Except for some old-timers, today's journalists would have trouble working in the newsrooms of yore. A totally "wired" journalist today would be equipped with a mobile cellular phone, a portable laptop (or palmtop) computer and a digital camera, which he could use to capture pictures, sound and text, compose his story, and transmit them to the "desk." He would know how to operate and have access to other electronic albeit older devices like a fax machine and a laser printer. He would possess at least one e-mail address, and possibly up to half a dozen other free, Web-based e-mail accounts like Yahoo! and Hotmail.
Editors at the "desk" would retrieve data fielded by their reporters in similar electronic fashion. Using their e-mail accounts, they would download stories, photographs, even videos gathered by their reporters. They would correct these stories using a word processor and possibly assisted by spelling, grammar and even style programs. Photos could be cropped, corrected (usually to adjust brightness) and resized. Text and images would then be composed into page form using desktop-publishing software, and the electronic lay-out forwarded to another device that would generate the printing plate.
This modern set-up, aided most of the way by computer technology, could wipe out steps like typesetting, proofreading, paste-up, camera and stripping, which were characteristic of letterpress and offset pre-press operations. Not only were these steps time-consuming and costly, they also involved the human factor, which was synonymous with error.
Of course some newspapers would no longer have a need for printing, as in the case of purely electronic, digital news products that exist only in cyberspace. For these, the production process would be even shorter, though continuous, possibly even on a 24-hour basis.
By "news desk" we could mean a physical structure in which one would find editors and reporters working together. But again because of the current state of information and communication technology, the desk could be anywhere one could plug in a computer and get on an information network, usually the Internet. The desk could be several editors, each at different locations, who pass on stories and pictures and entire newspaper layouts to one another in the form of electronic mail, at the speed of sound of course. (So fast is e-mail that it might take an editor of old more time to take a story down the hall to another editor, than to send it by e-mail even if his colleague is in another part of town, or even the world.) Printing facilities could also be scattered in various places, thereby minimizing delivery costs.
Just 25 years ago, however, the norm was newsrooms, typewriters, and lead-based letterpress printing. Informants in this project worked for at least 15 newspapers. On the first tier are the pre-martial law newspapers; on the second are those from the martial-law period; and finally those that emerged after martial law.
To the first belong the Manila Times, Manila Chronicle, Philippines Herald, Philippines Free Press, Manila Daily Bulletin, and the Star group. The Manila Times group included the afternoon Daily Mirror, Taliba and the Women's Magazine, while the Star included the tabloids Daily Star and Pilipino Star, precursors of today's tabloids.
The Manila Times, founded on Oct. 11, 1898 by Thomas Gowan, was acquired in 1927 by Alejandro Roces, then publisher also of the Philippine Tribune which he had founded on April 1, 1925. (The Tribune was part of the TVT chain, the others being La Vanguardia and Taliba, papers Alejandro Roces had bought in 1916.) He discontinued the Times on March 15, 1930, but his brother Ramon Roces resumed its publication in 1946. According to Blas Ople, the old Manila Times building was a four-storey structure was located on Florentino Torres St. in Manila's Santa Cruz district, near the bridge. Former reporters like Elinando Cinco remember its facilities as "first-class," "state of the art" and "modern" (Bruno 1999). Recalls Butch del Castillo:
In 1966 the state of the art was the electric typewriter which was useless to reporters. What we used to hammer were the old-fashioned Remington. In fact, the clickity-clack of those old-fashioned typewriters was the music of the newsroom. Without them, you couldn't get inspired to write your story. The printing presses were also louder. You could hear them from within a half-kilometer radius when they were printing a paper. The Manila Times had a rotary press, the most modern and fastest at that time. (Cansana 1999)
In 1986, the Roces family sold the Manila Times to John Gokongwei. His daughter Robina Gokongwei ran the paper as president. In 2000 Gokongwei was forced to sell the newspaper after it ran into trouble with President Estrada. The first buyer was a group led by Katrina Legarda, who was hailed for her Roces roots. Then it was sold to Marciano Crespo, known as Mark Jimenez, an Estrada associate who became Manila's representative in Congress. The current publisher is Dante Ang. During Gokongwei's term, the Times was headquartered in Mandaluyong, at the Robinson's commercial area. Today its offces are located in the Port Area, Manila.
