DEMOCRACY’S BACKBONE: Daily Guardian’s 25-year run shows the power of local journalism

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

For 25 years, the Daily Guardian has served as a steady presence in Iloilo’s public life, chronicling governance, community concerns, and broader national developments through a local lens that prioritizes verification and public accountability.

In an era increasingly shaped by digital platforms, veteran journalists and scholars say community newspapers remain essential counterweights to fragmented online narratives.

They stressed that local newsrooms continue to provide context, accountability, and grounded reporting that national and global platforms often overlook.

Research has documented how local journalism operates amid shrinking newsroom budgets, declining advertising revenues, and a digital environment that prioritizes engagement over accuracy.

Yet community papers remain among the most accessible and trusted sources of information at the local level.

In their respective keynote messages during Daily Guardian’s anniversary gala at the Iloilo Convention Center on April 29, three media and academic leaders extolled the power local journalism in the age of social media and algorithms.

Community press matters

Sheila Coronel, co-founder of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), said the community press, including outlets like the Daily Guardian, plays a crucial democratic role by anchoring communities in verifiable facts, holding officials accountable, and telling stories that resonate locally.

In a video message, Coronel stressed that local reporting is vital, especially in an information environment dominated by algorithms, anger, and disinformation.

She added that efforts to combat disinformation must shift from abstract global discussions to supporting and empowering local newsrooms on the ground.

The true fight for truth, Coronel argued, is not in think tanks or Silicon Valley policy offices, but in local communities like Iloilo, on the daily beats of reporters, and in local newsrooms.

“The real battleground for truth is not in a think tank in Washington or a platform’s policy office in Silicon Valley, it is in places like Iloilo. It’s on the beat in Ilongo every day. It is in newsrooms like […] the Daily Guardian’s own recent reporting is the clearest argument of why community press still matters,” she said.

Coronel cited the Daily Guardian’s reporting on overseas workers affected by US-Iran tensions, rising borrowing pressures, and real property taxation as examples of how local journalism translates complex national and global issues into community-level realities.

She also addressed criticisms directed at the Daily Guardian’s coverage of local government policies in Iloilo City, stressing that independent reporting is neither pro-government nor pro-opposition, but pro-citizen.

“This is what independent community reporting looks like. It is not pro-government. It is not pro-opposition. It is pro-citizen,” she argued.

In an environment dominated by algorithms and anger, Coronel said, community reporters anchor their communities to facts, accountability, and relatable stories — making their work the most important in the current information landscape.

“The work you do is the work democracy actually runs on. When the national conversation is captured by algorithms and anger, you are the ones anchoring our community to facts it can verify, to officials it can hold accountable, and to stories it recognizes on its own. That is not small work. In this information environment, it may be the most important work,” she said.

25 years of resistance

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa, chief executive officer of Rappler, described the Daily Guardian’s 25-year run as an act of resistance amid crises, the pandemic, and the broader pressures on local journalism.

She said local journalism, like the Daily Guardian, functions as a “load-bearing wall” in society, helping resist misinformation and defend shared reality.

“Local journalism is the load-bearing wall […] for what you’re building tonight, keep telling Iloilo’s story. Keep holding power to account. The world is watching what communities like yours choose to defend,” she said.

Ressa also lauded the Daily Guardian’s inaugural Green Guardian Awards, saying they reflect a meaningful link between journalism and community welfare.

“I love that you are tying journalism to the well-being of where you live, your rivers, your farms, your neighborhoods, your future. Because the deepest crisis of our time is a crisis of shared reality. And shared reality begins where you live,” she said.

Warning of what she described as an “information Armageddon,” Ressa said the current ecosystem allows lies to spread faster than facts, while outrage often outperforms evidence.

“An invisible atom bomb has exploded in our information ecosystem. And the fallout is a world where lies travel faster than facts, where outrage outperforms evidence, where the very idea of shared truth is under siege,” she said.

She said this erosion of shared reality undermines democracy and the ability to address existential challenges.

Ressa emphasized that local journalism serves as a global antidote to disinformation, noting that the Daily Guardian’s impact extends beyond the communities it serves in Western Visayas.

“You helped how Filipino communities pushed back, how a country can be gaslit at scale and still find its way to the truth. That means your resistance here in Iloilo is not local alone. It’s global,” she said.

“The antidote isn’t abstract. It’s a Daily Guardian reporter knocking on a door. It’s an editor who refuses to print, to publish what he or she can’t verify. It’s readers who choose a newsroom accountable to them instead of an algorithm accountable to no one. Local journalism is not the small version of journalism,” she added.

 Adapting ethically in the digital age

University of the Philippines Visayas Chancellor Clement Camposano underscored the continued relevance of traditional media, even as digital platforms reshape how information is produced, distributed, and consumed.

In his keynote message, Camposano said the rise of digital media has significantly altered the communication landscape, often leading to fragmented public discourse driven by algorithms, echo chambers, and the spread of disinformation.

“The digital media and the internet have altered, in a very fundamental way, how we produce, share, and consume information, with profound consequences for public life,” he said.

Despite these shifts, Camposano stressed that traditional media — newspapers, radio, and television — remains vital, particularly in fostering balanced, verified, and community-oriented information.

He noted that, unlike social media platforms that prioritize engagement and personalized content, traditional media institutions operate with editorial standards and a responsibility to a broader public, helping sustain informed discourse.

Camposano said traditional media organizations must adapt to the demands of the digital age to remain relevant, including embracing new technologies and platforms while maintaining their core principles.

“Organizations that [belong] to traditional media, if they are to thrive and not merely survive, must evolve for the digital age. They need to transition from being digital migrants and refugees and become indigenized in cyberspace,” he said.

The UP Visayas chancellor emphasized that the challenge for media institutions is not merely survival, but transformation — ensuring they contribute to a more informed and cohesive society amid rapid technological change.

Camposano framed the issue not as a conflict between traditional and digital media, but as part of a broader human relationship with technology.

While digital platforms pose risks such as misinformation and polarization, he said, they also offer opportunities for accountability, civic engagement, and economic growth.

He outlined key directions for traditional media: promoting digital citizenship, upholding the common good and human dignity, and linking digital efforts to real-world civic impact.

Camposano said that while technology continues to reshape the public sphere, media institutions that adapt ethically and intelligently can still play a critical role in sustaining democracy and an informed society.