MANILA – The Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) launched on Monday a partnership with Panay News that readers can access through a shared digital platform using the Inquirer Plus app.
The Inquirer News Initiative (INI) offers a subscription package where Inquirer Plus – PDI’s digital version – comes with Panay News.
Atty. Rudyard Arbolado, PDI president and chief executive officer, said through the INI, the digital version of Panay News formed part of a subscription bundle that readers can select via the e-commerce store Inquirer Shop.
A bundle entitles the subscriber to Inquirer Plus and Panay News.
Roy Raul Mendiola, Inquirer national sales manager, noted that print readers in the provinces usually purchase a newspaper of national circulation along with their local newspaper. This has been the case especially before the coronavirus pandemic.
Arbolado said the subscription bundle was not only for readers with limited access to hard copies of their local papers but also for Filipinos abroad longing for hometown news.
“People now are looking for connections and this is one way to reach your hometown and those you love. And sometimes, a reader would miss reading in the local language. Panay News has a columnist who writes in Hiligaynon. People can expect a very distinct local flavor with each publication,” Arbolado noted.
“Local papers provide unique networks; they are the ones with eyes and ears on the ground,” added Mendiola.
But more than the local flavor, Arbolado said the partnership would ultimately serve as Inquirer’s way of “helping journalism, especially local journalism, flourish in the multimedia age.”
“This is our way to help local journalism remain sustainable. There’s a global phenomenon where most media companies are going to subscriptions. If we want good journalism, you have to pay for it, you have to support it,” he explained.
‘STRONGER TOGETHER’
“By ensuring that local journalism thrives, we help safeguard the continued empowerment of an informed citizenry. The INI is also an acknowledgment that this [is] best achieved with PDI and the local newspapers working hand in hand. As one lifts itself, it lifts others, too. Our futures are intertwined and together we are stronger,” he added.
Leading to yesterday’s launch were a series of meetings held and agreements signed with Atty. Abdiel Dan Elijah Fajardo, president and chair of Panay News, among other top executives of other partner newspapers./PN
