More than being a noun, journalism must be a verb

Francis Rey Panerio

A journalist cannot afford to be idle; he must always be on the move. 

This has always been the personal principle that I keep in mind as I carry out my duties as a student journalist. We do not find the stories that need to be heard by merely looking around. One must immerse oneself and take courage to either move with the tide or against it, but definitely move. In the same way, a journalist should not be stagnant and must always endeavor to grow. 

When the invitation from Explained PH came for Davao City National High School to host the first-ever JournQuest Caravan in Mindanao, I felt ecstatic. It was not every day that a nationally acclaimed organization — let alone a youth-led campus journalism organization — wanted to hold one of their first caravans in our community. But beneath the excitement lay the huge responsibility of managing the tasks of hosting such an event. That was when this year’s JOURNey began: with the unrelenting quest to move. 

JournQuest happened in the same week as our School-Based Press Conference, for which I was also one of the lead organizers as Editor-in-Chief of our English Publication, The Davao Wave. 

The days leading up to the event proper for both the presscon and JournQuest were filled with constant back-and-forth between preparing and signing papers for project proposals, putting together the materials needed, and checking in with co-organizers to ensure everything is in order. This was the hidden job of student journalism as well, the paperwork behind the work that keeps everything moving.

As I worked on the list of participants from our publications who would attend JournQuest, I came to appreciate even more the initiative behind the event. As much as a journalist has the mission of serving his community, he must also fulfill a duty to himself: to upskill and grow. He must move from where he is to where he is supposed to be: better at the craft and to be better a human. A journalist, especially a budding student journalist, cannot remain confined by his existing knowledge — one must continue to learn more to better serve the interests of those for whom he writes.

“Write for your community.” 

Those were the words of Explained PH Editor-in-Chief Shekinah Alima. Journalism never was, is not, and should never be self-serving. The nature of this job is not to be comfortable but to be accustomed to the uncomfortable. Perhaps, to disturb the hearts and minds as well. In the same way that a verb denotes action to a sentence, a journalist moves every story and truth that sits untouched, waiting to be amplified. A journalist acts for the benefit of his community and makes the voice of those he serves heard.

What JournQuest taught me as a leader and a student journalist is that there is no time to remain idle when it can be better spent serving. A journalist cannot succumb to passivity while the world around him is in dire need of both attention and action. 

That is why journalism must be more than a name, a title, or a noun. Through every journalist willing to move in order to grow and serve better, journalism becomes a verb.