WITH the never ending possibilities and power of today’s media, there’s almost no end to what one can do. But are people really pushing the boundaries of the limitless potential a media catalyst can provide? This year’s Student Media Congress (SMC) chose to impart students with the knowledge of reaching the full potential of each media outlet with the theme, “Empowering Media Catalysts.”

Day One: Looking into Different Mediums

The 2014 Media Congress was spearheaded by Joanna Paula Queddeng, together with the help of other SMC volunteers. As part of her opening remarks, she told the audience, “We challenge you to be masters of different fields. It may be that we cannot hone ourselves to be master of different fields at the same time, but we can do it one at a time, and come out on top to be masters of different fields.”

Rico Hizon, the keynote speaker and an anchor for BBC World News, said the media should be a cut above the rest and reminded that it is not about replicating feats but making your own. He also told the attendees to have integrity in what they do and to be true to themselves.

Hizon also reminisced about working in the trenches for ABS-CBN and GMA before he became affiliated with BBC. He noted that one of the most invaluable lessons he encountered is that “people will respect you because you have come through the ranks.” He also reminded everyone to be open with other people’s ideas.  Hizon encouraged the audience to be students of their profession because for him, learning never stops when these students leave their respective schools.

At the end of his speech, he told the students to remain fair and balance. For Hizon, television is one of the most dynamic medium of information that is why he kept on insisting the importance of being a responsible media practitioner.

Print: Changing the Reading Habits of the Millennial

     Mick Atienza of The Philippine Star told the students that conversation on social media is more impulsive, compulsive, and omnipresent compared to any other medium. He reminded that print should not just provide a simple content, but it should be a relevant one. Also, if there is something that print holds more than other media catalysts, it is relevance and credibility.

Television: Addressing the Second Screen

For television, Carlos Mori Rodriguez from ABS-CBN started his presentation with demographics and statistics of the Filipinos’ internet and mobile consumption. He stated that mobile devices can supplement the television content and enhance the experience. Gone are the days that people do appointment viewing, waiting for the show they wanted to see or rushing home just to watch television. At present, there is the audience that utilizes digital media than the television.

Radio: Crating Success through Interaction

Santiago Elizalde of the Manila Broadcasting Company came on-stage accompanied by two of the most prominent disk jockeys (DJs) in Love Radio, John Sulleza Gemperle, who is fondly called as Papa Jack and Mark Jimel Gales, who is popular as Chicoloco. While discussing that radio has the highest reach versus other media, Elizalde told the students that if radio is to thrive, radio has to listen to its listeners. There has to be physical interaction with the people to know how to customize the program, depending on the location where they are broadcasting. He also cited that phones are now the number one medium being used when listening to the radio.

Online: Connecting Generations to Accelerate Change

“You are the most empowered generation in history,” said Howie Severino, a news anchor from GMA News TV. With that, he cited his experiences during the Martial Law, wherein the media was restricted, and he also enumerated the differences of communication between then and now. He said that, “Television has the power to inform, educate, entertain and sell.” Severino also said that the viewers are passive recipients. Television is all about consumption but the balance of power is shifting. Nowadays, the power that the television once had is shifting to the internet, particularly the social media.

The content of the discussion during the first day of SMC was narrowed down to relevance, change, social advocates, and going from information to influence and inspiration.

Day Two: Series of Workshops for Students

The second day of the premiere conference kicked off with a series of classroom-based workshops, which were classified into competing and noncompeting events.

Competing workshops included publication activities like news writing, feature writing, creative writing, photojournalism, and editorial cartooning while others focused on visuals and motion graphics like video production, magazine layout, web design, glamour photography, pre-nuptial photography, graphic design, and social media strategy. Meanwhile, noncompeting workshops discussed myriad of topics that delved into journalism, social media, film production, online operations, and illustrations.

Meanwhile, one of the resource speakers, Zak Yuson of Rappler, highlighted the good in social media crowdsourcing stating that, “Technology is breaking down barriers of communication.” Crowd-sourced information is necessary to assist people in need especially in times of disasters and calamities. At the end of his talk, he urged everyone to use social media to do social good and promulgate social change.

Other notable resource speakers were internet sensations Ramon Bautista and Jun Sabayton who lectured tips on how one could make topics viral in the social media. Aside from the two personalities, actress Bianca Gonzales talked about hosting while radio personality Tony Toni discussed about being a disk jockey.

SMC Second Installment: A success

      Queddeng shared her sentiments over their journey to the success of the premiere conference’s second installment. She revealed that her team’s mantra while preparing for the event was, “If you’ve been through the hard and the good times, you’ll be empowered.”

Unlike last year, rigorous preparations were done as it was more operationalized. “Mas matagal naming siyang pinaghandaan. Last year, it’s around five months, this year, [we had] nine months of preparation,” Queddeng added.

Queddeng, at the end of her statement, wanted to thank everyone who made the event successful. “We really like to thank our partners and speakers, because all of them believe in what we saw in the potential of the students [like you]. From exploring media breakthroughs, we are always left in the dark, left unsure of what we want, but through this Congress, by the end of it, we hope you’ll be empowered.”

Photos by Adrian Castillo and Carmelo Culvera