The Manila Daily Bulletin was founded on Feb. 1, 1900 by Carson Taylor, who sold it on July 13, 1957 to Hans Menzi. At this time the Bulletin was located on Florentino Torres Street in Manila, near the Times and then it transferred to Intramuros, in Shurdut building. Francisco Tatad recalls that the editorial offices were on the second floor. He adds: "All the newspapers at that time had the facilities of the day, letterpress. They still had those lead-type operators. Our editorial offices were on the second floor. In the middle of this second floor was a hole. That's where the stairwell was which led to the printing press downstairs. So you also had the fumes from downstairs coming from the lead. It wasn't environment-friendly (Francisco and How 2000)." In 1977 the Bulletin moved across the street to its current location. (Shurdut is now occupied by the Department of Labor and Employment). Upon Menzi's death on June 27, 1984, Emilio Yap succeeded as chairman, a post he holds to this date.
Aris Ilagan boasts of the Bulletin today as the most modern newspaper. "We have the latest printing facilities. We are fully computerized. We have good radio equipment. We are equipped with Compaq laptop computers. We have a lot of service vehicles and we have a nice-looking office building" (Balza 1999).
Adds Rudy Liwanag:
Noon kapag nasa bundok ang coverage kapag walang darating na helicopter pupunta pa kaming airport para i-DHL yung film namin para idedevelop sa Manila. Ngayon dala namin laptop at digital camera na lang. Pag-shoot mo mae-edit mo na agad sa likod ng camera, may screen. Kung ayaw mo i-delete mo na yung litrato. Tapos hanap ka ng landline para isusuksok sa telepono yung modem, at itra-transmit na sa opisina yung kuha. Mga five minutes tapos na lahat ng litrato mo. Di tulad noon hanap ka pa ng photo shop para ipa-develop yung films tapos ipadala mo yung prints. Sayang sa oras. Ngayon wala na kaming hard copy. (Ngo and Reyes 2000)
The Free Press was founded in 1907 by Judge Kincaid, who sold it on Aug. 10, 1908 to R. McCullough Dick. Teodoro Locsin took over in 1960. Originally, the Free Press was in Intramuros, before it moved to Rizal Avenue, Manila, recalls Nap Rama. Today it is in Makati, on Pasong Tamo street.
The Philippines Herald began publication on Aug. 8, 1920, upon the instance of then Senate President Manuel Quezon. Among its earlier editors were Conrado Benitez and Carlos Romulo, and its financiers included Vicente Madrigal, Manuel and Roman Earnshaw, Ramon Fernandez, Juan Alegre, Carmen Ayala Roxas, Mauro Prieto and Teodoro Yangco. In 1933 Joaquin Elizalde bought the Herald, and organized the DMHM chain (El Debate, Mabuhay, Herald, and Monday Mail).
Manuel Almario started with the Herald in 1949. In fact, he said his father used to lawyer for Senator Madrigal and they pulled strings with the senator to get him a job as a reporter while he attended college at the same time. Modesto Farolan was publisher. The old Herald building was bombed by the Japanese during World War II, says Almario, and the publishers built a new one, still in Intramuros, beside Letran College. The new four-storey building had matching new presses, he said. Eventually the paper was sold to the family of Andres Soriano. (Siy and Young 2000)
The Herald newsroom, recalls Teodoro Benigno, resounded with the "clackety-clack" of Smith-Corona and Underwood typewriters. "There would be four or five of you writing your stories, so there was some kind of a hubbub of the typwriting machines making a lot of noise," he said. (Chan and Belgira 2000)
The Chronicle was a pre-martial law newspaper owned by Eugenio Lopez, whose family today controls ABS-CBN and Meralco, among others (CBN standing for Chronicle Broadcasting Network). Its first location was the third floor of the Chronicle building in Intramuros, on Aduana street, near the Manila cathedral and the old Central Bank. The editorial office occupied the third floor. Printing was done on the lower floors, using letterpress of course.
