Echoes From
BY JOHNNY DAYANG

Sand, sea and the New Media

The exquisite sand and sea of beautiful Boracay Island in Aklan beckon to no less than 100 presidents and representatives of press clubs from around the country in the two-day Visayas Media Forum (VMF) to be held on the 25th and 26th of this month.
The forum will likewise serve as a strategic media event that will lead to the activation of the Federation of Provincial Press Clubs of the Philippines (FPPCP).

As one of tthe remaining old guards of the media profession, it really gives me great pleasure to witness the coming together of some of the brightest minds in the Philippine provincial press in the name of New Media.

New Media, as opposed to "Old" Media (where I definitely started out back in the late 50's), is the child of the 21st century and a constant source of amazement for us, old timers.

You see, I belong to that age of journalism where information and opinion found expression through pen, paper and the good old printing press. Now, instead of pen and paper, we have the computer. Instead of the printing press, we have number of "hits" in a given website.

There is so much promise to this new technology; so many opportunities that the New Media opens to the provincial press who I know, deep in my hearts, are inspired by endeavors that redound to the good of Philippine society.

And what better way to maximize the beneficial effects of the New Media than to use it as a means to nurse back to health the oh-so-suddenly and unfortunately sidelined Philippine tourism.

"New Media in the Service of Tourism and the Nation" is quite an apt theme; if only to find ways to neutralize the lingering effects of the August 23 failed Quirino Grandstand hostage rescue that resulted in the deaths of eight foreign nationals.

With the support of the Publishers Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PAPI) and the Boracay Foundation, Inc. (BFI), led by tourism advocates Henry Chusuey and Loubelle Cann the forum will also serve to promote on a sustainable basis the competitive advantage of an island resort like Boracay as a tourist haven.