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Inquirer through the years: 300,000 to 30 million
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ver 32 years, the Inquirer brand of journalism has grown: from being just a newspaper, the brand has become a staple in different news platforms, with a combined audience reach of 30 million. Since the founding of the Philippine Daily Inquirer broadsheet in 1985, the news organization has grown into a pioneering multimedia organization which includes its website Inquirer.net, Radyo Inquirer 990AM, the regional paper Cebu Daily News, national tabloid Bandera (which has three editions for Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao), the free paper Libre, as well as its social media and mobile chat apps. The Inquirer Group also includes Hinge Inquirer Publication which publishes lifestyle and niche consumer magazines; Megamobile, a digital content and applications developer; Inquirer Digital Outdoor which provides infotainment on the go; Print Town Group, the largest privately owned newspaper and commercial printer in the Philippines; DAG Xpress Courier Inc. which services the delivery and courier needs of publications and other companies through 5,000 delivery points, and Inquirer Academy which offers workshops on communication, marketing, leadership and business innovation. Today, the flagship PDI celebrates
Throughout the 32 years, we have striven to reinvent ourselves, even adopting radical changes in our newspaper to be more relevant to you Marixi R. Prieto Board chair, Philippine Daily Inquirer
32 years of excellent and credible journalism with its agenda-setting reports, incisive commentaries and editorials as well as news and information that affect the lives of Filipinos and shape the course of the country’s history. From 300,000 copies of its broadsheet, the Inquirer Group’s different news platforms provide credible and relevant news and information to 30 million readers through their smartwatch, smartphone, desktop, tablet, radio and TV sets, and the print media. INQ
INQUIRER.NET: THAT WOW FEELING By Abe Cerojano, Dennis Maliwanag and Celeste Flores-Colina Inquirer.net editors
ol; “P900-M internal fraud rocks Metrobank” by Dax Lucas; “WBO says it will rescore Pacquiao-Horn fight; result stands;” “#WalangPasok;” “The fall of the bigtime drug lord” by Ador Mayol, and “CIDG raids Parojinog houses, 8 reported dead” by Allan Nawal of Inquirer Mindanao. Mayol’s “Suicide on Facebook Live” was the top story of the month.
Inquirer.net staff at work
cially to millennials looking to make a difference. Marawi crisis When President Duterte placed the whole Mindanao under martial law on May 23 in response to the attack of the Islamic State (IS)-inspired Maute group on Marawi City, Inquirer.net’s editorial operations quickly kicked into high gear, delivering minute by minute news updates on the conflictstricken city. The site saw an overnight dramatic jump in page views that continued in the succeeding months. Inquirer.net’s Nestor Corrales and Inquirer Mindanao correspondents worked almost round the clock to meet the readers’ growing demand for
the latest developments in Marawi. But one story stood out: Ryan Rosauro’s narration of the sacrifices and courage of two Muslim women in defending Christians amid the turmoil and despite the risks involved. By that month’s end, Inquirer.net registered over 60 million page views, or a 21-percent increase compared to the previous month. More compelling stories The site’s 24-hour coverage of the Marawi crisis also kept Filipinos overseas abreast of fresh developments in the fighting between government forces and the IS-backed militants. In June, Inquirer.net produced stories that touched the heart while provoking criti-
cal thinking about often-ignored issues. A story uploaded by the Inquirer’s Super staff, “Young moms, fathers, beloved bosses among those killed at Resorts World attack,” became the No.1 story in June, with page views reaching over 70 million, a 16-percent increase over figures of the preceding month. Also one of the most shared stories on social media was Inquirer Visayas’ Ador Mayol’s story on the Bohol town mayor, a former pilot who was allegedly killed by her husband. Her body, dumped into the sea, has yet to be found. In July, six big stories marked a steady climb in Inquirer.net’s page views. They were: “Suicide on Facebook Live” by Ador May-
Videos, live coverage The video team has added a lot of punch to the site’s aggressive coverage of the day’s events. The social media team with its top-of-the line video gear has put Inquirer.net in good standing in the live streaming arena. Among its most notable video coverage was the 40-day nationwide tolling of the De Profundis bells in several Catholic churches in Metro Manila and in Central Luzon at 8 p.m., which the site featured in a live broadcast. The initiative was the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ way of appealing to the faithful to pray for those who had perished in the government’s bloody war on drugs. Sports section’s milestone Inquirer.net also hosted the Inquirer Sports section’s collaborative and multiplatform coverage of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games. With sports writer Marc
