Television broadcast journalist Jiggy Manicad drew nearly a hundred students to his lecture on broadcast journalism for The Manila Times TV and The Manila Times College earlier this week, inspiring them to dream of becoming journalists with good, exclusive stories to tell and a heart that understands the human experience.
Also joined by dozens of communications and journalism students from other schools, the TMTTV-TMTC seminar participants heard how the 43-year old Manicad overcame the odds he faced as a young, poor boy from the railway slums to become an award-winning broadcast journalist, whose name has become a byword for TV news and documentary shows.
His lecture on October 29 at the TMTC’s multi-purpose hall in Intramuros, dubbed “The Jiggy Manicad Stories,” showcased his 10 steps to news and documentary production, post-production, professional broadcasting, how shows come to life and how to combat fake news.
Manicad stressed that creating great news reports starts from a creative and unique “concept,” which the author should guard and “protect at all times” from being stolen before it gets broadcast or published. This concept must be delivered as fair, just and reliable stories that the public deserves to know.
“You will never go wrong once you follow your own concept. That’s your tool whenever and wherever you go. You have to keep it, do your research, check the ground, ask the people involved in your story, and never forget to validate all information you gathered,” he told the students.
“Once all preparations are done, you have to face the camera with confidence and conviction, but don’t forget to deliver the news with a humble heart,” he added.
Also stressing the importance of having the right motivation to succeed in this profession, Manicad lobbies for responsible media practice among Filipinos, particularly the youth.
Seminar participants consisted of students from TMTC-Intramuros and TMTC Subic, Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), Ignacio Villamor Senior High School (IV-SHS), City of
Malabon University (CMU), Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela (PLV), Cavite National Science High School (CNSHS), San Rafael Technological and Vocational High Schools and staff from the Public Information Offices (PIO) of the city halls of Manila and Quezon City.
For many years, Manicad served as anchor of the weekend edition of GMA Network’s flagship news program “24 Oras,” as well as the “Reporter’s Notebook” and GMA News TV’s “Quick Response
Team” (QRT). Although he has left GMA Network as an employee, he still currently hosts “The Working Class” on GMA7.
He has garnered about 60 journalism awards for his work during his long TV broadcasting career.
Manicad was named one of the “Men Who Matter” by PeopleAsia in 2015, and was among the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in 2013. His QRT program on GMA News TV won the Bronze World Medal at the New Work Festivals under the Best Coverage of Breaking News category in 2014. This was for the live on-the-ground reportage of the Zamboanga crisis. He is also a recipient of the George Foster Peabody Awards in 2014 for his Super Typhoon Yolanda coverage for GMA Network. That is on top of his awards from the New York Film Festivals, Asian TV Awards, Catholic
Mass Media Awards and the Metrobank Foundation as Journalist of the Year.
Manicad left his post at GMA Network in April this year and later filed his candidacy for senator in the 2019 mid-term elections.
His talk on October 29 marks the conclusion of the seminar-workshop on TV News Scriptwriting organized by the TMTTV and TMTC with the help of communications experts from Ogilvy & Mather Philippines Toni Tiemsin and Apple Gamboa.
The training program is part of the preparation by The Manila Times Broadcasting Corp. for the launch of its TV operations soon.