(Part 1)
DNX Newsdesk
For two times now, Ramel Uy had been showing up to the opening of training sessions for his employees, one in Negros island, the other in Panay, both geographically part of Western Visayas region where his radio network, K5 News Philippines, is based, the first to be headquartered in Negros island where a mix of Bisaya and Hiligaynon is spoken.
For two times now, Doc Ramel as he is fondly known to hundreds of employees, had been underscoring some important points for the training, points that could well be executive advices for those who want to make a mark or stand out in the increasingly competitive broadcast industry that, critics say, is dying in the Information Age.
“This is not for me, this is for you,” the naturopathic doctor said as he keynoted the events and urged trainees – more than a hundred in all for the two training sessions.
He had also been urging his employees to “keep an open mind” and learn as much as they can from the trainings that have been conducted under K5’s newly-launched Radio School directly under its Human Resources Department headed by seasoned broadcaster and commentator Jean Paul Generoso.
Branded as journalist-informed, practitioner-suited and radio-fitted, the seminar workshops were designed by another seasoned journalist, Julius Mariveles, who was picked by Doc Ramel to head the school and design the curriculum.
Julius, a former member of training staff pools of Manila-based media non profits, designed the curriculum with his wife, Hannah Papasin, a former university Communication Department chair and newspaper editor.
Among its participants were station managers like Coleen Cubia, 23, the youngest one in the network who now heads the northern Negros Occidental operations, and Panay island stalwarts Rey Umalay who heads area operations for Visayas and Mindanao, and pioneers Amy Berondo, R-John Del Corro and Jubert Lago.
Unlike most sessions designed by Manila-based media non profits, the trainings are grounded on daily and actual needs of provincial broadcasters whom Mariveles calls “the real heart and soul of Philippine journalism.”
As such, the discussion on conceptual themes like news values and journalism ethics are not just exhortations from Kovach and Rosenstiel but informed by the biting reality that journalists need to earn and Philippine radio is based on commercial business models and don’t rely on foreign funders.
Mariveles said he is careful to not be condescending to participants who belong to radio and come from the provinces.
Most trainings is designed for newspaper reporters, perhaps in the past because local non profits find it easier to show off their outputs to their foreign funders, Mariveles said during one of the sessions.
The launch of the Radio School last month incidentally came a few days before K5 marked the 10th year of its first territorial station in San Jose, a seaside town in Antique province that kicked off Doc Ramel’s venture into broadcasting that has now grown into a network of more than 60 terrestial stations across the archipelago.
The sound of backslapping, giggles and laughter can be heard as soon as one steps out of the elevator into the fourth floor where a function hall was filling in with close to 50 participants from as far as Caiz province.
Among the mix of radio veterans, newly- minted broadcasters were Rey Umalay who heads area operations for Visayas and Mindanao islands, R-John Del Corro who leads the operations of Doc Ramel’s firstborn, 95.7 FM in San Jose, Antique province, and pioneer disc jockey Amy Orleans-Berondo often praised as the “prettiest manager” in the network.
Joining them at the managers table were Manilyn Abaro-Palec and Raynard Cordero, both among the youngest executives of K5. Cordero heads local operaions in Culasi, Antique – heading a delegation of participants that is almost half a day away from the metropolis where the training was held..