Anthony Reyes firing updates straight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the online sports desk presented breaking news, features, the latest medal standings and graphics that summed up the country’s performance in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. Aside from news on the Filipino athletes, the SEA Games special site also provided stories on other nations competing in the regional sporting event. On top of its coverage of special international events, the online sports desk also helped produce an extensive coverage of major sporting leagues in the Philippines. From the PBA’s basketball games to other sports in the collegiate leagues like the UAAP and the NCAA, the online sports desk was a consistent source of content that told incredible stories about athletes and their game. But the sports online desk did not limit its coverage to stories; it also provided videos posted on the Inquirer’s video platform or its Facebook page, with live updates on Twitter (@inquirersports). Captivating graphics found their way across social media platforms, while photo galleries offered an alternative and more visual way of storytelling. Steve Jobs was right: When the going is good, just say, “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.” INQ
EMULATING BIG SISTER
BANDERA: A TABLOID WITH MULTIMEDIA MINDSET By Bella Cariaso Bandera Reporter Like its sister company, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Bandera has been living up to its core value these past 16 years. It may be tabloid in form, but Bandera has always aspired to be true and fair in its reporting to give its readers the paper they deserve. Reaching the common “tao,” or the average Filipino, is Bandera’s ultimate goal, which it carries out through the print medium and other platforms in these changing times. Over the years, Bandera has evolved from a tabloid into a paper that has a multimedia mindset ready to serve its readers either through print, broadcast, digital, mobile, or social media. Unlike other national tabloids, Bandera has its own
radio/television entertainment show. For more than a year now, “ShowbizLive,” a Wednesday program that airs via Inquirer Radio and Inquirer TV, has been delivering the freshest and hottest entertainment news. TBZoned To promote this weekly show, Bandera has been regularly doing its TBZoned, a Facebook live show that also discusses the latest news and not just show biz. To reach its readers nationwide, Bandera has three regional editions for Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, to enable people to get the news and information they need from accessible sources. These three editions also have their digital version on Inquirer Plus, which can be accessed via tablet, cell phone
Bandera staff does the regular TBZoned show as aid to its radio/television entertainment program “ShowbizLive.” and even PC. A few days ago, Bandera launched its website’s new image (www.bandera.inquirer.net) which offers entertainment
news and other information complemented by its social media accounts, from Facebook (InquirerBandera) to Twitter (@banderainquirer) to Insta-
gram (@banderainquirer) and Viber (Bandera). On top of all that, Bandera has its own app that can be downloaded for free via App
store and Play store. The app gives readers the latest news as well as Lotto and Karera tips and results. Aside from Bandera’s continuous efforts to be at par with its sister publication’s excellent news coverage, it has also committed to fulfilling its social responsibility. Among the projects the tabloid has implemented was the “Lapis at Papel” program that benefited indigent Grade 1 pupils from public schools. Only recently, Bandera acquired the operations of Inquirer Libre, the only free and reliable commuter paper available in LRT and MRT stations. Both Bandera and Libre are extensions of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and share the same DNA of providing accurate news and information that are always balanced and fair, and delivered first. INQ
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CEBU DAILY NEWS: JOURNALISM THAT BUILDS COMMUNITIES Cebu Daily News (CDN) looks back at 2017 as a year of many milestones as it heads for its 20th year in February 2018. Amid a changing media landscape and declining print readership, CDN began to aggressively beef up its digital presence in 2016 (via cebudailynews.in quirer.net, facebook.com/cebudailynews, twitter.com/cebudailynews), raising the bar of its news coverage, particularly breaking stories and delivering reports of significant events in Cebu as close to real time as possible. As the year ended, Cebu Daily News remained as the only community newspaper in Cebu in the Top Newspapers in the Philippines Web Ranking for 2016 of the 4 International Media and Newspapers, an international directory and search engine focusing on newspapers worldwide. [4imn.com includes 7,000 newspapers, ranked by web popularity, in 200 countries, according to information gathered from its website.] CDN’s official Facebook and Twitter pages ranked first among its peers in the local English language community newspapers. The page views of the CDN website nearly doubled from 11
