The Philippine Star

The Philippine Star

Front page from July 28, 2014
Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet and News website
Owner(s) PhilStar Daily, Inc.
MediaQuest Holdings (51%)
Belmonte Family (21%)
Private stock (28%)
Founder(s) Betty Go-Belmonte
Maximo V. Soliven
Art Borjal
Publisher Philippine Star Printing Co., Inc.
President Miguel G. Belmonte
Editor-in-chief Ana Marie Pamintuan
Founded July 28, 1986
Political alignment Independent
Language English
Headquarters 202 Roberto S. Oca St. cor Railroad St. Port Area, Manila, Philippines
City Manila
Country Philippines
Circulation 422,900 daily (2014)[1]
Sister newspapers BusinessWorld
Pilipino Star Ngayon
Pang-Masa
The Freeman
Banat
OCLC number 854909029
Website Digital Edition

The Philippine Star (self-styled The Philippine STAR) is a 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. 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]

Aside from the Star, it is also had a business newspaper, Business Star which was published on 14 July 1987; Starweek, which served as the Sunday magazine of The Philippine Star; Evening Star, an afternoon newspaper; Pilipino Star, a bilingual broadsheet; and Ang Pilipino Ngayon, a Filipino-language tabloid.

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 also already owns its rival broadsheet, BusinessWorld, through its subsidiary Hastings Holdings, Inc., the two broadsheets remain separate entities with completely independent political alignments). Pangilinan has since appointed attorney Ray Espinosa as the chairman of the board.[8]

In 2015, the newspaper acquired the 76.67% stake of Hastings Holdings, Inc. in its sister broadsheet BusinessWorld. Hastings Holdings is a subsidiary of STAR's parent company, MediaQuest Holdings. The transaction was done to enhance to The Philippine Star's position as the leading and trusted news source in the Philippines and to allow BusinessWorld's position in the newspaper in the newspaper business to be strengthened.[9]

Awards

The Philippine Star is a three-time winner of the Newspaper of the Year award given by the Rotary Club of Manila.[10] In 2006, it received the prestigious Marketing Company of the Year Award from the Philippine Marketing Association.[11] 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."[12]

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.[13][14]

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.[13]

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.[15][16]

Today, the tradition continues and has helped thousands of indigent Filipino communities. It remains a primary family affair for the company's employees.[13] 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.[15]

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.[17][18][19]

Notable columnists

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kadrich, Brad (2008). "Philippines Press, Media, TV, Radio, Newspapers". PressReference.com. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "Company Profile". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  3. ↑ "Media Partner". The Outstanding Filipino Awards. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Yu, Doreen (28 July 2011). "The beginnings of The Philippine Star". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  5. ↑ Jaucian, Don (28 July 2010). "Litte Revolutions: 24 Years of the Philippine Star". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "A whole new way to read the news: Philippine Star breaks ground with augmented reality issue". The Philippine Star. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  7. ↑ "New Philippine Star mobile app now out". ABS-CBN News.com. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  8. ↑ Agcaoili, Lawrence (1 April 2014). "MVP gets 51% of Star". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  9. ↑ "Philstar acquires 77-percent of BusinessWorld". Interaksyon.com. July 9, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Star wins Rotary's Newspaper of the Year Award". The Philippine Star. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "Star wins Marketing Company of the Year Award". The Philippine Star. 23 March 2006. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  12. ↑ Macairan, Evelyn (27 August 2006). "Star bags another "outstanding newspaper" award". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  13. 1 2 3 Estopace, Eden (24 July 2011). "Great moments in Operation Damayan". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  14. ↑ "Police break up rally in Manila park". The Montreal Gazette. 28 July 1986. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  15. 1 2 Sebastian, Kat (28 July 2010). "Operation Damayan: There is still good in the world". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  16. ↑ "Star's 'Ondoy' fund drive on". The Philippine Star. 29 September 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  17. ↑ Isla, Micah Levin (30 June 2014). "The Star goes back to its roots by giving back". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  18. ↑ Bayani, Oliver (1 August 2014). "Gallery: Philippine Star 28th anniversary marries social media with print". Marketing Interactive. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  19. ↑ Ubaldo, Aye (2014). "The Star’s #28storiesofgiving Goes Social, Taps Wired and Willing to Help". Philippine Association of National Advertisers. Retrieved 6 August 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 19, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.