Howie Severino and Joel Pablo Salud, both veteran journalists, were guest speakers at a recent forum on “Literary Journalism in the Age of Fake News,” held by the University of Santo Tomas Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS) at the Benavides Auditorium.
The much-awarded Severino is best known for his long-running documentary on GMA 7, “I-Witness,” but he has also been a journalist in print and online for two decades. Salud has been editor in chief of the Philippines Graphic Magazine for 10 years, but he has also worked for other newspapers and is the author of two books published by the UST Publishing House.
The audience consisted mainly of UST senior high school students in the humanities and social sciences track, and UST undergraduate students in creative writing, journalism and communications; but also included students from other schools, including a large group of senior high school students from St. Scholastica’s College. Also in the audience were Gemma Cruz Araneta, herself a journalist, with a regular column in the Manila Bulletin; and former managing editor of The Manila Times, Felipe Salvosa, who recently made front page news by resigning due to a story written by the paper’s publisher and chair. Salvosa received special recognition from the two guest speakers, and the audience warmly applauded him.
The writers spoke not only of the political climate that journalists have to contend with today, and the dangers they have always faced, but also about their early experiences as writers.
Severino read excerpts from his journal as a very young man. Both emphasized the importance of immersing in the environment when writing about anything, of obtaining all the facts, and reporting them accurately, even when employing literary techniques to make the writing more interesting.
Severino and Salud also mentioned their first writing assignments. Severino had to cover a story about Vietnamese refugees at sea, who survived by killing and eating the unaccompanied minor who was with them. Salud said his first assignment was nothing so dramatic. The editor was looking for someone to write a story on a branded light bulb. Salud, who was an office assistant, and whose work consisted mainly of getting coffee for the staff, volunteered to do it, and the editor wondered why his janitor was volunteering to write an article, but gave him the assignment anyway.
The forum was part of the series USTingan, a round-table discussion held every semester by the UST CCWLS, on different contemporary issues involving literature and the other arts, and featuring prominent members of the larger arts community.
This edition of USTingan was the CCWLS’ contribution to National Literature Month of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. —CONTRIBUTED
