Zamboanga schools join Smart's online campus journalism program

MANILA, Philippines - From A to Z - that’s the distance already bridged early this school year by journ.ph, the online journalism platform of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart).
The journ.ph program was recently introduced to the whole Zamboanga Peninsula when the regional office of the Department of Education (DepEd) conducted a campus journalism training for advisers and selected student editors in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur. About 250 participants representing 80 high school and elementary school papers participated in the campus paper editorial and management training which was highlighted by the Smart online campus journalism training, said Dr. Visminda Valde, regional school publications supervisor.
Dr. Valde invited Smart to conduct the online journalism training after learning of the telco’s program at the National Schools Press Conference held in April in Puerto Princesa City where journ.ph was introduced to a nationwide audience.
“It is, indeed, a blessing that Smart brought the online journalism technology to our region, thus our publications are now given the opportunity to be part of a pioneering digital media initiative,” Dr. Valde said.
With the recent connectivity of the Zamboanga Peninsula with the Smart program, journ.ph is now actively operational in three regions. In the high school level, it was implemented in Western Visayas in 2010 with the support of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) - Region VI and early this year in the MIMAROPA Region.
The Smart journ.ph training brings to the regions online journalism experts. At the Pagadian training, Journalism educator Chay Hofilena of Ateneo de Manila and Rappler.com, lawyer Jaime Fortunato Caringal, founder of a Metro Manila-based law firm, and UP Los Banos alumnus Alfred Franco Caballero, a graphics designer specialist, discussed the nature of online journalism, media ethics and the law and online journalism designing, respectively.
In Zamboanga City, Daniel Renz Roc, a student of the Regional Science High School, continues to reflect on the insights he gained at the training. “It’s a priceless blessing for me as it helps me to have a clearer way to see events and articles deeper through the use of multi-media images. I have realized better that I can be a speaker and writer for the world through journ.ph.”
Advisers, too, were just as appreciative. “Journ.ph it an amazing program and I am able to educate myself and gain more exposure to the world of digital technology and literacy,” said Marilyn Pacong.
“I expect more of my students to be more interactive not only in their school but also with those from other schools,” expressed Anthony Din of Ayala National High School in Zamboanga City.
Dr. Valde expressed the hope that Smart will sow more journ.ph seeds across the Zamboanga Peninsula region, saying, “this way we will be constantly be updated even if we are far from the metropolitan centers and become an active part of the information highway.”