LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Campus journalists from various regions around the country crowded the Pangasinan Capitol Grandstand to kickstart the National Schools Press Conference (NSPC) in Lingayen, Pangasinan, which began January 28 and will continue until February 1.
According to Director Jocelyn Andaya of Department of Education Central Office, 4,960 people attended the event.
Dubbed the “Olympics of campus journalism,” NSPC 2019 is anchored on the theme, “Fostering 21st century skills and character-based education through campus journalism." (READ: Campus journalists say press freedom is everyone's battle)
Contests such as news writing, feature writing, editorial writing, sports writing, editorial cartooning, copy-reading, column writing, collaborative and desktop publishing, and radio and TV broadcasting will determine the best campus journalists in their fields.
“I’m excited for this year because it is my third time to reach NSPC,” beamed 3-time NSPC qualifier photojournalist Herreria Paolo Gabriel, who comes from the Ilocos region.
He also mentioned his joy about this year’s press conference being held at his own region. Gabriel seeks to defend his title as a national winner.
School paper advisers also tagged along with the campus journalists competing in the contests to offer support and guidance.
“I could say we practiced for 10 or 11 times since the Regional Schools Press Conference because the students still have to balance their priorities,” said Maria Lizel Maba, a school paper adviser from Zamboanga Peninsula handling collaborative team in the elementary category. (READ: Go beyond competition, 1967 NSSPC champ tells campus journos)
Before the event, journalists garbed in their different color motifs paraded through the streets of Lingayen with confidence of who will outperform the other regions. The host division, the municipality of Lingayen, is known as “the heart, the soul, and the face” of the province of Pangasinan.
Here are some of the highlights in this year's NSPC:
– Rappler.com
Stephen Bryan Esic is a Rappler Mover from Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur.