Acknowledging the massive growth of online news reporting in recent years, the Department of Education (DepEd) is adding Online Journalism as one of the categories for the 2015 National Schools Press Conference (NSPC).
Aside from Online Journalism, student participants are also being introduced to Science Writing, which was recently added to the NSPC competition categories.
DepEd secretary Armin Luistro highlighted the importance of adding digital communication components in the Campus Journalism Program.
He said that doing so will increase the 21st century skills of teachers, thereby furthering the media literacy of Filipino students.
The education department also recently conducted a nationwide training for school paper advisers and campus journalism coordinators as part of its preparation for the NSPC.
The National Training of Trainers on Campus Journalism sought to orient the school paper advisers on the current trends and developments in campus journalism and digital communications media, to enhance their journalistic skills and to update effective school paper management and editorial techniques.
Aside from Online Journalism, the school paper advisers were also trained in Editorial Cartooning, Copy Writing, Feature Writing, News Writing, Sports Writing, and Photojournalism by resource speakers from the industry and academe.
The training was divided into two batches: Luzon and Visayas-Mindanao. Around 180 school paper advisers from the nine regions in Visayas and Mindanao participated in the Davao City training while 160 school advisers from Luzon joined the second leg in Lucena City.
The nationwide training also served as a venue to address issues and concerns relating to the conduct of the NSPC 2015.
This year’s NSPC will be held in Taguig City, from April 6 to 10 with the theme ?Empowering Resilient Communities Through Campus Journalism.?
As the culmination of the in-school journalism and English language programs, NSPC provides a venue for enriching learning experiences for students interested in pursuing journalism as a career.
It aims to demonstrate an understanding of the importance of journalism by expressing it through different journalistic endeavors and approaches, to sustain advocacy on social consciousness, to promote responsible journalism through fair and ethical use of mass and social media.
