Hofileña: Vital role of journalism in communications

Hofileña: Vital role of journalism in communications

TO BRIEFLY recall, regarding our previous column on the various aspects of cultural values in history, we firstly noted the controversies on the aspects of communications which have become globally widespread as “fake news.”

Secondly, we also highlighted the crucial connections among cultural values, governance and our continuing concerns with the subject matters which have assumed historical significance in our contemporary times.

These include ideology, historicity, management principles, socio-economic volatilities, science and technology, global diversities, socio-economic problems, environmental disruptions, civil conflicts, refugee migrations, cultural extremism, terrorism, political isolationism and related issues.

Thirdly, we thus interconnected these various issues with our related concerns on governance and the recent controversial topic of “fake news” spreading in various countries today.

In the process, we started in our past issues the connecting links of “fake news” and the historic aspects of professional journalism. Furthermore, we briefly clarified the basic aspects of the so-called “fake news”, its origins, and how it has spread widely with negative effects in different areas. We have likewise connected these issues of governance dysfunctions with two main aspects of breakdown of communications.

The first way was hard-liner confrontations not leading to clarifications but to injurious conflicts? The second way we suggested is “The Road Less Traveled” from the book of noted author, Dr. Scott Peck, which involves patience and concessional communications. These have contributed to global efforts on understanding and peace. The first of these two historic means of communications is journalism.

The basic elements of journalism include the art of transmitting ideas for publications in newspapers, other periodicals and instruments, which include thoughts and actions that have interest or significance to readers. The field of journalism, over the centuries, has widened its scope to cover the traditional categories of newspapers, magazines and reviews, journals, newsletters, and digests, radio, television, cinema and related others.

We will be taking up the most recent form of journalism described as non-traditional, electronic or now widely described as social media.

To briefly recall a historical overview of traditional journalism, we can trace it back to ancient Egypt with messengers reporting to the kings, and later on, the so-called town criers singing important announcements in streets and public places. The printed newspapers were started in Great Britain during the 17th century and followed by the first newspapers in colonial America. The succeeding spread of traditional journalism was led by American and Western journalists until today.

In the Philippines, while the first newsletters appeared in 1637 with the pioneering efforts of Thomas Pinpin and notably with the revolutionary publications of Filipino leaders in the 18th century including Julian de Puso, Jesus Polangco, Pedro Paterno, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Marcelo del Pilar, Jose Rizal, Emilio Jacinto. Mariano Ponce, Andres Bonifacio and others. Likewise, Filipino journalists were also active during the American colonial administration of the Philippines.

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