"Ang equipment noonng araw typewriter lang at saka yung sa imprenta, tingga," reminisces Zac Sarian, who once edited the Chronicle agriculture section. "Pero kapag ikaw ay nasa newspaper, gustung-gusto mo yung amoy ng tinta at tingga." (Castañeda and Maducdoc 2000)
Just before martial law, Lopez moved the Chronicle to Pasig, site of the Benpres building today. At this location, the words "state of the art" and "modern" were applied to the Chronicle. Unlike the typical newspaper office, Antonio Lopez noted the Chronicle at Pasig for its cleanliness, not to mention the latest in color-separation. In fact, says Edgard Malay, the Chronicle was the first newspaper to use offset printing and full-color printing. Martial law put a stop to that as Marcos not only clamped down the Chronicle, but also took over Meralco and ABS-CBN. The Times Journal, owned by Imelda Marcos' brother Benjamin "Kokoy" Romualdez, acquired the Chronicle facilities.
In December 1985, a couple of months before Marcos fled for Hawaii, the Chronicle was revived by the former staff of the Manila Times and Chino Roces, himself publisher of the Times during its pre-martial law golden years, became publisher. Later the Lopezes sold the paper to Antonio ("Tony Boy") Cojuangco before it finally shut down in 1998 due to labor problems.
Martial law in 1972 shut down most publications. However, five newspapers were allowed to publish: Bulletin Today, Business Day, Philippines Daily Express, Times Journal and The Evening Post. With the "lifting" of martial law in 1981, publishers were now free to circulate without the formal restrictions, although media suppression continued. Publications from this period included We Forum, Malaya, Manila Chronicle, Manila Times, Philippine Daily Inquirer and Philippine Star. The Star, published by Betty Go-Belmonte, was an offshoot of the pre-martial law Star tabloids, which were published by her brother.
Raul Locsin recalls how they were only six at the start of Business Day. "We had a small-time sports car loaded, all portable typewriters in the back," he says. "We printed with an outside printer. We drove to press Friday afternoon and went home Monday morning."
The Express building, located on Bonifacio Drive, near the Manila Hotel, was a three-storey affair that housed the editorial office, administrative staff and press (Mallari 1999). Former reporters credit their bosses' excellent connections for their facilities which they described as "sophisticated" and "the best" (Lagman and Misa 2000). (Publisher Roberto Benedicto was a law-school classmate of Ferdinand Marcos while editor Pocholo Romualdez is Imelda's nephew.) According to Andy Sevilla, it was the most prestigious newspaper during the martial-law years, adding "Wala ka na'ng hahanapin pa. Kumpleto iyan" (Piopongco 1999). Monica Feria believes the Express was the first newspaper to use computers, albeit for typesetting only and not yet for writing or editing stories (Alcancia and Sim 2000).
Despite being owned by another Romualdez (Imelda's brother Benjamin), the Times Journal is not remembered in the same way as the Express. Joe Antonio described the Journal newsroom as bedlam although he thought that was the standard and even found delight in working under such conditions (Mojado 1999). Manny Mogato remembers how the Journal office, in the Port Area, resembled warehouse, "a bodega, really old, although it was air-conditioned" (Santiago 1999).
The Evening Post was another "crony" publication, being published by Kerima Polotan-Tuvera, whose husband, Juan Tuvera, was Marcos' executive assistant. What Marianne Go remembers is another "really old warehouse" in the Port Area.
With Marcos' overthrow in 1986, upstarts like the Inquirer and the Star dominated the field. Malaya, somehow, lost its old voice and came back as a more "responsible" newspaper. The so-called penny papers sought a new name as in the case of the Manila Bulletin, or like the Express, Journal and Evening Post, simply folded up. New titles emerged like the Manila Standard and Daily Globe. Labor problems caused the Globe and Business Day to shut down, but their publishers came back with Today and Business World, respectively.