INQUIRER.NET’S PAGE VIEW CLIMB
Three letters would aptly describe Inquirer.net this year: Wow! That wow feeling was amplified in July. At the start of an assessment meeting that month, the board room exploded in cheers after the traffic statistics report was splashed on the projection screen: Inquirer.net found itself within striking distance of the 100-million page view mark. Yeeeeess! The rise in page views might be explained by the state of the country these days. Who was it that said that in times of crisis, the news business thrives. This year the daily street bloodbath, the challenges to law and order, the conflict in Mindanao and the almost never-ending political storm have whetted the Filipinos’ appetite for more news online, with many of them visiting Inquirer.net as their primary source of information. The management and the editorial staff maintained their focus on efforts to protect and enhance the brand positioning of Inquirer.net in an industry faced with new challenges. With its expansive treatment of national news, the site’s “News for Filipinos” positioning statement has become more relevant than ever, espe-
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million for the whole of 2016 to 20 million from January to November this year. As CDN’s digital presence grew, it bucked the trend of declining readership by doubling its audience reach year-onyear, ending in 2016 with at least 45,000. It continued to rise this year. Recognition The evolution continued through 2017, realizing that the “tweet-to-print” storytelling method delivered satisfying results for CDN. While it grew its online platforms, CDN was aware that it had to stay anchored to its “mother ship”—Cebu Daily News, as a community newspaper. This year, hewing closely to its mission of “journalism that builds communities,” CDN became more hyperlocal—focusing on narratives that are important to Cebuanos and explaining both national and local issues, and government policies that matter most to them. For its efforts, CDN, through senior reporter Ador Vincent Mayol, received from the Catholic Mass Media Awards in October this year the top print honors—Best in News Cover-
Cebu Daily News staff pose in front of their editorial office in Cebu City. age, for its series of stories that focused on rebuilding the lives of drug dependents; and Best in Feature, about the tale of young cancer patients who found hope amid their pain. Earlier, in September, CDN also received the Best in News Writing and Best in News Feature awards from the Cebu Archdiocesan Mass Media Awards; the Columnist of the
Year award given to environmental advocate and lawyer Gloria Estenzo Ramos by the Globe Media Excellence Award; and Reporter of the Year award to correspondent Cris Evert Lato for her article on a “Different kind of surrender” that saw print both in the Philippine Daily Inquirer and as part of CDN’s four-part special report on a different kind
of drug war—recovering from drug dependency. Bluechips Cebu Paying attention to the drivers of Cebu’s economy and recognizing the importance or the local business sector, CDN published this year the first quarterly business magazine in Cebu, BluechipsCebu, a publication that replicates the
magazine put out by the business section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. CDN also intensified its community relations by holding at least 20 signature events. To address the need for the youth to understand the work of journalists, CDN’s marketing department initiated the free Campus Journalism workshops that aim to educate high school students in public and private schools on journalism, with inhouse editors, photographers and reporters as trainors. Started in 2016 and offered only in Cebu City, the workshops were expanded this year to include public schools in cities south and north of Cebu province, benefiting over 1,200 students. To further promote literacy among children and youth, CDN also held reading programs in partnership with Basadours, creative workshops and school fairs. CDN also successfully staged two runs of the “CDN Conversations,” a venue for learning exchange on marketing and advertising topics (Level Up Your Brand, and Trends and Insights and Innovations on Digital Marketing) for CDN clients, business owners, marketing and advertising professionals. INQ
SCOOPS AND OTHER MAJOR STORIES IN 2017 AGUIRRE ORDERS REVIEW OF DUTERTE FINANCIER’S BANANA LEASE CONTRACT
JAILS FULL OF ADDICTS, REHAB CENTER HAS FEW
