Lesson 4:
PRINT MEDIA
by Prof. Mars M. Landingin, LPT
Print Media History
The history of the print media begins in China, where the
invention of paper in AD 1045 is attributed to Tśai Lun, a
Chinese official; and the first movable type printing press
– made of ceramic plates – is said to have been invented
by Pi Sheng some 40 years later.
The large scale production of books did not begin in the
Orient until the Ming Dynasty in the 13th century (Tsien,
1985). However, western historians give the credit to
German Johannes Gutenburg, who built a metal movable
type printing press in 1439, which had more efficient
method of printing books and pamphlets.
According to the World Association of Newspapers, the
first newspaper in the modern sense was published by
German Johann Carlous in 1605 and was named
“Relation aller Furnemmen and gedenckwandigen”. In
1609, another newspaper was started from Germany,
called “File”.
History of Philippine Newspapers
In the Philippines, print media history began with Tomas
Pinpin, a Chinese Filipino who started his own printing
press after working in a press that belonged to the
Domincan missionaries in 1609. The following year, he
printed his famous “Librong Pagaaralan ng manga
Tagalog nang Uicang Castilla”, a book that was meant to
help Filipinos learn the Spanish language. Pinpin was
responsible for the printing of the first known mass
media form in the country. Example is the newsletter
entitled “Sucesos Felices”, a 14-page newsletter that
reported on Spanish military victories.
However, the first locally produced newspaper was the
“Del Superior Govierno”, published in 1811, with the
Spanish governor general as editor-in-chief. This was
succeeded by “La Esperanza” in 1846, also a paper
written for the local Spanish community and contained,
apart from the news from Spain, subjects such as
religion, science, and history.
On the other hand, “Diaro de Manila”, was set up in 1848
to rival “La Esperanza”. With its editorial office in
Binondo, the paper was edited by Felipe del Pan and
published by Ramirez y Compañia. An 1865 edition
contains the first known disaster reporting in the
Philippines: an article written by Rev. Fr. Francisco Colina
on the typhoon in September 1865.
However, it was forcibly closed by the Spanish colonial
government in February 1898 when authorities
discovered that its printing press was secretly being used
to print “Kalayaan” (1896), the newspaper of the
Kaputineros, edited by Emilio Jacinto. It had only two (2)
issues before it was discovered by the Spanish
authorities.
Published in Spain in 1889 by Filipino illustrados (Filipino
elite), La Solidaridad is a nationalistic newspaper that
served as a mouthpiece of the revolutionary movement.
Its editors were Marcelo H. del Pilar, a.k.a. Plaridel; and
Graciano Lopez Jaena, a.k.a. Diego Laura. Among its
distinguished writers were Jose Rizal, who wrote under
the pen name Laong Laan; and Antonio Luna whose
pseudonym was Taga-Ilog.
Upon returning to the Philippines, Antonio Luna was
instrumental in founding another revolutionary paper,
“La Independencia” (1989-1900), which served as the
official organ of the Magdalo chapter of the Katipunan.
Luna was the Katipunan’s supreme army chief under
Emilio Aguinaldo. This newspaper continued even during
the Filipino-American War, with Rafael Palma as editor.
The lyrics of the Philippine national anthem, written by
Palma in Spanish, was published in this paper.
The American period was a new and influential era in
Philippine journalism. Two (2) newspapers and a
magazine that still exist today were set up by foreigners:
The Manila Times (1898), the Manila Bulletin (1900), and
the Philippine Free Press (1908).
The Manila Times was established in October 1989 by
Thomas Gowan, an Englishman, to cater to the
Americans and foreign community living in Manila.
Primary readership were the US army men occupying the
capital after the Americans defeated the Spanish and
became the colonial masters. In 1917, the paper was
bought by Alejandro Roces Sr. Under him, the paper shut
down twice: first, by the Japanese occupation
government during World War II; and again, by the
Marcos administration during the martial law. The paper
was reestablished by Joaquin (Chino) Roces in February
1986, with reports recording the days of EDSA I by then
young journalists Sheila Coronel, Lorna Kalaw-Tirol, and
Malou Mangahas. Since then, however, the paper
changed ownership several times even
as the Roces family coded ownership of the paper in
1989.
Originally called The Manila Daily Bulletin, the
newspaper was founded in February 1900 by American
Carson Taylor as a shipping journal. In 1912, the paper
began to publish current events and other articles
outside of shipping information, and becoming a
veritable mouthpiece of the American colonial
government. In 1957 the paper was bought and
modernized by Swiss expatriate Hans Menzi. During the
martial law period, the paper changed its name to
Bulletin Today and managed to evade closure by
becoming a propaganda tool of the Marcos regime.
After EDSA I, it changed back to Manila Bulletin and was
later purchased by Chinese Filipino businessman Emilio
Yap.
Continuing the revolutionary spirit during the American
period is the short-lived Spanish-language newspapers
“El Renacimiento” and Cebu-based “El Dia”. Edited by
Teodoro M. Kalaw and Fidel Reyes, “El Renacimiento” is
best known for publishing the editorial “Aves de Rapiña”
(Birds of Prey), which used metaphorical language in
attacking Dean Worcester, then American colonial
government secretary interior, who was said to be
plundering the country’s natural resources for his
personal gain. Worcester sued the paper for libel and
won. This forced the paper’s closure.
Another paper worth mentioning during this period is