Just after the lifting of martial law, Jose Burgos started WE Forum and Malaya, the feisty newspaper that challenged the Marcos myth. Its office, on E. Rodriguez avenue in Quezon city, was befitting of its character, as described by Noel Bartolome:
Napakacrude ng facilities. Katabi kami ng vulcanizing shop. Ang daming gulong, akala mo nga vulcanizing din yung sa amin. Yung pinto niya accordion-type. Maliit na apartment lang, ang liit-liit ng opisina. Hindi ko malilimutan yung hagdanan, siguro mga 70 degrees yung tarik. Sabi ko nga bakit hindi yung diretso na lang? (Datu 1999)
The first office of the Inquirer was located in the Port Area. At about this time a few computers were already available to editors, but reporters were still limited to typewriters, says Juliet Lacsamana (Lim 1999). Just around the EDSA Revolution of 1986, Abel Ulanday recalls that the Inquirer was like a "marketplace:"
The newsroom was not big. We were a bit cramped there. There was no clear distinction as to where the business group and the editor and writer were. We were closeted in a small area but it was quite comfortable because you got to know all the people working n the organization. (Soria 1999)
From there the Inquirer moved to its Mandaluyong site on EDSA, then to a warehouse on United Nations avenue in Manila, which Ruel de Vera described as small and unsanitary:
It was a big warehouse. We had to walk through a garage to get to the office. It was basically what you would imagine one of those old newspaper offices to be like. Lots of papers hanging around. The entire editorial was on one floor so you could see everyone doing his thing. It was very messy and cramped and noisy. It was very near the WPD [Western Police District] so there'd always be a lot of action going on. (Francisco 1999)
From there the Inquirer settled in its new home, its own building, on Chino Roces avenue in Makati.
Before Betty Go-Belmonte launched the Philippine Star in July 1986, her brother Andrew Go published the Daily Star and Pilipino Star tabloids in the late 1960s. Edgardo Malay says he worked for those papers from 1969 to 1972. The office was located on the corner of Pedro Gil and M. H. del Pilar streets, in Malate, Manila. Not only were most of the typewriters broken, he said, we typed on rolls left over from the teletypes to save on paper (Abad 1999). Betty's son, Isaac Belmonte, now Philippine Star editor-in-chief, says People's Tonight copied the tabloids in terms of format and layout. Andrew Go fled to Canada in 1972 and is now vice president for business ventures at the Toronto Star.
Betty Go-Belmonte took over Andrew Go's business and accepted commercial printing jobs. Her father Jimmy Go was publisher of the Fookien Times and Betty was his editor. In 1985 she and Eugenia Apostol put up a publication. He explains:
They called it the Philippine Daily Inquirer and it became a hit. But because of growing-up pains, they started having arguments. In short, it is one case where success became worse for a partnership than failure. They parted ways. My mom and some of the people who were part of the Inquirer left and put up the Philippine Star. (Lim and Tee 2000)
A modern office building now houses the Philippine Star in the Port Area. But Isaac Belmonte admits that it used to be a "dilapidated bodega" and that it was the original printing plant of the Inquirer. For some time, he said, the Star premises consisted of several warehouses put together. "We started with 1960s presses," he recalls. "That's why it was only in black and white. We had yellow much later, and we didn't become fully color until 1995."
Sports editor Lito Tacujan remembers how the Star was so small that they had the same van, a Tamaraw FX, to deliver the paper and to transport photographers and reporters.
Today's first office was in the Elizalde building owned by Sen. Juan Ponce-Enrile. It was a "very, very old building, full of cockroaches," recalls publisher Teddy Locsin Jr. "We were the only ones in that building. It was due to be condemned and torn down." But he loved it for the Ayala Avenue address which he thought impressed everyone and made the competition envious. Today stayed there for a year. Locsin describes the current location, the Jaka Building, still in Makati, but on less glamourous EDSA:
We moved to Enrile's building. The advantage with this building is that it's along the highway. I use the bus to go to National Bookstore in Shangri-La. It's better than driving because I don't have to worry about parking. If I want to go home, I just cross the over to the other side and get the bus.
