When I think of MindaNews, the phrase, “What is journalism for?” immediately comes to mind.
Paraphrased from the title of the book, “What Are Journalists For?” written by Jay Rosen, associate professor at the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, New York University, it conveys the true and meaningful purpose of journalism beyond providing useful information to people. Practiced as craft and profession, journalism bridges community gaps and helps citizens navigate complex, and challenging situations, hold the powerful to account, encourages dialogues and discourse on critical social issues, and provides citizens a sense of hope, and that they can help address many of the challenges confronting them.
For 25 years MindaNews has been consistently demonstrating a journalism that is empathetic but unafraid to ask the hard questions, taking the roads less traveled to explore the untold stories of Mindanao. It often struggled to keep financially afloat but always found a second wind so that Mindanao and its people can tell their stories and that they will have a voice in the national conversation.
I am truly proud and honored to have been part, no matter how insignificant, of its birthing and for having witnessed its two-and-half-decade journey, an adventure and exploration no less, into the limitless boundaries of what journalism is all about and for whom. I will not be surprised if MindaNews continues to do the same over the next 25 years.
Congratulations and Mabuhay!
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