Going back to our roots
Toronto-Canada
February 3, 2020
A few days ago, I was surprised to see a handful of our former reporters of the defunct Times journal having a mini-reunion of a sort, dancing to their hearts’ content, while belting out loud, the song “ If We Hold On Together. ”From their looks, it was visibly obvious that they were enjoying their little affair.
However, quite recently, a good number of my former colleagues—reporters, photographers, productions people and the administrative staff of the Philippine Journalist Inc. (PJI) had their raucous get-together at a buffet restaurant which had been organized by a group of old-timers led by Ed Rivera and Nixon Canlapan.
The PJI is the publisher of the Times Journal, People's Journal, Tonight, Taliba and the Women's Magazine.
The photos taken at the reunion showed a bunch of retirees, enjoying their party. Though most of them have aged, their spirit of camaraderie was still very much alive.
In the case of these not so young, reporters, when I saw them, what came to my mind was their heyday at the Times Journal, when they had to pound their reports on the old manual Underwood typewriters, trying to beat the paper’s deadline. Their TJ’s stint could most probably be their first jobs, right after graduating from college.
As they say, the memories we’ve created among friends and co-employees could be deeply ingrained in our mind, and we would always go back to our roots, the place where we came from, paying a visit to the company that had given us the first break in our career, and pushed the wind to let us fly to our life’s journey.
Your first job has also provided you with the chance to develop friendship among your co-employees, and that whatever you have become now, you would always have the desire to update and get in touch with them.
It’s good that you’re staying connected with your friends because it's not easy to navigate this chaotic and perilous world without having your friends around, sort of trying to look over each other’s back, ready to extend a helping hand in times of need.
I know well too that being journalists has made you a little “ tough” in your resolve to stick by the journalism principles, but still, in many ways, it's not easy to practice our profession.
Along the path of the Truth, there are so many obstacles and struggles that could test not only your mettle to do your job diligently but also your determination to pursue the truth all costs.
While writing this piece, I have in front of my desk a 3- by -8 inch card --the Journalist's Code of Ethics-- formulated by the Philippine Press Institute and the National Press Club of the Philippines, one of the items that has caught my attention is this line " I shall comport myself in public or while performing my duties as journalist in such a manner as to maintain the dignity of my profession. When in doubt, decency should be my watchword."
Well, it's better to keep in mind some of the reminders listed there—they may come in handy when you come face-to-face with the hazards of the journalistic profession.