What I Learned from the In Depth World Communications Day Special
by Noel Lacsamana
I am a follower of the Dominus Est page and I watched the In Depth special of Dominus Est for World Communications Day featuring Msgr. Hernando ‘Ding’ Coronel of Quiapo Church and Ms. Jacque Manabat, Anchor of ABSCBN.
They gave a lot of insight on how we can spread the Word of God and how we can provide accurate information in social media so that people will not be misled and I thought I would write these down and share these with you.
Here are some highlights that struck me:
1. First, from Pope Francis’ World Communications Day Message: we must thank journalists as they are the ones on the ground so they provide concrete and concise information as to what is happening right now in our communities, our countries and the whole world.
2. Pope Francis also emphasized that we should get our stories not only online but in the real world. He wrote:
In communications, nothing can ever completely replace seeing things in person. Some things can only be learned through first-hand experience. We do not communicate merely with words, but with our eyes, the tone of our voice and our gestures. Jesus’ attractiveness to those who met him depended on the truth of his preaching; yet the effectiveness of what he said was inseparable from how he looked at others, from how he acted towards them, and even from his silence.
3. Ms Jacque Manabat of ABS CBN shared that in the world of social media, people sometimes tend to just accept what they hear, what they read and what they watch without asking what really happened. That is why for journalists, it is important to get the real story.
4. She admitted that fake news is indeed a reality today but communications in social media is “a work in progress”.
5. On how to increase your followers, she said that we need to realize that we need to form relationships through our social communications.
6. She also stressed the importance of learning the language of the audience and to be more interactive with them. Msgr. Ding shared that they do this for Quiapo Church wherein he translates the messages of Pope Francis to Filipino.
7. Ms. Jacque shared that for her, journalism is not a job but a Mission. Sometimes people think that Journalism is an easy job but they don’t really know what is happening behind the scenes, as when journalists give their reports in the midst of a typhoon or on a battlefield or among terrorists.
8. Meanwhile, Msgr Ding reminded us that the best story that we need to accept and understand is that “God always saves us”. This is also relevant in this time of pandemic: we must remember that God reaches His hand out to us to save us.
9. Msgr. Ding’s shared that according to Blueprint.ph, a communication campaigns and consulting company, Quiapo Facebook Page is even more popular than the Korean boyband BTS, showing that God will always be number one in the world.
10. Msgr Ding ended with a message of hope, saying that as we help each other - the Church, the Media and the community - in the end, love -God’s love - triumphs everyday.
Read Pope Francis’ World Communications Day 2021 in full here:
Watch the In Depth World Communications Day Special here:
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