Northern Dispatch
2 MIN READ
By SHERWIN DE VERA
www.nordis.net
BAGUIO CITY — On the late evening of July 20, the last copies of the longest-running community paper in the country hit the streets of Baguio City.
The Baguio Midland Courier (BMC), which chronicled Cordillera history for almost eight decades, bade its readers farewell with its July 21 issue. Its headline, “BMC wraps up 77 years of journalism excellence,” aptly described the paper’s legacy.
One of its defining contributions to the Philippine press was its uninterrupted run since brothers Oseo and Sinai Hamada and half-sister Cecile Cariño established the paper in April 1947.
“History will note that Marital Law in the 1970s failed to shutter the BMC; it also continued printing in the 1990s when the 7.7 earthquake left Baguio in shambles and again throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020,” the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines Baguio-Benguet (NUJP BB) said in a statement.
The group thanked BMC for its “bravery and tenacity” and those who made its 77-year run possible.
“The NUJP BB recognizes the men and women behind the BMC and acknowledges their contributions, it is not easy to choose to become a journalist in a country that consistently ranks as the most dangerous,” the group said.
Excellent journalism
Ariel Sebellino, executive director of the Philippine Press Institute, described BMC’s legacy as “community journalism at its finest.”
“Its long history of public service has made a significant dent to its readers and the entire community that value journalism as key component to enriching the lives of Cordillerans where it matters the most,” he said in a Facebook post.
“The Philippine Press Institute has always recognized BMC for raising the standards of journalism via its haul of accolades in the Institute’s long-standing Community Press Awards,” Sebellino added.
The Baguio City Council expressed gratitude to the paper for providing “a platform for community engagement where diverse opinions were respected.”
It also recognized the paper’s contribution as a “guardian of democracy and a champion of the Fourth Estate.”
“In every headline and every story, the Baguio Midland Courier was a lighthouse in the mist, guiding the community through the fog of uncertainty,” the city council stated.
Worldwide trend
BMC publisher Hamada Printers and Publishers, in its June 30 closure announcement, said the paper became one of the casualties of “the worldwide trend that newspapers are facing unprecedented challenges.” It is the third community newspaper in Baguio to fold, SunStar Baguio ceasing its operation in May 2021 and Northern Dispatch ending its print version in December 2018.
In 2022, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released a study on the Freedom of Expression and Media Development from 2016-2021. The report noted the “existential threat of social media” as many advertisers transferred to online platforms, reducing global revenue from newspaper advertising to half.
“As the BMC bows to the changing media and advertising landscape, it has imparted its final lesson to the industry, may it become a wake-up call to adopt new platforms and venture into unexplored business models,” NUJP BB said.
“Together with our colleagues, we hold on to the BMC management’s promise that journalists and media workers who have dedicated their lives to its cause will receive their full severance pay and benefits,” the group added. # nordis.net