That's really important because when you are publisher, every little thing helps. Obviously, you can't pay people that well, especially when you're a late-in-coming newspaper. Whatever helps to make it easier for the writers and editors to come in. I can't give them a car each. So, you put them in a place where there is access. That's critical. Also, we don't have our own printing press so we have to print in Quezon City. Now, it's even more ideal because we'll have the MRT. The bad news is that it's a lousy building, with all the pollution and everything. If you run your hand across the table it gets black. It's destroying our equipment. We'll have to get out sooner or later because we can't continue this way. We'll probably all get tuberculosis. (Ng 1999)
The Manila Standard is one newspaper that moved from an Ayala Avenue address to the Port Area which almost always connotes meager appointments. Reporters wrote their stories on Olympia typewriters, and many of them were dilapidated, said Lyn Resurreccion. "Yung keys niya hindi na mabasa or lagi mo kailangang linisin. Yung 'O' niya laging nabubutas yung paper. Minsan yung 'O' at 'E' hindi na ma-recognize. We had to go to the office to write our stories and then wait for the approval of the editor. If the editor didn't like what you wrote you would be called and everybody would hear what the editor was telling you." (Barrameda 1999)
Whereas most reporters spoke of tense moments in the newsroom as deadline approached, Aldrin Cardona, now sports at the Daily Tribune, described the Standard newsroom as relaxed:
[In the newsroom] you don’t really work, you just joke around. You entertain visitors. Yung mga darating na mga PR minsan nagpapa-cute sila. Sometimes you get invited to events, sometimes related to sports, sometimes you get a ticket to Miss Saigon. Pagdating mo dito, you relax. You won’t even feel that you only have a small space to work in, and that you only have this little table. (Alonte and Jusay 2000)
Business Day
Raul Locsin:
When we set up Business Day there were six of us. We had a small-time sports car loaded, all portable typewriters in the back. Then we printed with an outside printer. We drove to press Friday afternoon and went home Monday morning. That was the beginning. (Rillo and So 2000)
Estela de la Paz:
I remember Business Day used to have a printing press downstairs. In Business World we were only renting out some facilities. But later the paper bought its own printing press. (Garrucho and Pua 2000)
Daily Star and Pilipino Star
Edgardo Malay:
The Daily Star and the Pilipino Star I worked for from 1969 to 1972 was located on the corner of Pedro Gil, that was Herran before, and M. H. del Pilar. The facilities were very primitive in a sense that now you have computer terminals on almost every desk. Before you used typewriters. I remember we were using typewriters that were not even in proper order. Most of the typewriters were even broken. To save on bond paper we typed our stories on leftover rolls from the teletypes. (Abad 1999)
Evening Post
Marianne Go:
The Evening Post was located in the Port Area, in a really old warehouse. Before very few people went there. Ang printing process pa noon ay 'yong gumagamit pa nung tingga. They had to form the letters and then print them. Even your deadlines had to be so much earlier because printing was a painstaking process. And then everything was typewriter. Computers were just being introduced for newspapers. Not naman primitive, pero messy pa ang newspaper printing. (Barcelon and Henson 2000)
The Independent
Alvin Capino:
It must be a 200-square meter office space. The heart of the newspaper always was what they called, "the desk." The desk was one big desk with a lot of typewritters and editors sitting around it. That's where they process the copy. But, of course, the reporters, they don't have a permanent desk because they are on the beat. When I was reporting with The Independent, we usually called in our story. We didn't have the fax machine so we usually spent an hour or two hours calling in our story. (Advincula 1999)
Malaya
Noel Bartolome:
E. Rodriguez, Quezon City. Napakacrude ng facilities. Katabi kami ng vulcanizing noon. Ang dami pang gulong akala mo nga vulcanizing din yung sa amin. Tapos yung pinto niya yung accordion door. Talagang maliit na apartment lang, ang liit-liit ng opisina. Hindi ko malilimutan yung hagdanan, siguro mga 70 degrees yun ganun katarik. Sabi ko nga bakit hindi yung diretso na lang? (Datu 1999)
Jean Cordero:
