why masscom

A friend of mine was planning to quit a couple of weeks ago after having part of the Weekly Sillimanian for three years. As part of the editorial staff, she was getting tired of the lack of writers, and the weekly deadlines that really exhaust mental energy. I understood, of course, after having been part of tWS and being a part of the School of Communication of Silliman University. Just thinking of alternative vocabulary to begin a news article, or cornering troublesome interviewees requires a lot of effort. Who would want to worry about these kinds of things when college students are supposed to be experiencing the best four years of our lives?

I love tWS because I had the greatest experience with it two years ago. So while trying to rack up ideas on how to convince her to stay, I realized something that stiffened my resolve to be a great journalist.

Journalists, whether as students or professionals, are the most informed people I know. It is their job to be informed and to inform people. Journalists, as one of the medium between the different institutions of society, know all the developments, all the problems, all the events there is. That’s what makes them powerful. They have the prerogative when it comes to choosing which information is the most important to disseminate.

When my friends and I interviewed the station manager for one of the local radio stations, she mentioned that there really is no money in Mass Communication; that it is all about the love for what you are doing because there is really not enough compensation. I agree with that. If we wanted money, we would all have enrolled in the College of Nursing.

I want to become a journalist not only because of the access to information, but also because of the access itself, to important conventions, events, political assemblies, among others. Our media heroes are veterans when it comes to interviewing luminaries. I even have bragging rights to interviewing the United States Ambassador to the Philippines. The opportunity to rub elbows with great minds is there, and that is a lure I cannot resist.