The Department of Justice’s order to “revisit” the 25-year lease contract between the Bureau of Corrections and Tagum Agricultural Development Inc. (Tadeco) later exposed a feud between President Duterte’s allies, Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr., whose family owned Tadeco, and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. By Gil C. Cabacungan Published Feb. 16, 2017
This story shows another face of the antidrug war: jails packed mostly with inmates facing drug charges while the rehabilitation centers are empty. It’s a reality that the government acknowledges, but hasn’t come close to addressing. By Philip C. Tubeza Published March 31, 2017
abolished in 2006, but dipping in the period 2010 to 2012, then rising again in 2013. More important, it traces the fluctuations to “changes in the system of crime reporting and inconsistencies in recording crime, not to actual spikes or dives in the number of crimes committed.” This story raises questions on the main argument for the revival of the capital punishment and prompts reflection by lawmakers pushing for it. By Ana Roa Published Jan. 29, 2017
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POLICE VICTIMS’ KIN SHARE TALES OF WOE The lead paragraph was startling: police officers asked for P50,000 for the release of a jailed 27-year-old drug suspect but his mother managed to raise only P10,500. They killed him anyway. It’s the kind of lead that would catch readers’ attention. The rest of the story was heartwrenching, as she and other mothers spoke of their grief, outrage, even helplessness over the random killings of their children. They embraced hope in the company of other families of extrajudicial victims, and priests celebrating Masses for them. By Poch Concepcion Published Feb. 3, 2017
HAS MARRIAGE LOST ITS SHINE? This is a special report that explores the causes of the 30-percent drop in marriage rates in the last 12 years, such as the lack of a divorce law, the high cost of getting married and the growing acceptance of live-in arrangements and same-sex unions. By Cheche Moral, DJ Yap, Jovic Yee, Tina Santos, Julie Aurelio, Ben de Vera and Jhesset Enano. Published Feb. 12-14, 2017
BAUTISTA’S WIFE SEEKS PROBE OF POSSIBLE ILL-GOTTEN WEALTH Marital woes between Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair Andres Bautista and his wife, Patricia, blew up in the media, thanks to the Inquirer that broke the story, complete with a video of an interview with the wife that was carried by some TV networks. Patricia filed an affidavit with the National Bureau of Investigation claiming her husband amassed ill-gotten wealth. The drama led to the filing of an impeachment complaint against Bautista in the House of Representatives, which later prompted the Comelec chair to resign from his post. By Nikko Dizon Published Aug. 7, 2017
YASAY: AMERICAN, FILIPINO OR STATELESS? It’s one of our biggest scoops for the year. It basically exposed Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay as a fraud: contrary to his claims that he had never been an American citizen, he actually took his oath as an American citizen. Because of the Inquirer story, the powerful Commission on Appointments rejected his nomination. By Juliet Labog Javellana Published Feb. 27, 2017
MANY FARMS LOST TO LAND CONVERSION This three-part special report sheds light on the conversion of agricultural lands for residential, commercial, industrial or institutional purposes. The rampant conversion of prime agricultural land, partly driven by rapid urbanization, population growth and speculation, has led to conflicting land uses. By Jinkee Cabildo, Matthew Reysio-Cruz and Krixia Subingsubing Published March 1, 2017 onward
MARIJUANA AS MEDICINE The two-part special report takes a look at proposals to legalize marijuana for its medical benefits. By Poch Concepcion Published Aug. 15-16, 2017
CHILDREN ARRESTED, ABUSED IN WAR ON DRUGS This special report shows the dark side of the government’s Oplan Tokhang that most of us don’t know. Even children are caught in the net cast by a government gung ho on rooting out the drug problem at the expense of human rights, or worse, life. For instance, a 15-year-old Angelo was picked out from a crowd, roughed up and charged with possession of drugs by the police. Others were not as lucky: they were shot to death. By Jodee Agoncillo and Mariejo Ramos Published March 9, 2017
DAVAO HIT MAN FLEES SINGAPORE—After testifying on the killings carried out by the Davao Death Squad under then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, confessed hit man Arturo Lascañas fled the country due to threats to his life, and information he would be charged in court. His lawyer later filed charges of crimes against humanity against President Duterte in the International Criminal Court. By Nikko Dizon Published April 10, 2017
MARTIAL LAW VICTIMS FIND NO JUSTICE IN ‘MOVING ON’ The three-part series highlights the kind of horror faced by martial law survivors: historical revisionism and whitewashing of the suffering under the dictatorship highlighted by Marcos’ burial at Libingan ng mga Bayani. By Jhesset O. Enano Published Sept. 20-22, 2017