Bulacan Newspaper: How the publication deals with modernization? Salary?

• Attitude and adaptation of community paper towards the salary and changes due to technology

  
  

  Putting-up a newspaper in a community faces some troubles before reaching the success in the business. Financial was one of the difficulty that every, if not most, publisher faces as they aimed to serve the public, relay news in events happening in a locality.

  
  

  Like Maria ‘Ka Nene’ Bundoc-Ocampo, Editor-in-chief (EIC) and Publisher of Punla (Pulso ng Madla), experienced when she was putting-up her local newspaper. She remembers how her family helps her to build-up a newspaper and her mother selling the paper to their baranggay.

  
  

  Starting for several pages and small budget for circulation, makes her passion in writing useful and serve the public, through supplying their hunger for information.

  
  

  Journalism attitude towards Salary

  “Of course, most business do. I’m still buried to death from the loan mortgage of my lot property I inherited from my parents which I used as the capital in this paper,” NewsCore EIC and Publisher Carmela Reyes-Estrope said, as she stated how she build-up and financial problem took place on her publication.

  
  

  Also according to her, as he expound her statement, the weekly printing cost, layout artist fee, honoraria of columnists  reach the amount of minimum of 7000php to 8000php, which also includes other incidental and operational expenses.

  
  

  With this, as the budget can’t sustain the expenses of the publication the salary of the reporter can be affected, possibly.

  
  

  “Ang sweldo kasi sa ganyan (community newspaper) ay ayon sa naisusulat mo, baka sumulat ka lang ng kapiraso at wala pang kadating-dating, paano ka papaswelduhin?” Ato Gabe of Luzon Times, a community newspaper, said.

  
  

  Also according to him, the salary between national newspaper is different form how much earnings that reporter of local newspaper gain. He also said that regular earning in journalism profession is very seldom, because most of the newspaper salary depends on how many news story you published.

  
  

  Meanwhile, Bundoc-Ocampo said that she gave her reporter, even contributor, an honorarium because she still can’t give fixed salary. She also mention how the honorarium circulates in her publication, she gave 200php for banner story, 150php for front and back page story, inside page stories amounts 100php and 75php for every press releases.

  
  

  “I pay article contribution 200php – 300php to 500php the most. For my columnist, it’s 500php per week,”  said Estrope.

  
  

  Unfortunately, because of this reality of not having a good and regular salary that can feed their everyday expenses, some journalist do unethical acts, like orbit, act of collecting money to the sources, politicians.

  
  

  “ ‘Yung mga hindi talaga regular na naglalabas ng dyaryo (ang kilala kong hindi nagpapasuweldo), na ang tawag ay fly by night,” Gabe said.

  Also, he said that he don’t know if there is newspaper publication who do orbits in the province, but he never that only fly by night type of newspaper exist here.

  
  

  “Kulang kasi ang kita nila (orbit reporter), kailangan kasi nila mayroon sila maipublish na (may) magbabayad, para kumita. Hindi kamukha nitong mga nandito (nasa Bulacan Press Club) na mayroon (pinagkukunan) weekly,” Gabe said.

  
  

  Local journalist collects money from the sources because they don’t have enough money to pay all their daily expenses.

  
  

  Sometimes, this orbit system was from the mind of the publisher and EIC of each publication. This is because of the fact that they can’t give enough salary to their reporter, so that, they suggest or advise their reporter to do orbit, for the earn money.

  
  

  “Akala nila gano’n (orbit rm to eporter) ang peryodismo, puro paninikil. Hindi dapat nag-eexist sa peryodismo ang mga orbit reporters,” Punla EIC and Publisher said.

  
  

  On the other hand, Ato Gabe cleared that there are several source of fund, where did the publication can earn more money for the organization to pay good salary for their reporter, aside from the sale and bulk order of the newspaper.

  
  

  “May legal notice o kaya naman nagpapapublish ng mga PR (Press Release) and advertisement,” he said.

  
  

  Aside from the problem in the salary, ability of the reporter was mentioned some local journalist.

  
  

  “(From 1 to 10) 10 ang level of competency ng reporters ko, pero kapag may mali sa ginawa nila, nilelecturan ko sila para matuto sila sa susunod, ipinaliliwanag ko talag sa kanila na ganito yan, ganire yan,” Bundoc-Ocampo said.

  
  

  On the other hand, Gabe of Luzon Times said that the reporter who doesn’t receive enough salary and rounds on the government offices in the province to solicit money from the officers are the one who unable to write a good story.

  
  

  Journalism in Modern Technology Years

  Today, newspapers are adopting the changes caused by the modern technology. Changes from the ways of making the layout of the paper up to the new way of disseminating of news, were adopted by the newspaper publication.

  
  

  Most of the publication now used to have their layout using publisher software of the computer, but some are using the newer and in trend software called page maker.

  
  

  “Kami (ang ginagamit namin na panglayout) publisher, pero dati page maker,” Ka Nene of Punla said, “(noong nasa star kasi ako) publisher ang gamit namin kaya gamay ko,” she added.

  
  

  And when it comes to the adaptation of new media, local publications are stepping little by little.

  
  

  “Website meron kami, wala nga lang pambayad kaya hindi na natuloy. Nakaplano na yung e-Punla, yung website…” she added.

  
  

  Aside from Punla, Luzon Times also had their own version of newspaper in social media, who manipulated by the owner of the publication.

  
  

  Posted/ Published at Facebook, as a requirement in Special Problems in Journalism

  Posted/Published last July 19, 2012.