The Philippine Journalists Code of Ethics

I shall scrupulously report and interpret the news, taking care not to suppress essential
facts nor to distort the truth by omission or improper emphasis. I recognize the duty to
air
the
other
side
and
the
duty
to
correct
substantive
errors
promptly.
I shall not violate confidential information on material given me in the exercise of my
calling.
I shall resort only to fair and honest methods in my effort to obtain news, photographs
and/or documents, and shall properly identify myself as a representative of the press
when
obtaining
any
personal
interview
intended
for
publication.
I shall refrain from writing reports which will adversely affect a private reputation unless
the public interest justifies it. At the same time, I shall fight vigorously for public access
to
information,
as
provided
for
in
the
Constitution.
I shall not let personal motives or interests influence me in the performance of my duties;
nor shall I accept or offer any present, gift or other consideration of a nature which may
cast
doubt
on
my
professional
integrity.
I
shall
not
commit
any
act
of
plagiarism.
I shall not, in any manner, ridicule, cast aspersions on, or degrade any person by reason
of sex, creed, religious belief, political conviction, cultural and ethnic origin.
I shall presume persons accused of crime of being innocent until proven otherwise. I
shall exercise caution in publishing names of minors and women involved in criminal
cases
so
that
they
may
not
unjustly
lose
their
standing
in
society.
I
shall
not
take
unfair
advantage
of
a
fellow
journalist.
I shall accept only such tasks as are compatible with the integrity and dignity of my
profession, invoking the conscience clause when duties imposed on me conflict with
the
voice
of
my
conscience.
I shall conduct myself in public or while performing my duties as journalist in such
manner as to maintain the dignity of my profession. When in doubt, decency should be
my watchword

A Brief History of Campus Journalism

by Alixander Haban Escote In History, August 28, 2008
According to Jesus Valenzuela in the History of Journalism in the Philippine Islands (1933) and John Lent
in the Philippine Mass Communication (1964), the history of campus journalism in the Philippines started
when the University of Santo Tomas published El Liliputiense in 1890.
However, Oscar Manalo, Narciso Matienzo, and Virgilio Monteloyola in Ang Pamahayagan (1985)
argued that the history of campus journalism in the country started when the University of the Philippines
published The College Folio, now The Philippine Collegian, in 1910. They also added that The Torch of
the Philippine Normal University, The Guidon of the Ateneo de Manila University, and The Varsitarian of
the University of Santo Tomas were also published two years later.
Whatever came first, Carlos Romulo y Pea edited The Coconut, the official student publication of the
Manila High School, now the Araullo High School. It was published in 1912 and it is now considered the
first and oldest high school newspaper in the country.
In 1923, La Union High School in the Ilocos Region published The La Union Tab, the first printed and
regularly issued high school newspaper in the country. Since then, high school newspapers came out one
after the other.
Among these high school newspapers were The Pampangan, Pampanga High School, 1925; The Leytean,
Leyte High School, 1925; The Rizalian, Rizal High School, 1926; The Coconut, Tayabas High School,
1927; The Volcano, Batangas High School, 1927; The Toil, La Union Trade School, 1928; The
Samarinian, Samar High School, 1928; The Melting Pot, Tarlac High School, 1929; The Granary, Nueva
Ecija High School, 1929; The Torres Torch, Torres High School, 1930; and The Cagayan Student
Chronicle, Cagayan High School, 1931.
In 1931, 30 out of 106 high schools in the country had campus newspapers registered at the Bureau of
Public Schools. In 1950, this number increased to 169; by 1954, to 253; by 1975, to 500; and by 1986, to
more than 900 newspapers in English and in Filipino.