The company provides lahat ng gamit mo -- ballpens, pens, tape recorder, and pwede mag-avail ng laptop, cellphone, radio. [In the office may] mga computer, mga printing software, photo camera, and lahat na ng ginagamit sa isang newspaper. Nung pumasok ako, mayroon na'ng fax, hindi na kailangang bumalik sa office para mag-type. May fax na at saka may phone-in o kaya puwede mong i-e-mail sa newspaper. (Sy and Tan 2000)
Manila Bulletin Shurdut building
Chelo Banal:
The Bulletin was in that small gray building on the corner of Arroceros. Then, they built this big building on the nearby lot. A real nice building made of brick. (Viguera 1999)
Crispina Martinez-Belen:
Do you know where the Department of Labor is? That's the Shurdut building. We were just printing on two floors before, the ground floor and the second floor. The ground floor was where the machines were. That was 1968 when I joined the Bulletin, very crude pa 'yong mga machines namin. (Gandoza 1999)
Francisco Tatad:
All the newspapers at that time had the facilities of the day, letterpress. You know, they still had those lead type operators working on lead. In the case of the Bulletin, our editorial offices were on the second floor, and in the middle of this second floor was a hole. That's where the stairwell was which led to the printing press downstairs. So, you also had the fumes from downstairs coming from the lead. So it wasn't environment-friendly. (Francisco and How 2000)
Aris Ilagan:
Modesty aside, I think Bulletin is the most modern publishing company here. We have the latest printing facilities in our own backyard. We are fully computerized. We have good radio equipment. We are equipped with Compaq laptop computers and we have a lot of service vehicles and we have a nice-looking office building. (Balza 1999)
Rudy Liwanag:
Noon kapag nasa bundok ang coverage kapag walang darating na helicopter pupunta pa kaming airport tapos i-DHL namin yung film namin para idedevelop sa Manila. Ngayon dala namin laptop at digital camera na lang. Pag-shoot mo idown-download mo na lang wala ng film yun, flash card nalang, naka-load sa camera. Pag-shoot mo mae-edit mo na agad sa likod ng camera, may screen yun. Kung ayaw mo delete mo na yung litrato. Kaya maganda na ngayon kapag nakita mong pangit I-delete mo. Tapos hanap ka ng landline isu-suksok mo na lang sa telepono yung modem, itra-transmit na diretso sa opisina. Mga 5 minutes tapos na lahat ng litrato mo. Di tulad noon hanap ka pa ng photo shop para ipa-develop yung films tapos ipadala mo yung prints. Sayang sa oras. Ngayon wala na kaming hard copy. (Ngo and Reyes 2000)
Manila Chronicle
Felix Lloren:
Aduana ang tawag sa street na yun, maiksi lang yun. Malapit sa cathedral. Yung dating ABS-CBN din doon. Dating Central Bank malapit, yung sira na ngayon. Doon kami sa pinaka-third floor [ng Chronicle Building]. May fourth floor pero Recto Law Office and then editorial third floor lahat. Kasama na ang printing sa baba. Noon letterpress. Marumi, tingga yung gamit. (Iledan and Ong 2000)
Zac Sarian:
Ang equipment noong araw typewriter lang at saka yung sa imprenta tingga. Pero alam mo kapag ikaw ay nasa newspapaer gustong-gusto mo yung amot ng tinta at saka tingga. (Castaneda and Maducdoc 2000)
Antonio Lopez:
My first job was at the Chronicle, a small newspaper and in an elegant but old office at the Aduana in Intramuros across from the Manila Cathedral. After about a year, we transferred to the Manila Chronicle building in Pasig. It was the state-of-the-art newspaper plant. It had the latest in color-separation technology, in printing technology. Ang linis-linis ng Manila Chronicle 'non and you know the Lopezes, they also owned the Meralco and they were one of the oligarchs and they took pride in investing in the newspaper business. Also, at that time, they also had the ABS-CBN broadcasting network so they were really running a media empire and they invested good money in it. When Martial Law was declared, the Times Journal took over the facilities of the Manila Chronicle and we continued holding office there for several years.
(De Guzman and Macatubal 2000)
Manila Standard
Lyn Resurreccion:
Before we were using only typewriters and many of them were dilapidated na. Yung keys niya hindi na mabasa or lagi mo kailangan linisin. Yung "O" niya laging nabubutas yung paper. Minsan yung "O" at "E" hindi na ma-recognize. We had to go to the office to write our stories and then wait for the approval of the editor. If the editor didn't like what you wrote you would be called and everybody would hear what the editor was telling you. (Barrameda 1999)
Aldrin Cardona:
We wrote our stories on big Olympia typewriters. Then we re-typed them in the computer room on a Macintosh computer. The stories are printed, pasted on the main page, and photographed, and transfered to the plate.
