By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
We are now on the Worldwide Web again.
The first local paper in Baguio City and the Cordillera to have a website was the SunStar Baguio. The only daily paper in Northern Luzon, as they say in their promotion. Is that a strong point or what is causing it to be the way it is?
We were the second but, let me carry my own bench here, we ended up the favorite of fellow Cordillerans, specially those abroad. Why was that? I guess because we exuded the Igorot, rather the Cordilleran, vibes. Unless you are one of us, that just could not be had by any other outfit. To a certain extent one can hire it, by employing true blooded Cordillerans—or FBIs (full blooded Igorots)—but it will never be the same as having an FBI at the highest part of the totem pole.
Then I got deluded with the website. When our hits were reaching 5,000 or more per week perhaps out of jealousy, somebody hacked the site and placed a porno material which plays whenever you opened it. The counter would also reset anytime it wanted to. Practically, the site became an independent wild animal. So I just stayed away from it.
But now it is time. Every Tomas, Kulas and Ricardo is now an internet addict. First order of business is the basic site and then how to steer it so it would be on its own. These will take gallons and gallons of coffee sipped alone in a coffee shop with a nice ambience, and hours and hours of meditation. While some meetings would be required, it is still in the few minutes of inspiration that the right formula will be realized.
So expect changes on the site. It should somehow spread out its roots into other social media.
How it will be different from the hard copy would be another subject matter to ponder on.
Most important of all, how can we remain relevant to which our readers can resonate.
Issues and questions, but we remain committed to make the site worth your while. We will stumble here and there but it will keep on going.
In the three weeks that the new design of the site went on stream, I am flattered by the way the counter of hits or visits is rolling. We are averaging 1,500 a week and I hope we could reach the 5,000 per week mark after some time.
While the ad spaces are still empty, it won’t be long before they will get filled up. We value even nickels and dimes and things will move on from there. In no time, we should be looking at with nostalgia the hard years when we didn’t even have a dime. Yes that is from the song of Neil Sedaka (?)
The other week, I was at the (ZigZag Weekly) site. I was just looking at it and not reading it as I did not like to see the things I missed proof reading or editing. Let them stay there. They should show the rush in finishing the issue… and the stress that went into it.
I noticed the section “About Us” but there is nothing in there. So this is the time to fill it.
The education of all of us columnists here, except one, were somehow financed by your taxes as we spent some or many years in the University of the Philippines. The exception is Estanislao Albano Jr. but he is the true blue journalist amongst us. He is a product of Manual L. Quezon University where he cut his journalism teeth in the school’s paper.
The editing and proofreading work here is done by a big team. It consists of only ME. I am now big (being so overweight) so the team is big.
An issue is put together in about six hours, so you can imagine how rush, rush it is. If you want anything to be in the issue, its chances would be better if sent early. Final deadline is Friday lunch for those that do not need to be worked on. Remember that I am still a practicing lawyer so on Fridays when I get to sit down to work on an issue, I am already seething with stress. In that state, it is so easy to say FORGET IT about any article.**
