMAL AT THIS POINTl Who are the usual sources of advertisements?l In what form does advertisements come about in the paper (through news article,photo, etc.)?l How does advertisement help in the survival of the paper?

Frequency of Publication – WEEKLY LOCAL NEWSPAPERl How often does the paper come out?l Has this changed in the past 30 years (since 1987)? If yes, why so?l What factors contribute to the survival of the paper?

Economy of the Regionl How will you describe the economic condition of your province in the past 30years? Has there been improvement? If yes, in what way?l How is the paper affected by the growth (decline) of the province’s economy?l If the paper is affected (not affected), why is this so?

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l What facet of the province’s economy is the paper most affected?l How do you think does the economic condition of the province be most helpful tothe paper? Do you think the economic condition of the province is a necessary factorin the paper’s survival? How and why so?

Politics – LOCAL POLITICS WILL ALWAYS BE A KEY FACTOR FOR A LOCALPAPER. TOO LENGTHY FOR ME TO ELABORATE, YOU CAN JUST GIVE ME ACALL FOR MY EXPLANATION.

l How do politics in your area affect or influence news coverage?l Does it also affect the paper’s revenue, circulation or content? If so, in what way?l How do you think does the political condition or situation in the province affect thepaper? Do you think politics is necessary for the paper to survive? How and why so?