Editorial: Have Pen, Will Write

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This is often how we think: If I write, it’s no use. I’m not a writer. You’re terribly wrong.

We think that good ideas are expensive, that only those high-profile journalists can afford. We think that the more meaningful articles are those that are word-savvy, filled with gobbledygook even word scholars can’t understand. Wrong.

The Amaranth is thirty years in the making. It has survived the latter part of Martial Law. It thrived for ten years without the Campus Journalism Act of 1991—the main backbone of student press.

Much has changed between 1980 and 2011, thirty school years from beginning to end. First and foremost, regimes have changed. Technology has evolved much.

Many have tried to figure out—what gives students the impression that campus journalism is an obsolete calling?
Is it because we have a lot of opportunities to ego-cast (broadcast ourselves) now? Back then, the campus paper was their only avenue to voice out. Now, Facebook statuses seem to be the hit.

Is it because we now live in a good state of democracy? Many are of the opinion that we are no better than 20 years ago.
Or is it because apathy—the lack of concern—has grown to immense proportions? We shun our problems and sedate ourselves. We make ourselves think that everything’s okay even if problems loom big in front of us. Fines, scholarships, student government negligence, and a lot more are still problems thirty years in the making.

To figure out why students don’t feel like writing is difficult because there are a lot of reasons. However, the solution to it comes in four words:

Have pen, will write.

As long as we have the power to say something, we will say it. As long as there’s a question in our minds, we’ll ask and probe. The process of expressing doesn’t need to involve fifty questions, or a manuscript full of ideas.

Even the simplest of questions can start it. Case in point:

Ninoy: “Why can’t I come home?”

If the Amaranth demands a full-length article from you, Ninoy’s questions would never make it. A writer can compose a two thousand word writeup and not make sense. One thing spelled the difference: concern.

It has become the common misconception that campus journalism is for the ‘writers’. Students feel powerless because they can’t write well. The truth is, we don’t need full-length articles or catchy columns to make us concerned citizens. It’s high time we think differently.

There’s a place for everyone in the campus publication. We have writers who can put ideas into words. Editors make sure articles are well-organized. Cartoonists and photographers capture ideas in graphic form. And non-staffers have this important part: being the wellspring of ideas.

The thing that staffers and non-staffers have in common is concern.

How do we start? Scribble your ideas on a piece of paper. Write a comment. Post on our wall. Text. There are many ways.
The very time you feel like not writing is the very time you should. The next thing you know, Amaranth will be teeming with thoughts by students—ordinary or extraordinary. There’s a place for everyone.

Have pen, will write.