ON FRIDAY, August 28, 2020, ABS-CBN ended 12 local TV Patrol programs and its nine morning shows across the country.
In a statement by the network, this is due to the denial of ABS-CBN’s franchise by the House of Representatives on July 10, which also led to the closing of ABS-CBN Regional operations.
“ABS-CBN Regional through its TV Patrol programs and public service has accomplished more than just building the proverbial bridges. In its distinctive way, ABS-CBN Regional helped build a nation,” Tata Sy, ABS-CBN Regional head, said in a statement.
Across the country, some community papers have stopped printing and shifted to digital operations with a much smaller team due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. Others may have also been to totally closed.
In Davao City, the 70-year old Mindanao Daily Mirror has also ended its newspaper printing and had let go of its employees based in the city.
Whatever remains of the local community press in Davao City or in the whole of Mindanao, struggle to keep business afloat as advertising revenues drop.
It is truly a tough year for the community press in the country with the Covid-19 and the prevailing threats that continue to hound it.
Throughout the years, the Philippine community press has played a crucial role in providing the general public access to information and letting them know and understand what is happening around them.
While most information is readily available on social media, some people still have no access to the worldwide web to read or listen to the news. Hence, they turn to traditional media like newspapers, radio, and television to get their news.
It is also the community press that serves as a check and balance to what is being reported by the media based in Metro Manila.
Members of the community press in Mindanao have worked hard to change the narrative on how Mindanao is reported. It was the community press here that presented to those Metro Manila-based journalists that news stories in Mindanao are not limited to war and disasters. There are also stories of successes here.
At times, it would be the community press that could raise local issues to government leaders.
In a sense, the community also serves as a bridge of the community to its leaders and a window for those who are not from the community.
Despite its small size, the community press also manages to make the voice of the small loud and clear.
However, as regional operations of broadcast firms and local newspapers are in peril, the access to community stories are also in peril.
It is a tough year for the community press. It is already riding the strong waves of the digital revolution and now it has to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
As the community press battles the two storms, they are also working hard to make their systems and operations adapt to the new changes in the industry.
Despite the storms and the tough year, we are confident that the community press will remain steadfast. Driven by its passion to serve the community it is in; it will remain committed to informing people of what is happening around them.
Fight on fellow community journalists.