[In the newsroom] you don’t really work, because you just joke around. You entertain visitors. Yung mga darating na mga PR minsan nagpapa-cute sila. That’s their job para magamit ninyo din naman, you just play along. Sometimes you get invited to events, sometimes related to sports, sometimes you get a ticket to Miss Saigon and that. So, you don’t really work. Pagdating mo dito, you relax. You won’t even feel that you only have a small space to work in, and you only have this little table to work on. It’s really not much of a problem for us. (Alonte and Jusay 2000)
Manila Times
Blas Ople:
The Manila Times building was on Florentino Torres St. and of course it housed all the members of the Manila Times newspaper chain including the Daily Mirror. If I remember right it was a four-story building. One wing was occupied by the Manila Times and the other was by the Daily Mirror. In other words, between the morning and the afternoon newspaper of the company. (Garcia and Pineda 2000)
Elinando Cinco:
The old Manila Times was the best newspaper at that time. All the equipment were first class. The building and facilities were state of the art. (Bruno 1999)
Butch del Castillo:
In 1966 the state of the art was the electric typewriter which was useless to reporters. What we used to hammer were the old-fashioned Remmington that you bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! And in fact, the clickity-clack of those old-fashioned typewriters wasthe music of the newsroom. Without them, you couldn't get inspired to write your story. The printing presses were also louder. You could hear them from within a half-kilometer radius when they were printing a paper. The Manila Times had a rotary press, the most modern and fastest at that time. (Cansana 1999)
Daily Mirror
Efren Danao:
Before reporters would have to go from their beat to the office. For breaking news, they had to phone in their story to a "catcher" at the news desk. This is difficult especially if the reporters had accents and you had to ask them to spell out names of people in their stories. It was time-consuming. (Ongchap 1999)
Mindanao Cross
Butch Galicia:
In 1972 we relied on the services of old Linotypes. Then we had to do our own layouting on paper. We relied on these solid lead blocks to compose the whole newspaper. One slip and it all fell apart. We had to redo the page. We had to insert the pages ourselves to complete 16 pages. (Mercado 1999)
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Abel Ulanday:
The first office of the Inquirer was in the Port area and the building sat just right beside the main road where jeepneys and taxis actually pass by. It was just one jeepney ride from were I lived. Around the EDSA Revolution the Inquirer was like a marketplace. The newsroom was not big. We were a bit cramped there. There was no clear distinction as to where the business group and the editor and writer were. We were closeted in a small area but it was quite comfortable because you got to know all the people working within the organization. (Soria 1999)
Ruel de Vera:
The Inquirer's third office was on UN Avenue. It was a big warehouse. It was very small compared to [the present office in Makati] and not very sanitary. We had to walk through a garage to get to the office. It was an up-and-down thing. It was basically what you would imagine one of those old newspaper offices to be like. Lots of papers hanging around, the noise of people. The entire editorial was on one floor so you could see everyone doing their thing. It was very messy and cramped and noisy. UN Avenue was quite a ways out. It was very near the WPD [Western Police District] so there'd always be a lot of action going around. (Francisco 1999)
Juliet Lacsamana:
When I first came to the Inquirer in 1989 we were still using typewriters and we had a few computers but they were being used by editors. The basic gadget was the tape recorder. (Lim 1999)
Philippines Daily Express
Monica Feria:
The Express was in a relatively nice building. There were about three, four to six storeys, and the editorial department was on the third level. They were basically good partitions within the rooms. May room for the magazines, may room for photography, may room for the typesetting. Sa tingin ko nauna yata kaming mag-computer. (Alcancia and Sim 2000)
Jenny Santiago:
The Express had its own printing press, since it was being run by the Romualdezes. Our editor was the nephew of the former first lady Imelda Marcos, so it had the best facilities. But in the early '80s, there were no fax machines, no computers and e-mail. So we used typewriters. Sometimes we would file our stories by telephone. (Lagman and Misa 2000)
Andy Sevilla:
When I started as a proofreader the Daily Express was the most sophisticated kasi Benedicto group of companies iyan. Lahat ng magagandang makina, computer, opisina, nandiyan. This was the most prestigious newspaper dati. Wala ka nang hahanapin pa, kumpleto iyan.
(Piopongco 1999)
Ruby Paurom:
The office of the Daily Express was along Bonifacio Drive, malapit sa Manila Hotel. It was a three-story building. It included the editorial office, administrative staff and the press. Maganda yung kasama yung press para you can see the whole process. (Mallari 1999)
Philippines Free Press
Nap Rama:
The Free Press, a long time ago, was in Intramuros. Then, it transferred to Rizal Avenue, then to Pasong Tamo. Up to now it's there.