the Philippine Herald, a pro-Filipino newspaper founded
by Manuel L. Quezon, with the aim of promoting the
independence of the Philippines from American colonial
government.
The post war era to premarital law period (1945-1972) is
called by many scholars as the golden age of the
Philippine journalism. The Philippine press began to be
known as the “the freest in Asia.” Like today’s print
media, however, newspapers of that era were owned by
Taipans who had many business interests other than the
newspaper business. Most notable in this era is the
establishment of the Manila Chronicle in 1945 by
businessman Eugenio Lopez Sr., brother of then vice
president Fernando Lopez.
On September 21, 1972, then president Ferdinand E.
Marcos issued Proclamation No. 1081, which proclaimed
Martial Law and ordered the immediate “take over and
control of all privately owned newspapers, magazines,
radio and television facilities, and all other media
communications.” Several editors and journalists were
arrested and incarcerated in military prison camps. After
the initial closure, only two (2) premarital law paper were
allowed to open: the Daily Express and the Bulletin Today
(the renamed Manila Bulletin). Meanwhile, a
government newspaper, the now defunct Times Journal,
was put up using the sequestered presses of the Manila
Times. The three (3) papers served as mouthpieces of the
Marcos regime.
Despite the tightly controlled media environment,
however, a few brave souls set up the so-called mosquito
press, defying government press regulations and
reporting about human rights violations rampant in that
era. These alternative media were nicknamed as such
because they were small but could sting. The more
prominent among them were the WE Forum (closed
down by government in 1983) and “Pahayagang
Malaya”, run by Jose Burgos Jr., the tabloid “Veritas”,
edited by Felix Bautista and Melinda Q. de Jesus;
Business Day (forerunner of Business World) by
husband-and-wife team Raul and Leticia Locsin; and the
Philippine Inquirer and Mr. & Ms. Magazine, both
published by Eugenia D. Apostol and edited by Leticia J.
Magsanoc.
After the EDSA I peaceful revolt in February 1986, which
ousted the Marcos regime and installed Corazon Aquino
as president, several of these alternative media turned
mainstream. Among them were “Pahayagang Malaya”
and the Inquirer, which changed its name to Philippine
Daily Inquirer.
New daily newspapers also sprouted, such as the
Philippine Star, which was founded by Betty Go-
Belmonte; and the Cebu based Sun. Star chain of
provincial papers began, setting up dailies in major cities
around the country.
History of Philippine Magazines
During the Spanish era, several magazine-like
publications existed. The most notable ones were “La
Illustracion Filipinas” (1859), “El Bello Sexo” (1891), and
“Patnubay ng Katoliko” (1890). However, the first
magazine to be called as such is the Philippine Magazine,
established in 1904 by Adrain Hardenthorp, a Thomasite.
In 1908, American Robert McCullough Dick founded the
country’s first news magazine, the Philippine Free Press,
which exemplified American-style hard-hitting
journalism against corruption. When Dick passed away in
1960, coeditor Teodoro Locsin, Sr. took over as publisher
and editor. It was closed down by the martial law in 1972.
It resurfaced after EDSA I, under brothers Enrique and
Teodoro Locsin Jr. Also notable was the establishment of
vernacular magazines by Ramon Roces, son of Alejandro
Roces. Among them were the Tagalog-language
magazine “Liwayway” (1923), “Bisaya” (1932), and
Ilocano “Bannawag” (1932).
History of Philippine Komiks
The first comic strip by a Filipino is “The Monkey
and the Tortoise” by Jose Rizal published in
Truebner's Record in London in 1889. It was part of
a piece on Asian folktales.
In 1929, in the pages of Liwayway Magasin, Tony
Velasquez created the recurring character Kenkoy, in
the strip ANG KABALBALAN NI KENKOY (THE
MISADVENTURES OF KENKOY)
By the end of World War II, the American GIs introducing
the serialized comic book format, giving way to
HALAKHAK KOMIKS in 1946. Indeed, Kenkoy catalyzed
the spread of mainstream komiks in the Philippines, but
its heyday would come in the 1950s and 1960s. Tony
Velasquez, the Father of Philippine Comics, recruited
writers and illustrators for Ace publications, including
future komiks giants Mars Ravelo (Darna, Lastikman,
Captain Barbell), Francisco Coching (Pedro Penduko,
Hagibis), Larry Alcala (Siopawman, Kalabog en Bosyo)
and Alfredo Alcala, who would later draw for DC Comics
in the United States.
National Artist Vicente Manansala even produced his
own titles from 1947 to 1949, most notably Prinsesa
Urduja, which became part of Pilipino Komiks, the best-
selling comic book in the Philippines, and Alias Kapitan
Simangot. Carlo J. Caparas, a notable director, once
started in the local komiks industry creating characters
such as Flavio in Panday, Totoy Magtanggol in Totoy
Bato, and Joaquin Apacible in Joaquin Bordado.

At its height, komiks provided Filipinos the distractions

they needed from the reality of society, with the medium
appealing to both the poor and the middle class, most of
which cannot afford the more elitist forms of art such as
theatre and film. Most of the subjects in Philippine
komiks were attached to the mystical and the
supernatural; however, other titles are more grounded
in reality, with some themes revolving around comedy,
romance and melodrama which are still popular subject
matter in contemporary mainstream media.

However, as the years pass by, less and less of Philippine

komiks are consumed by the masses. Both readership
and production has declined with the advent of other
forms of media and entertainment, such as television
and video games. One