N.B. – A United States-based journalist interviewed me via email regarding the future of journalism graduates in the Philippines. Please find below my answers to his questions. Thanks.

Are you currently teaching journalism in UP Diliman?

At present, I am on special detail as visiting professor at Hannam University where I teach communication courses.

How long have you been teaching journalism?

If you include the time when I was still a lecturer (or part-time teacher), I have been teaching journalism since 1995.

Based on your experience as a journalism professor in the past five or three years, is the number of students taking up journalism courses/class decreasing or increasing? Why or what could be the reason for the increase/decrease?

There appears to be an increase in the number of students taking up journalism at UP although the same case cannot be said for other schools that offer journalism degree programs. I think the demand for journalism and communication courses remains not because the intention of the student is to get a job at a media organization. I’ve had the unfortunate experience of having students who end up being engaged in business process outsourcing, the most popular form of which is the call center industry. Having a background in journalism or communication provides a comparative advantage to those who want to get a high-paying job at the BPO sector. This is, of course, not the intention of the journalism program at UP as we want students to make a difference in the media sector.

Can a journalism course still offer students a good career in newspapers and other related print publications? Why?

I think it can, for as long as its orientation is multi-media and the curriculum is made relevant to address various professional and ethical issues related to Philippine media.

What other job prospects await journalism students if they fail to get employed in newspapers?

Aside from BPO, they could get a job at various public relations firms. There are also those who end up working for public and private corporations as information officers. I need to stress, however, that this is not the intention of the journalism program at UP.

From your experience, is it getting harder to find newspaper employment today than before the advent of the Internet and online newspapers?

The nature and orientation of newspapers in the Philippines is far different from the US’ case. The closure of broadsheets through the years is usually borne out of the lack of interest of the owner to continuously financing a white elephant. Right now, we have a situation where there are several print publications but only a few of them actually earn profits.

What other employment challenges do journalism students today face or may face when they graduate?

Media organizations can only accommodate so much, and contractualization in media may force journalism graduates to take on freelancing work to survive. This is the reason they need to have a multimedia orientation so that they can straddle different forms of media, and reach out to more people in the process.

U.S. newspapers are closing one after the other. What is the possibility of local newspapers suffering the same fate?

There is a need to look at the context of the closure of US newspapers. It’s mainly due to the accessibility and affordability of Internet use, particularly broadband connection. The Philippines still does not have wide Internet usage, though the number of those who are online are increasing exponentially through the years. Nevertheless, it will still take a long time before most people can actually become new media consumers and have access to fast and efficient Internet connections.

How can the print journalism profession and newspapers in the country be preserved in the midst of tough competition posed by online newspapers local or otherwise?

Print publications need to assert the attribute of permanence by coming up with socially relevant and indepth analyses of burning issues of the day. They need to prove to readers that paying a lot of money for their issues is worth it by giving information and not selling the audiences short by a multitude of advertisements, gossip and trivia.