By Lloren Marie Tan, BA Comm 4

In celebration of World Press Freedom Day, the CPU Communication Circle and the Central Echo the official student media of CPU attended a journalism symposium “Write the Truth: Fighting Lies and Amplifying the Truth in the Spirit of Dr. Graciano Lopez Jaena’s Journalism, hosted by the Dr. Graciano Lopez Jaena Foundation INC on May 3, 2023 at St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary Auditorium.

The said event has two speakers, Rappler’s Regional Head Inday Espina Varona and Fact-checker and Press1.ph Associate Editor Rommel Lopez talked about the different concerns on propaganda, lies, and disinformation in the new era of media.

“If media is silence, it keeps the abuser a free pass because there is no presence of accountability. It is our shared duty to hold the powerful into account,” Verona said.

Participants of the Write the Truth forum to celebrate the World Press Freedom Day.

On the other hand, Editor Lopez reminded everyone the proper way of fact checking. “Journalism needs to be information-literate. We should monitor, verify, and peer- review our sources before disseminating our articles,” he said.

Central Echo’s Editor-in-Chief Danica Hablado shared her thoughts why press freedom is important especially in today’s generation. “If not us, who? In the digital age, when misinformation is widespread on social media, student journalists should stand up for the truth. We need to make people accountable for the information they share, and we must always advocate for truth telling, no matter how big or small the lies may seem. We must strengthen media and information literacy right now and harness the power of technology to spread the truth, not lies,” she said.

The said event was also attended by some local journalists and other student journalists and communication students in Iloilo.