The Philippine Star

The Philippine Star (self-styled The Philippine STAR) is the leading print and digital newspaper in the Philippines and the flagship brand of the Star Group of Publications.^[2][3] It is owned and published by Philstar Daily Inc., which also publishes tabloids Pilipino Star Ngayon, Pang-Masa, The Freeman, and Banat, as well as People Asia and the Sunday magazine Starweek. With the slogan Truth Shall Prevail, the company maintains its quality as one of the trusted news sources in the Philippines. It is the most widely read broadsheet in the country, surpassing Philippine Daily Inquirer, with a market share of over 50 percent and over 2.7 million daily readers nationwide.

History

The first issue of The Philippine Star with the headline, "Wear Yellow and die!"

Journalists Max Soliven, Betty Go-Belmonte, and Art Borjal founded The Philippine Star on 28 July 1986 a few months after the EDSA Revolution that toppled strongman Ferdinand Marcos and propelled Corazon Aquino to the Philippine presidency.^[4]

Belmonte, Soliven, and Borjal, together with Eugenia Apostol, Louie Beltran, and Florangel Braid, were co-founders of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, another newspaper founded a few months earlier on 9 December 1985. Questions about finances and a divergence of priorities caused a rift among the founders which led to Belmonte, Soliven, and Borjal's founding of Star.^[4]

The first issue had eight pages, no advertisements, and an initial print run of “a few thousand copies”.^[4]

Innovation

On 4 August 1995, The Philippine Star became the first Philippine broadsheet newspaper to publish a full-color front page. By 2001, the newspaper was published in color from cover to cover, thus giving birth to its slogan "The only paper you read from cover to cover." In 2003, it became the first daily newspaper to tie up with a fast food restaurant, Jollibee Foods Corporation, the Philippines' largest fast food chain. A complimentary copy of the newspaper is given to restaurant clients nationwide for every purchase of a Jollibee breakfast meal.^[5]

In 2013, it launched the Read It! Live It! augmented reality app which allowed tablet and mobile phone users to access a variety of multimedia content when used to take a photo of a QR code printed alongside selected sections of the newspaper.^[6][7]

Acquisition by MediaQuest Holdings

In 2014, businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman of MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. (the media conglomerate of PLDT), acquired a majority stake of 51% in the newspaper. The Belmonte family retained a 21% stake, as well as management and editorial control (although MediaQuest had already also owns it's rival broadsheet in the market, BusinessWorld, through its subsidiary Hastings Holdings, Inc; the two national broadsheets remain in separate entities with completely independent type of political alignment). Pangilinan has since appointed attorney Ray Espinosa as the chairman of the board.^[8]

Awards

The Philippine Star is a three-time winner of the Newspaper of the Year award given by the Rotary Club of Manila.^[9] In 2006, it received the prestigious Marketing Company of the Year Award from the Philippine Marketing Association.^[10] In the same year, it also received the "Outstanding Newspaper of the Year" award from the Filipino civic group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) in recognition of its "invaluable service to the community by courageously sticking to the truth and to the basic tenets of professional journalism."^[11]

Corporate social responsibility

In Star’s maiden issue on 28 July 1986, the day’s biggest news was the death of 22-year-old Steven Rodriguez at the hands of Marcos loyalists, just because he was wearing yellow. The headline screamed, "Wear yellow and die," and was accompanied by photos of the mob beating Rodriguez to death.^[12][13]

For several days, the paper closely followed the story and, through photos, those responsible were eventually caught. The story touched founding chairperson Betty Go-Belmonte so much that she extended financial (from donations solicited through her column "Pebbles") and emotional support to Rodriguez's widow and children. This was the beginning of the causes that the newspaper would support and embrace with a passion, combining journalism with advocacy, that would eventually lay the foundation of Operation Damayan, the Star's corporate social responsibility arm.^[12]

Operation Damayan

Operation Damayan, the formal organization, however, was formed 1989 from a team of writers, photographers, staff, and even janitors united behind the spirit of volunteerism. It started as an open door project for sick children who sought medical assistance. Funds used were from the company and from generous readers. In the following years, it would extend help in the aftermath of every major calamity in the Philippines, including the 1990 Luzon earthquake, the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption, Typhoon Ketsana in 2009, and Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.^[14][15]

Today, the tradition continues and has helped thousands of indigent Filipino communities. It remains a primary family affair for the company's employees.^[12] It has supported the studies of poor Filipino students in the form of scholarships. It has also initiated an Adopt-a-School program in various provinces in the country and has conducted medical missions nationwide.^[14]

28 Stories of Giving

In 2014, Star launched its 28 Stories of Giving which featured 28 selected stories of indigent individuals and the caring individuals or groups helping them. The Star raised an estimated P2 million from sales and pledges made through social media to help the individuals featured.^[16][17][18]

Notable columnists

See also

• Manila Bulletin

References

External links

• Website
• Digital Edition
• The Philippine Star on Facebook
• The Philippine Star on Twitter
• The Philippine Star on Instagram

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