HISTORY OF

PHILIPPINE
JOURNALISM
THE EARLY PAPERS
The early Philippine newspapers
played critical role in the nation’s
quest for freedom and
independence.

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Through journalism, Filipinos under
the colonization of Spaniards, was
able to uplift the spirit of nationalism
and independent identity among.

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Through journalism, Filipinos under
the colonization of Spaniards, was
able to uplift the spirit of nationalism
and independent identity among.

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The power of journalism in the
country was not only prevalent
during the Spanish occupation but
also in the decades that followed.

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Practicing journalist, lawyers,
businessmen, experts and campus
journalists risked their lives just to
spill the atrocities during the Martial
Law era.

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Philippine press is known to be the
freest and liveliest in Asia.

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Our press serves a “watchdog”
function for the government.

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But there were also developed
corruption in the media through
their propaganda and
sensationalism.

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The fist Philippine newspaper was
established in 1811, Del Superior
Govierno.

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La Esperanza (1846), the first daily
newspaper, centered on the
Spanish elite.

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Diario de Manila, was supressed by
the Spanish government after 38
years of publication for inciting
Filipinos to rebel against Spaniards.

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The first local publication was El
Ilocano in 1893, while El Hogar was
the first publication for and by
women.

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The history of the free press in the
Philippines has its roots in
nationalistic newspapers published
in Europe and in the Philippines
during the Spanish colonial rule.
These newspapers were mainly
published and written by the so-
called ilustrados.

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La Solidaridad, the mouthpiece of
the revolution and the fortnightly
organ of the Propaganda Movement
in 1889 with the policy “to work
peacefully for social and economic
reforms, to expose the real plight of
the Philippines, and to champion
liberalism and democracy.”

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Kalayaan (Liberty), the only issue of
which was published 1898. Kalayaan
served as the official organ of the
revolutionaries. La Independencia
(1898), was the most widely read
newspaper of the revolution. Other
newspapers were La Libertad (1898),
and El Heraldo de Iloilo (1898).

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The American regime saw the introduction
of new newspapers published mostly by
American journalists: The Manila Times
(1898), The Bounding Billow and Official
Gazette (1898), Manila Daily Bulletin
(1900), and the Philippine Free Press
(1908). Some of these publications are still
with us today. In 1920, The Philippine
Herald, a pro-Filipino newspaper, came
out.

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Among these were El Nuevo Dia (The
New Day) published in Cebu and El
Renacimiento. But the most popular
among the masa was the Tagalog
newspaper Sakdal which attacked
regressive taxes, big government, and
abusive capitalists and landlords — issues
which remain relevant today.

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Only the Manila Tribune, Taliba, and La
Vanguardia were allowed to publish
under regular censorship by the Japanese
Imperial Army.

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THE GOLDEN AGE
The post-war era to pre-martial law
period (1945-1972) is called the golden
age of Philippine journalism. The
Philippine press began to be known
as “the freest in Asia.”

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The press functioned as a real watchdog
of the government, It was sensitive to
national issues and critical of government
mistakes and abuses. Among its
practitioners were a clutch of scholarly,
noble-minded writers and editors —
Mauro Mendez, Arsenio Lacson, Modesto
Farolan, Leon Guerrero, Armando Malay,
S.P. Lopez, Jose Bautista, to name a few.

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The press during the period was
forced into a “marriage of
convenience” with large business
enterprises and political groups.

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In 1952, the National Press Club was
organized “to promote cooperation
among journalists and uphold press
freedom and the dignity of
journalists.” In 1964, the Philippine
Press Institute (PPI) was organized
“to foster the development and
improvement of journalism in the
country.”
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MARTIAL LAW ERA
When martial law was declared on
September 21, 1972, the first order
issued by the late President
Ferdinand E. Marcos was to “take
over and control of all privately owned
newspapers, magazines, radio and
television facilities and all other media
communications.”

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The press during the martial law period
was highly controlled. Almost overnight,
the print media changed its traditional
adversary relationship with the
government to that of “cooperation.”
Many journalists learned to practice
brinkmanship and even self-censorship
in order to survive or avoid direct
confrontation with the regime.

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THE GOOD NEWS
Perhaps because it gives priority on its
watchdog function, newspaper content
tends to be dominated by government
issues and events, inevitably involving
government officials a.k.a. politicians.

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Government officials often criticize
newspapers for inaccurate and sloppy
reporting and even for having a “hidden
agenda,” leading to the filing of multi-
million libel cases against editors and
journalists. The press regard negative
reportage as part of their “watchdog
function” and consider libel suits (and ad
boycott) as serious threats to press
freedom.
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