Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sun.Star’s Seares 2008 awardee
A COMMUNITY journalist from Cebu is this year’s UP Gawad Plaridel awardee.
Pachico A. Seares, editor-in-chief of Sun.Star Cebu and Sun.Star Superbalita [Cebu], was chosen for his “outstanding contributions to the print media industry.”
The Gawad Plaridel is “the sole award in the University of the Philippines System given to outstanding media practitioners who have excelled in any of the media (print, film, radio, television, and new media) and performed with the highest level of professional integrity in the interest of public service.”
One each year
One practitioner in one medium for each year is given the recognition. Previous awardees were Cheche Lazaro (television) 2007; Fidela Magpayo (radio) 2006; Vilma Santos (film) 2005; and Eugenia Apostol (print) 2004.
Elena E. Pernia, dean of the UP College of Mass Communications in Di-liman, Quezon City, announced this year’s choice “after a stringent judging process.”
Dean Pernia cited Seares’ contributions to community journalism, among them: his major help in steering Sun.Star Cebu and Sun.Star Super-balita [Cebu] to become the readership and advertising leaders among community newspapers in the country, his “continuing advocacy on issues that serve community interest, adopting and implementing journalism values that serve as example to Sun.Star affiliate papers in their respective areas, inspiring the community and regarding the people as citizens who can help the community.”
Those are qualities, Dean Pernia said, that “embody the community print media practitioner fit to be emulated and honored.”
Seares was nominated by the Asian Institute of Journalism (AIJ) in Manila.
From community
Seares will be the second from print, after Apostol in 2004, and the first from community journalism, to receive the award.
Officals of the U.P. academic community will hand to Seares the Napoleon Abueva trophy on July 4, a Wednesday, at the Cine Adarna of the U.P. Film Institute in
Diliman. He will also give the Plaridel lecture on issues affecting the community print media on the same day.
PACHICO A. SEARES
Journalism experience
l Presently, editor-in-chief, Sun.Star Cebu and Sun.Star Superbalita [Cebu]
During his watch, (a) Sun.Star Cebu has won 182 journalism awards, making it the most multi-awarded community newspaper in the country, and (b) he has helped make the two papers he edited the largest-circulated regional newspapers in the country.
He has blazed the trail for community papers in improving content, coverage and newsroom procedures, with the use of new technology and technique, and, more importantly, sharpened Sun.Star journalists’ sense of accountability.
l Formerly
* editor-in-chief, Cebu Yearbook;
* chief of editorial services, then consultant, Sun.Star Publications Network (SSPN)
* editor-in-chief, The Freeman (Cebu);
* correspondent, Manila Chronicle;
* host of daily radio interview program “Direct Line” (dyRC and dyLA);
* co-host of weekly TV talk show “Question Hour” (RPN 9)
Beyond the newsroom
* Co-founded with Concepcion G. Briones the Cebu News Workers Foundation (Cenewof) which in turn spawned
* the Cebu News Workers Cooperative (NewsCoop) and
* the MBF Cebu Press Center,
in which he has been actively involved as trustee and director;
n Co-founded with two other Cebu editors the Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC), whose work is to help defend press freedom and promote accountability among journalists,
of which he is executive director;
* Co-organized Cebu Media Medical Aid Fund (Cemmaf) and Cebu Legal Aid (Cemla)
* Co-founded the Cebu Press Freedom Week which is now on its 14th year, celebrated by both print and broadcast journalists, bringing them together in activities ranging from fellowships to forums on media concerns
* Organized the Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists (CFBJ), an umbrella organization for different beat reporters’ groups
* Conceived Cebu Journalism and Journalists (CJJ), which lists in photos and text Cebu media practitioners and prints media articles, as part of documenting growth of the Cebu press; latest issue is CJJ 3.
* Through Sun.Star, works with journalism schools in outreach programs to expose academe to media culture, e.g. (a) collaboration on special reports by students and teachers, on one hand, and Sun.Star journalists, on the other, and (b) conducting seminars and forums on current media issues;
* Co-produces and writes short documentary films on journalism issues; completed and shown to selected audiences: “Killing Journalists: The Cebu Experience” and, in 2007, “Covering Priests: Clearing the Air and Bridging the Gap”;
* Produces journalism photo exhibits for Sun.Star and Cebu Press Freedom Week, including, last year, “Journalists at Work”;
* Worked with Philippine Press Institute (PPI) as trustee, two terms.
Academic background
* Graduated magna cum laude, Gullas Law School, University of the Visayas
* Member, Integrated Bar of the Philippines
* Teaches “Journalism Law and Ethics” and “Issues on Responsibility of the Press” at University of the Philippines in the Visayas Cebu College
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 27, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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