I've been so used to the typewriter, I love the clicking sound of the typewriter. Yung computer walang clicking sound eh. So, it doesn't make much difference to me because I could still use it. Old writers still use the typewriter. Of course, the electric typewriter. (Pua and Tee 2000)
Philippines Herald
Manuel Almario:
When we started in the Herald, they had built this new building. During the war, the Herald was bombed by the Japanese. But before they republished the newspaper, the publishers built a new building beside the Letran, in Intramuros, especially for the newspaper. It was a four-story building and it had new presses at that time. We were using the linotype machines... The newsroom was not air-conditioned. Everybody could be seen except the editor who had his air-conditioned room. (Young and Sy 2000)
Teodoro Benigno:
The headquarters of the Philippines Herald, was at the old DMHM building in Intramuros... We were using old typewriters: Corona and Underwood, if I'm not mistaken. The moment you struck the keys the thing would be clackety-clacking all over the place. There would be three or four or five of you writing your stories, so there was some kind of a hubbub of the typewriting machines making a lot of noise. (Chan and Belgira 2000)
Philippine Star
Isaac Belmonte:
In 1984 this area was mostly for port services and yet it's really unny that most newspapers were here. In the 1960s, this used to be newspaper belt. Sometime during the '70s or '80s, it was zoned to become a port area. More cargo-type businesses were expected to locate here, import-export. But they could not get rid of the newspaper buildings because of long-term leases. We still have 18 years of lease here. For a while, we were several warehouses put together. That's why there's no fourth floor or fifth floor, not even a medium rise. In our building, it's all flat.
This was also the original printing plant of the Inquirer before they moved out. At the Inquirer they would reminisce about the years they stayed here. Of course, they would refer to this place as "the barracks, or the warehouse, or the dilapidated printing plant." That's how they make fun of us. You cannot blame them, because that's exactly what we were, a dilapidated bodega.
We started with old 1960s presses. That's why it was only coming out in black and white. We had yellow much later, and we didn't become fully colored until 1995. (Lim and Tee 2000)
Lito Tacujan:
It was touch and go for a while kasi we were just starting, maliit lang yung staff namin. In fact, we had only one Tamaraw FX to deliver the papers and at the same time it was being used to shuttle our reporters and photographers. We are still in that same building where we started in the Port Area. It used to print the Fookien Times and the early issues of The Inquirer. We started with very few typewriters. In fact yung headline-maker namin Morisawa pa. (Kaminski and Lim 2000)
Times Journal
Joe Antonio:
Noong araw kasi ang dyaryo talagang magulo. Masarap magtrabaho sa magulo kapag nasa newspaper ka. Puro makinilya, maingay. Yong mga telex ng Associated Press at wire agencies ang iingay noon. Kaya noong araw mas mararamdaman mo kapag nasa newspaper ka nagtatrabaho. (Mojado 1999)
People's Journal
Manny Mogato:
People's Journal was located in the Port Area. The building was like a bodega, really old, although it was airconditioned. The printing presses were old. There were no computers yet, just typewriters. (Santiago 1999)
Today
Teddy Locsin:
Our first place was really nice. It was an old building on Ayala Avenue, which we liked so that the competition would be envious. But actually it was a very, very old building, full of cockroaches. It was the Elizalde building, owned by Enrile. We were the only ones in that building. It was due to be condemned and torn down. We stayed there a year. But of course, I impressed everyone that we had an Ayala Avenue address. Eventually, we had to move out.
So, we moved to Enrile's building [on EDSA, Makati]. The advantage of this building is that it's on the highway. I use the bus to go to National Bookstore in Shangri-La. It's better than a car. I don't have to park. If I wanna go home, I just cross the over to the other side and get the bus. It's a good sight. That's really important because when you do publishing, every little thing helps. Obviously, you can't pay people that well. Especially, you're a late in-coming newspaper. So, whatever helps to make it easier for the writers and editors to come in. I can't give them a car each. So, you put them in a place where there is access. That's really critical. We don't have our own printing press so we have to print in Quezon City. Now, it's even more ideal because we'll have the MRT, and it's good news. The bad news is that it's a lousy building, and all the pollution and everything. If you run your hand across the table it gets black. And it's destroying our equipment. We'll have to get out sooner or later because we can't continue this way. We'd probably all get tuberculosis. (Ng 1999)
We Forum
Romulo Mariñas:
In 1986 when I was a reporter we were still using typewriters. We were also using IBM ball-type encoding machines. It functioned like a typewriter so if you wanted to change typefaces you took out the ball and replaced it with another ball. We had to write our stories right in the newsroom, unlike now, the reporters or correspondents can just fax their stories. (Smith and Vallarta 2000)
