“For me,
journalists are super heroes.” Jacque Manabat stated as soon as she was
questioned about her choice of occupation.
A Mass Communication graduate from St. Louise
University in Baguio, the 29-year-old reporter introduced herself as someone
who had been certain of her dream of becoming a reporterwhen she was just a
kid. She said that used to watch Korina Sanchez in “Hoy Gising!” and viewed her
as her idol. Upon watching her idol, she saw how journalists could implement
change in society through writing and reporting news. She figured that
journalists were like super heroes who could make a change in a larger scale
and she decided that, that is what she wanted to do. Her goal of becoming a
reporter led her to become interested in the school newspaper. From elementary
until college, she was part of the news writing club, where she exercised her
skills in journalism. According to her, another factor which triggered her into
choosing Mass Communication was her lack of skill in Math. She stated that she
had a notion that Mass Communication was a major that didn’t make use of Math
that much, but was proved wrong afterwards. After graduating, she applied as a reporter
for ABS-CBN Baguio where she was accepted and worked on news-flash reports. She
was later assigned in Dagupanwhere she reported in a morning show, a job she
resigned from to apply for the position of segment producer in ABS-CBN in
Quezon City. In two years, she got promoted and went back to field reporting
wherein she was placed under graveyard
shift for 3 years before she got transferred to “Umagang Kay Ganda” and then to
“Bandila” where she worked on business and transport beat.
When asked of what she could be if she had not been a journalist,
she answered that she would have been a lawyer. Her passion was to touch people
and her mission was to change lives. She figured that other than being a
journalist, she could do that through becoming lawyer. She wanted to help the
community through her talent with words.
In order to be where she is now:
According to Ms. Manabat, in
order to be where she is right now, she had to focus on her goal and discipline
herself. She made sure that she was with the right people and avoided those who
had bad influence on her.
Hesitations she felt:
She experienced hesitation and felt like she wanted to back out once.
Most of the people in her family were devoted to business. Most of the people
she knew earned money easily and for a journalist like her, it was hard to earn
money. She was not certain on where she was heading, considering she was the
only one who applied for her course among her batchmates in elementary and high
school. She also felt that the path she chose was frightening for someone who
grew up in the province like her.
Pressures encountered:
She stated that being a
journalist was a challenge for her, considering that she looked young for her
age. Her looks and height made it hard for her because there were many
instances when she experienced being mistaken for an intern despite being in
the field she for quite a long time. She also said that she experiences
pressure everyday especially in meeting deadlines and beating the clock.
According to her, it was hard to craft the story especially when she had to
consider her stand in the situation.
How she deals with pressure:
In order to beat pressure, one must have self-discipline, proper
time management and careful planning. According to her, a journalist must
always work underpressure and in order to do so, one must set a schedule at all
times.
Negative sides of becoming a journalist:
“Nakakainggitkapagbakasyon” She stated as she explained that
journalists didn’t have holidays. She said that not all audiences can be
pleased and that having enemies can’t be avoided, considering that being a
journalist is indeed, a competitive job, having to compete with many fellow
journalists in order to get a good story. A danger was unavoidable as well
since while people are moving away from danger, journalist are moving towards
it in order to get a good story to disseminate to the people.
Positive sides of becoming a journalist:
According to her, one of the
greatest things of becoming a journalist is being able to see history and
become a part of making it. She feels so much joy in getting to know stories
before everyone else does. She stated that being able to meet a lot of people
and learn from them was also one of the perks of the job. She said, despite how
hard it is to become a journalist, at the end of the day, it pays off when she
sees the effect of her job to the community.
Thoughts on biases:
She stated that being biased is
unavoidable in journalism especially when it comes to picking the story. In
order to provide unbiased information, it is important to cover both sides of
the story and test affiliations.
Thoughts on online and traditional news:
She said that online journalism
is good competition for them. She appreciates how through social network,
journalists are helped out by citizens. She stated that, online journalism is
not a threat to her and it will help journalist to obtain information easier.
Advice for aspiring journalists:
Ms. Manabat stated that it is important is to
focus on goals in order for them to become motivated. She adviced themto read
and practice writing at all times. She also mentioned that image is important
in order for the people to view one as a relative source. She reminded that
creativity was one of the most important things in order to become a good
journalist. But according to her, the most important advice she could give was
“to just be yourself- or at least your good self”
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