3 Reasons Why Campus Journalism is Important

Aside from the fact that campus journalism gives student journalists the opportunity to
practice their craft and share their thoughts and insights about certain issues, there are other
reasons why it is important.
The Campus Journalism Act of 1999 is An Act Providing for the Development and Promotion
of Campus Journalism and for Other Purposes. It was created for several reasons:
- To uphold the freedom of the press at the campus level.
- To promote the development and growth of campus journalism as a means of strengthening
ethical values, encouraging critical and creative thinking, and developing moral character and
personal discipline of the Filipino youth.
The act is also meant to help students improve technical skills in journalism, understand and
practice the responsibilities of a journalist, learn how to be responsible, and promote social
awareness. It is also a good venue for advocating educational development, as well as for voicing
out students’ rights and promoting their welfare.
Despite the fact that this has long been put into law, there are still some educational
institutions that do not follow it. There are several schools – quite a number of them, actually – that
do not have school publications or school papers. While they may have their own reasons, these
institutions should remember that their priority is the welfare and education of the students.
Therefore, anything that can help advance students’ learning should be a major part of the
school curriculum.
For those who do not yet understand the value of campus journalism, here are three
important reasons why it should be implemented in your school or educational institution.
1. Campus journalism helps student become more aware of what’s happening around them. They
learn how to become responsive and proactive citizens at a young age.
Additionally, it helps and trains students to become responsible. Student journalists are taught and
trained to practice fairness, balance, and truthfulness.
2. Campus journalism provides students a voice. Student journalists can act as the messengers of
the student body. They can talk about issues, policies, and events that are essential to both the
student and the school administration.
School publications serve as a venue for students so their message can reach the proper school
authorities. Likewise, it is a way of bringing together and uniting the students, the faculty, and the
administration.
Also, campus journalism helps students to practice their freedom of expression.
3. Campus journalism helps students improve their skills in communication arts. The student
journalists are each given regular tasks – editing, writing, proofreading, and headline writing, among
others. As such, they are trained in various fields.
Aside from communication arts, these student journalists are also trained to manage the school
paper; something that they can put to good use after they graduate.
The young journalists also learn to delegate and to value teamwork. So campus journalism actually
trains them to become well-rounded individuals and members of society.
Schools that have not yet adopted or followed The Campus Journalism Act of 1991 should rethink
their plans and start working on organizing a campus journalism program. The benefits are aplenty
- for both the students and the institution.
The Campus Journalism Act of 1991 is perhaps one of the strongest laws protecting the rights of
the youth, particularly student journalists, and preserving the integrity of student publications.

However, in many cases, many institutions do not follow these rules, or balatantly disobeys the law.
And we cannot blame them; being owners of the institutions editors belong to, they believe that
they must have complete control over the publications, even if the law provides otherwise. I would
want my opinion to be taken hypothetically.

There are many advantages to a free student publication: First, it trains the students on journalism
and provides an avenue to concretely practice truth, fairness, and balance. These are values taught
better by experience, and supplemented by the classroom.

Second, it provides check and balance for the administrators, the student councils, and the students.
Campus journalists and publications become the students’ eyes in things that the institutions hide.

Third, it safeguards democracy in the campus level. Campus publications, being an independent
entity, is accountable to nobody but its readers and protect democracy and freeedom of expression
while encouraging the readers to do the same.

Campus journalism is important, for it safeguards the halls and the posts of democracy and provides
the student readers a deeper perspective; things that happen under their noses. As journalists, let
us help in protecting its existence by enforcing the law protecting it.

Now is the time.

“ A journalism is a censurer, a giver of advice and light of sovereign”.

Each journalist finds the importance of truth, courage, heart and faith in facing and conquering the
problems of our country. While the country bunch of problems brought about by the sizzling issues
on rampant killings, corruptions, kidnappings, destabilization attempts, political assassinations, the
journalists cry for justice and newspapers and televisions denounced killings of media practitioners.

The worse scenario is the deprivation of justice to the victims.

The Department of Education has been encouraging the teachers and their pupils to spare their
time in discussing the importance of campus journalism despite the threat to the lives of mediamen.

It must be remembered that freedom of the press is embodied in our Constitution. As such,
journalism has to be taught to the students and the pupils.

As a matter of fact, press conference is a yearly activity of the various school divisions in the country.
District competitions in journalism up to the national level are held in order to discover the potentials
of the students in the different categories of journalism.

Indeed, campus journalism is very necessary in the school curriculum.