BALITA. Alimagno, Baylon, Eduardo. A52.

We left for the Balita headquarters at around 12 noon on July 8, 2008. It was basically a quick bus ride and an optional pedicab away from campus. While on our way there, we marveled at the sight of old Manila and its fascinating architecture (it was the first time for some of us to see those up close, with all of us being from Las Piñas).

Situated practically in the center of all the vintage scenery was the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation office, at Muralla corner Recoletos Streets, Intramuros, Manila.

The Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation (with telephone number 527-81-21 connecting all departments, fax number 400-00-95, and email address balita@mb.com.ph) has under its wing various newspapers and magazines, some of which are Manila Bulletin (of course), Tempo, Philippine Panorama, Sense and Style, and our assigned newspaper, Balita.

Balita is comprised of, apparently, just around 11 full-time personnel:
• Managing Editor Fort Yerro
• News Editor Danny Valdes
• Entertainment Editor Dindo M. Balares
• Sports Editor Dennis R. Iñigo
• Associate editors
• And some layout staff

These employees have little to no government-guaranteed benefits, with the editors enjoying only medical insurance covered up to Php600,000 which does not include any procedures involving aesthetics (like liposuction and the like). There is also a 7 ½ months bonus, with its staffers having salary increases every year – the longer the stay, the higher the pay.

In our interview it was mentioned that Balita is very strict about the capability, credibility, and loyalty of its core members, hence going from 30 people when it started, and now down to more than half of that. They even said that many people apply, but very few get accepted, if any. Their lack of manpower forces the editors to do most layout work on their own, and even layout other sections if needed.

With regards to reporters, Balita claims that it does not have any. Instead, they have various correspondents that get paid on a per-story basis. This helps them cut costs and keep the workflow efficient. Balita also has 12 columnists all-in-all, including Manny Villar who guests frequently.

A brief history of Balita that was given to us included these events:
• Balita was still a separate newspaper when it began back in December of 1972. Production was very hard because typesetting was the process used. Its initial goal was to give the news straight and without any leaning – just as real news is supposed to be.
• In April 17, 2005, Balita was acquired by Manila Bulletin, a number of people from its original staff were retained and they were given much administrative freedom within the paper.
• It also got about an inch smaller in page size due to increasing costs in production.
• Balita used to have a night edition called Balita PM, but also due to costs, it was discontinued. Balita PM was reserved for late-breaking news or follow-ups on important news from the morning edition.

Balita is a daily tabloid, and by daily, they mean it. They are one of the very few newspapers that produce on holidays, aside from every other day of the year. They don’t have special editions, unless you count the certain times that they have more than the usual number of pages to cope with massive content (from their usual 16 to a maximum they’ve gone of 24).

Initially, Balita printed 200,000 copies, but now, they’ve gone up to 500,000 copies in distribution. In Mindanao, Balita is #2 in tabloid circulation, following Bandera as #1. Bulgar and Tempo follow in 3rd and 4th, respectively. In Manila however, Balita is only #5, and they have constantly been strategizing and conducting market research as to how they can raise their numbers – a joke that was cracked during the interview was that people in Manila are largely malicious and would rather go for the lewd tabloids than for their straight-laced publication. One can’t help but wonder if this may actually be true.

One amazing thing we found out about Balita was about their deadlines and processing speed. Except for truly breaking news, the deadline for EVERYTHING is at 3:00pm because the paper will have been checked by the higher management by 4pm. By 6pm, it should be going through the printers and finally at 12mn, the newspapers should be already at the news stands through the agents, preferably in sync all over the Philippines.

Editorial and printing of Balita are done in the same place (in Intramuros) and we were even able to view one of their older printing machines there (though we weren’t allowed to take pictures). It was a marvelous sight. Apparently, Balita even goes through a lot of in-house competition (namely with Tempo) because the printing is done at a first-submit, first-served basis… So if Tempo submits early, but then has some refining to do after printing, all the other publications have to wait until the final copy is made before they can be processed.

Proofreading is not an extensive process in Balita. The managing editor has the correspondents edit their own works before submitting the story, thereby cutting editing time and keeping the proofreading labor down to just a quick browse or two.

Evident in the many computer screens we saw in the office, layouting is done entirely electronically through the programs InDesign and Photoshop they say that in order for their newspaper to survive they have to be at the forefront of technology and software use. Their commitment to their paper shows, with our group unanimously agreeing that the layout of Balita is probably the best tabloid layout we’d seen. They pay attention to art and detail – which is simply a joy for us Communication Arts students to see.

Advertising rates go as follows:

(Mentioned in interview)
• 1x1 box: Php1000
• 1 line: Php1,000
• Full page: Php150,000
• Half-page: Php75,000
• ¼ page: 14,000-15,000
• 1/8 page: 12,000

(As printed on the paper itself)
• P155 per col. cm.: Weekdays
• P175 per col. com.: Sundays
• Full page size: 7 cols. x 32 cms. = 224 col. Cms.

To end the interview, we asked them what for them would be their signature in the world of newspapers and media, and their answer was simple:

“Decency.” And it was said with much conviction.

They take pride in their issues containing moral values, religious facts, among other remarkable things. They also take pride in their focus on the positive sides to the issues, having the uplifting of media and the press in mind. In recognition of this Balita was recently awarded the Best Filipino Tabloid in the Philippines by, as they said, “Gintong Gawad… Something… Basta we’re very proud!” – With a chuckle right after.

Perhaps that was what’s best about Balita, and our group’s whole experience there- situated practically in the center of all the vintage scenery of Old Manila, we found a newspaper that believed in classic and pure journalism.

Journalism that is decent.