WITH JOURNALISTS UNDER siege and truth-tellers left vulnerable to the perils of the repressive Marcos Jr. regime at home, the student press, as a microcosm of the broader national landscape, must go beyond conventional reporting and rise in defiance.
Threats to press freedom have recently intensified around the globe. The latest casualty of such attacks was Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif who, along with three other correspondents, were killed by Israeli forces while covering the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
“In these difficult times, when malignant forces silence dissent, the student press must rise in defiance, carrying forward the uncompromising duty to speak the truth to power. “
The situation is only worsened by the fact that these journalists’ deaths are part of a broader, targeted, and methodical campaign to silence those brave enough to report on the harsh realities in a besieged and war-torn Gaza, which has killed off approximately 240 journalists and media workers since the start of the conflict in 2023.
In the Philippines, the culture of impunity continues to impede the exercise of a free and democratic press. President Marcos Jr. has made little to no effort to curb, let alone end, the ongoing attacks on the press, as conditions for media workers have become even more precarious than during Duterte’s regime.
Findings from media watchdog groups Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) show a total of 184 cases of attacks against media workers from July 1, 2022, to April 30, 2025, exceeding the 128 instances logged during Duterte’s term which constituted a 44% increase in said activities.
These attacks, ranging from state-sponsored red-tagging, harassment, censorship, and suppression, constitute a blatant diminution of the dignity and role of journalists as members of the fourth estate. After all, who else is tasked with chronicling hard-to-swallow truths if not those brave enough to expose and report the conditions of those affected by injustice?
And while schools and universities should be impervious to these irregularities, we cannot ignore instances where student publications face similar hostilities from school administrators as regular media outfits do from the state.
Common attacks on the editorial independence of the student press include strenuous censorship of “critical” stories by administrators, delayed or withheld budgets, red-tagging, and discouragement of publications from covering mobilizations and social issues, as well as harassment and administrative threats. All these mirrors the same state-sponsored culture of repression and fear used to silence dissenting voices.
In bitter irony, the very academic institutions meant to promote free expression and protect dissent have failed to uphold their own mandate.
Yet, where there is repression, there is resistance. Despite the far-from-ideal conditions of the student press, it has proven itself resilient enough to withstand the uncertainties that come with responsibility. Threats and harassment have not dissuaded the student press from exposing wrongdoing both within and beyond their campuses, nor has it silenced their efforts to call out injustices in society.
Even without the resources and reach to do so, resistance from the student press has reinforced the role of journalism, from the margins to mainstream, as a powerful deterrent against oppression and abuse.
Still, public clamor must still be present in protecting the rights of campus journalists, which starts with the repeal of the two-page outdated Campus Journalism Act of 1991.
In these difficult times, when malignant forces silence dissent, the student press must rise in defiance, carrying forward the uncompromising duty to speak truth to power.