FORTY YEARS. Panay News has gone this far – and counting – because its men and women are constantly inspired by the dream set out by our beloved founder, Daniel “Danny” G. Fajardo four decades ago.
We draw strength from the no-nonsense direction he set out for the paper, stated in his message as publisher printed on the maiden issue of this paper.
Through the years, too, he kept inspiring us with his valuable wisdom learned from experiences as the paper grew.
I am deeply thankful to our critics and to the enemies of press freedom because without them, this challenging job would not have been more exciting and agitating.
Having been in the business for many years, one of the lessons we have learned is that the measure of success largely depends upon the weight of the challenge.
Newspaper business is a challenging one. The first is the call for creativity. Unless a paper is creative enough to fit into the “journalistic kitchen”, the publisher will, on a most embarrassing moment, get out of it.
Take the other challenge: competition. National dailies circulating in the provinces will surely be prompted to have better papers. After all, they have the resources and facilities.
Also, the local papers will wake up to the need for a more serious approach towards newspapering. This is so because as of now, it is very noticeable that some local papers are just put out for the sake of legal notices. Still, others are being put out by people who own printing presses but who are unfortunately not well versed with the newspaper business.
It is our belief that newspapers should be creative enough to face these challenges. Newspapers that are published only because the publisher has the facilities, or the editor knows how to edit and write, are bound to fail. This proven fact exists because the total demand of the newspapering challenge was not met.
A newspaper to be successful therefore should be handled according to its challenges and demands, whether it be on the production, editorial or marketing aspect.
Panay News Today will ace these…squarely. (Message from the Publisher, April 7, 1981)
Under the present set-up, the members of the board of the company who are all my children of grown age have collectively drawn themselves together to work for a better corporate system to expand the business operation. I believe that the new management, with will power and determination, will outrace what I have accomplished for a long time.
In the field of print journalism, we are happy to say that Panay News has played a significant role in making democracy in this country alive and kicking.
Make Panay News your everyday newspaper.
There are enemies of press freedom. These forces are not only ordinary people; they are big people – they have the force, power and influence.
Our world is a revolving machine. Panay News should go with the existing flow of time, with technology and modern sciences.
When I started Panay News, I was all alone bearing the heavy burden of management. But then, without fear of contradiction, I was able to reach the goal of making Panay News the biggest daily in Western Visayas, reaching out to many other places of the country by putting up branch offices in Cebu City and Manila, aside from having them in the region’s provinces and cities.
When I started Panay News, I was all alone bearing the heavy burden of management. But then, without fear of contradiction, I was able to reach the goal of making Panay News the biggest daily in Western Visayas, reaching out to many other places of the country by putting up branch offices in Cebu City and Manila, aside from having them in the region’s provinces and cities.
To make it relevant, Panay News should continue improving itself, improve its advertisement revenue, layout, marketing, operations, and at the same time see to it that it will continue to be readable and interesting.
The next generations of the family will – I have no doubt because I believe – continue the operations of Panay News.
We want the public to know the truth by calling a spade a spade, and the consequence of which is only our own suffering. After all, the vast majority of the reading public is with us and only very few are saddened by our existence.
Despite countless obstacles along the way, we have triumphantly overcome them, with a firm resolve that your favorite regional daily will continue to struggle hard to improve its performance and quality.
