DepEd urges campus writers to fight fake news

By Bobby Labalan

IRIGA CITY, Camarines Sur --- The Department of Education (DepEd) 5 (Bicol) has urged delegates of the 2024 Regional Schools Press Conference (RSPC) not just to write news but to actively fight fake news, which has proliferated on social media.

“Don’t be swayed by the social media. There’s responsibility in journalism,” DepEd-5 Director Gilbert Sadsad said as he reminded campus journalists “to be ever careful in their write-ups,” during the RSPC opening ceremony at the Iriga Sports Center here on Wednesday afternoon.

He added in a follow-up interview on Thursday that campus journalists must be wary of what they see or read on social media as misinformation and disinformation continue to thrive.

He urged them to be discerning of things and to not easily believe or be influenced.

Sadsad, who also used to be a school paper adviser during his teaching years, said campus journalists nowadays face a very different scenario than before because of the advent of social media, which has greatly impacted how news is delivered.

“We all have to (be) wary,” he said.

More than 3,000 campus journalists and school paper advisers gathered for this year’s RSPC with the theme, “Strengthened Campus Journalism: Gateway to the Development of Empowered Youth.”

The annual competition is being participated in by delegates of Bicol’s 13 school divisions – Iriga City, Naga City, Ligao City, Legazpi City, Tabaco City, Sorsogon City, Masbate City, and the provincial divisions of Masbate, Sorsogon, Albay, Catanduanes, Camarines Sur, and Camarines Norte.

Joan Lagata, the regional campus journalism coordinator, called on the participants to use the event as “an avenue for growth, self-introspection about what one aspires to be, and a pathway to building hope of self-discovery.”

The delegates in the four-day event will battle in various fields such as news writing, feature story writing, editorial cartooning, photojournalism, radio broadcasting, and TV broadcasting, among others.

The Legazpi City Division holds the banner as the defending division after it bagged the overall championship in last year’s RSPC held in Legazpi City. (PNA)