Madrigalejo: Week 3 at Manila Times

A. List down all the tasks that you performed during this period. Describe each in detail.

1.) Most of the time during this week, I was at the office. Typing PR’s, monitoring wires, and looking over the articles sent in by the field reporters. Pretty much like how I did during the past week, I was at the Manila Times’ newsdesk account. If there were articles coming in, I would have a copy of it saved at the NEW DOCS folder. This is a folder shard by all the writers and editors through the network sharing. All the stories placed here are the ones to be published the next day, subject to the scrutiny of the executive editor and the respective section editors.

2.) Since I was left at the office with no assignment yet, I decided to talk to Sir Romy [in my previous entries, I have shared that Sir Romy is the News Editor]. I asked him if there was any particular story that he was interested in, and if he would want me to pursue it. I explained to him that I have already talked to Sir Klink and that he said that he had none at the top of his head yet, so I tried Sir Romy.

Sir Romy talked to Ms. Ira [Ira Karen Apanay is a senior reporter of the Manila Times]. Ms. Ira said that she is going to attend a press conference tomorrow, Sir Romy told her to let me come with her and she said yes. So it was all set, I asked for the details of the press con and I read a little about it, just in case the need arises, atleast I have a even a little background about it. The said press conference will be a forum of LGU’s and Bishops regarding the mining industry in the country. I read some articles in the internet about that.

3.) The next morning, I was on my way to TreeHouse Restaurant in Quezon City. I was lucky because the venue of the “presscon” was very near our house. It was just a tricycle ride, lucky not only for me but also for my wallet—I was already feeling the economic crisis. The frequent transpo expenses are now taking their toll on me. Anyway, I was there way ahead of time. I texted Ms. Ira and she told me that she was still on her way. So while I was there, I already talked to the desk officers and asked where the press con will be and if there are already other press people around, it was only 9:15am and apparently, I came in a little too early. Nobody was there yet, even the organizers.

A guy came in, and I smiled at him. I thought he was a press person too, but it turned out that he was one of the organizers. His name is Ronald Gregorio, he is the team leader of LRC. LRC [I instantly thought of our own LRC, the Learning Resource Center, haha] means Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center. I told him that I was a trainee of Ms. Ira, that I was an intern, and all. So he talked as well and he shared to me what the forum was all about. He gave me a background on the mining industry, and their advocacies. In the middle of our discussion, Ms. Ira texted me and told me that she won’t be coming anymore. She tasked me to interview bishops and mayors. [OKAY, that was a lot of pressure.] My tummy started gargling, I was too nervous. I was very brave and excited before because I knew that I would have a senior reporter to guide me. I felt right then, that I was on my own. And I had to get the job done.

So, since Kuya Ronald was there already, I took the opportunity to ask more questions to him. More people were coming in, but all of them are from LRC as well. It wasn’t a press con after all, it was a press briefing for the press conference on Wednesday. I was the only person there affiliated to a media outfit. I did not regret attending there though, because I learned a lot from the many people that I was able to meet. I met Father Archie [a Syrian priest who is supporting the advocacies of LRC], Ate Grace [a UP graduate who serves as the legal counsel of LRC], Kuya JP, Kuya Rovic and Rosylyn. All these people shared to me realities that I was not able to see before.

Because of this meeting, I became more excited to come to the press conference on Wednesday, not only because I want to hear them, but because I want to hear the side of the church through the bishops as well. But when I went back to the office, it turned out that I would not be able to attend the said presscon because I will be working on another assignment.

4.) Due to the heightened alert on swine flu, Sir Klink wanted me to come up with an article about prevention of flu. I asked if I was to focus on swine flu, he said no, it would just have to be ordinary, common type of flu. He asked me to contact doctors and ask for expert advice. So I worked on the story immediately looking up the internet about articles that I could use and contact details of medical institutions that I could call. The next day, I tried to contact doctors [many of which are directors of different departments at the DOH, but they all said that they were too busy as of the moment.]

So I tried to exhaust all my sources again, texting all my nursing friends who are now working in hospitals. Not one of them was able to give me a contact person. I told my dilemma to my grand mother who is an active member of our parish council, she told me that they will be having a medical mission tomorrow and I might be able to catch some doctors there. I was happy upon hearing that so I went to the venue very early next morning.

At the venue, I talked to the organizers and asked if they could help me to talk to the doctors, they said that it was ok and that I would just have to wait for the medical mission to end then maybe I could ask permission from the doctors themselves. They told me not to disturb the doctors while they are doing their work. So I waited until all of the patients were through, the mission started at around 9am and it ended at 12noon. I was already able to consume two bags of chips and a bottle of softdrink due to the long wait. After the whole thing, I was finally able to talk to the doctors. All of them said that I had to get a permit from the City Health Office. I had to write a letter asking for permission to interview a doctor. The physician in our health center said that she will be at the office up until 5pm so I still have time to secure a permit.

So I went home, prepared and went immediately to the Quezon City Hall where the Health Office is located. I asked for instructions on what I should do but they told me that the City Health officer will not be around until next week, and that the OIC will not be around until tomorrow so my letter has no chance of getting signed that same day. I tried to talk my way through but they said that there was really nothing else that they could do. I went back to the barangay health center to inform the doctor that I was not able to secure a permit and that the interview would have to be cancelled, but the workers there didn’t want me to see her. They told me that they would just be the ones to tell Dok, so I said it’s fine. My cousin who just arrived told me that she knows a doctor whom I might just want to try to talk to. We went and gladly, the doctor was ok with an interview. After that, I proceeded in doing my story and I sent it immediately to the newsdesk.

5.) The next day, when I went to the office, Sir Klink told me that he wants me to add another angle on my story. He wants me to talk about mask, gloves, and Tamiflu. These were the things mentioned by Sec. Duque on his talk about biosafety and protection against the swine flu endema. So I made a research again, this time about N95 masks and Tamiflu. I went to different drug stores (with in our community and outside as well), interviewed people, and created my story. I submitted it just before I did this report.



B. Describe new skills you learned, or skills you improved upon as a result of these tasks. Be specific.

1.) I think I have developed to be more flexible. I know that in this work, I do not have the luxury of time is not with me. Time is just one of the many pressures that I had to deal with to be able to come up with stories.

2.) Researching abilities and critical thinking skills. I now have more inkling of what is news and what should be included in the story. I know that I must develop the ability to be able to decide whether an information is credible enough or whether an information would be helpful to the entirety of my story.

3.) PATIENCE. This time, I learned that I don’t always get things in my time, and in my way. I have to understand circumstances and I have to develop ability to be able to cope with them so as to not sacrifice my work.

4.) It has been planted deep within m now, more than ever, it does pay to read extensively.



C. Other thoughts regarding the OJT experience.

** I hope my DTC story gets published, at least before I go.

** I will miss the office, and the people, especially Sir Klink. More than an employer, he has become a mentor to me. I always look up to him and being able to work with him even just for a short while means a lot. All the sarcasm, all the “sermons”, and all the jokes he has shared with us made the entire training educational and ultimately, bearable. The experiences I’ve had with the Times are all worth remembering.

There are much more stories to tell than the ones that get published. J