“My alma mater, the UP College of Mass Communication, is celebrating its
50th anniversary this year. It is a good time for it to pack up and
reallocate taxpayer subsidy to other more useful courses,” says seasoned
journalist Boo Chanco, currently columnist of the Philippine Star and School of
Journalism dean of the ABS-CBN University.
On
one occasion at the UP CMC, Mr. Chanco told students
that “they were wasting their time trying to earn a degree in journalism,
broadcasting or communication research. They would be better off studying
sociology, economics or political science. Or a good course is English
Literature which will at least teach them about life.”
Mr.
Chanco posits that “everything needed to excel in journalism or in a broadcast
career can be learned on the job in less than six months if you are any good.”
He expressed doubts if even half of CMC’s graduates ended up working in mass
media.
I
share Mr. Chanco’s observation that you don't have to take a communication
course to be a good journalist in the same manner I concede that a degree in
sociology does not guarantee being a good sociologist. I agree that communications
students should be better equipped to let people understand the very complex
world we live in today. Technical skills can be learned in six months ala-Tesda,
but perspective takes much more to acquire. I agree that shallow masscom
programs be abolished ASAP.
I
am glad that students from non-comm programs did so well, successively, as editor
in chief of our university student paper at MMSU. Kudos to Michael C. Nacario
(Civil Engineering), Mizpah Castro (Sociology), and, of course, Apo Brian Jay Corpuz
(Industrial Education). I am proud of Sir Jopo Guerrero
(philosophy), who made a mark in regional stations of the two giant tv networks; Mitch Esmino (English) the
main man at the editorial board of this paper; Erme Labayog
(Mathematics) who was once a staff reporter of The
Ilocos Times; my teacher Randy David (Sociology) who hosted the longest
running public affairs TV show; Atom Araullo (Applied Physics), one of the
braver and more sensible tv
reporters today; Ace lensman Ronald Macatulad (Philosophy), and all communication
course graduates who make the world a better place through their good work.
The fact remains that one
can be a good journalist even without a degree in communication.
***
Guien Garma, who has been a passionate reader of The Ilocos Times since he was a kid,
when most of his playmates only watch cartoons, offers his take on this issue.
This brilliant lad from Batac is now a fourth year student under the
Development Communication program of UP Los Baños.
Read on:
Pursuing a communication
course is not a lost cause. Communication and journalism courses are not passé.
The communication academe will still develop.
Take
development communication, for instance. This discipline is young and is still
exploring a lot. Sa totoo lang, kami po
mismo na nasa DevCom school of thought, hindi
mapalagay kung saan kami lalagay. Should we be quantitative or qualitative?
Should we be objective, or should we be interpretive? But these doubts are not negative,
but positive. It's part of growing up. At least, we know that we're growing as
a field.
As a community
broadcasting major, it's true that you can learn the tools and tricks of the
trade in a few months, if you're really good. But I disagree on the argument
that enrolling in comm and j-schools are a waste of time. It would set a
precedent of freezing, if not closing comm schools. [Kung hindi po ako nagkakamali, ilang beses na ring na-freeze noon ang DevCom program sa MMSU dahil kulang sa bagong enrollees. Should that trend have continued,
hindi maiaalis ang pangamba na baka nga
isara nang tuluyan ang kurso.]
Now,
the challenges are [1] how communication schools will cope up with the signs of
the times; and [2] how it will adopt to interdisciplinary studies. [For
example, Devcom and sociology can work together well. In fact, we borrow values
and lessons from sociology, e.g. Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the
Oppressed," the Frankfurt school. Magka-vibes
kumbaga, Sir Herdy. :)
Also, several
communication programs and colleges in state universities and colleges do not
just settle in instruction; they have research and extension works as well.
Setting aside their state subsidy would be hurtful. For instance, DZLB-AM, the
country's first development-oriented radio station, based in the UPLB College
of Development Communication, has been off-the-air for years due to a broken
transmitter. DZLB's annual budget of P100,000 is just enough for the honoraria
of the people who work for DZLB (administrative, technical, content/programming).
One can't buy a 5 KW transmitter for P100,000; kulang po ‘yun. Stripping off SUC comm schools' budgets would
curtail their other functions both inside and outside their respective
institutions.
That's why several comm
programs are reliant on subsidies from other organizations. Take the TAMBULI
Project, for instance. Funded by UNESCO, its aim is to empower people in
communities by having them manage their own low-powered FM station. This is not
just merely setting up something that people can listen to; it's about putting
up something that communities will proudly call their own. It is capacity
building and actual community action. But when the funding was cut, the project
halted as well.
***
My final take dear karikna:
If even just a quarter of masscom/journ graduates can be as good as Guien, then
academic journalism in the Philippines is, indeed, not a lost cause. Sadly,
this remain… a wish. Meanwhile, I am glad Korina Sanchez (Communication Arts,
Maryknoll College) is out of the evening newscast. What to do with Noli de
Castro, an unfunny clown masquerading as a journalist, and the Inquirer
editors, all formally educated in journalism I suppose, who wrongly predicted
the death of Mary Jane Veloso?
herdylayumul.com
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