Fair blows the wind in so far as Edge Davao’s journey is concerned.
Davao is brimming at the seams in both investments and business opportunities. The economy is growing by leaps and bounds.
More importantly, a Philippine president in the person of Rodrigo R. Duterte has emerged from Davao itself.
Suddenly, the spotlight is on the city. His name has been the magnet that continues to draw people and by extension, business to Davao City.
An admirable peace and order and a disciplined people continues to complement its attractions as a destination. Edge Davao has seen it all and played its role to the hilt as a leading player in the media industry by dutifully recording and commentating on the events as they happened. Without fail, it has dutifully recorded in both news and vivid images the emergence of President Duterte as the biggest story that ever emerged in the local scene, now a continuing story while RRD remains entrenched in the presidency.
It is an exciting time for journalism. To its credit, Edge Davao has ‘marched in cadence with time,’ and the awards that it reaped in the process, affirmed its overall standing and soundness as a product.
How did Edge Davao emerge into the scene? It is a human interest story as printed in its May 17, 2012 issue:
“The emergence of Edge Davao as a daily publication was not an overnight affair. It existed for three years as a weekly that achieved modest gains despite the myriad challenges it faced.
In early 2008, barely a year after Zion Accuprint Publishing, Inc. started operating, general manager Olivia D. Velasco, who for many years held the same position in a local newspaper before resigning to venture into the publishing business, thought of putting up a newspaper to keep her machines busy.
She invited former colleague and veteran newspaperman Antonio M. Ajero to head a team to launch a business paper. Ajero was formerly editor in chief of the newspaper she had worked for.
In no time at all Velasco and Ajero formed the core group of what is today Edge Davao by bringing into the fold Ramon M. Maxey as editorial consultant, Gregorio G. Deligero as associate editor, Kenneth Irving C. Ong as lifestyle editor, now Canada-based Moses B. Billacura as sports editor and Jocelyn Panes as director of sales.
Working together as a team was not really difficult as most of them had worked for the same newspaper for decades. The challenge was how to make a difference in local journalism with new ideas and creativity.
After a series of meetings and brain storming, the design and content of the sections of the paper were finalized.
The staff realized that the business landscape in Davao and the rest of the region was changing at a fast pace and decided to ride the wave of progress and to make the most of the opportunity that presented itself for advancing the newspaper’s mission and vision.
It was in this milieu that Edge Davao was born to give sharper focus on local and regional business reportage. The time had come, too, for a differently packaged delivery of business news, features and views, all designed to achieve the vision to help readers make informed decisions.
The first issue of Edge Davao came off the press and hit the streets on March 10, 2008.
Decidedly, Edge Davao’s entry quickly stirred a positive reaction among all the community media players. First, the perking up of the once ho-hum business pages of local newspapers. And then, the phenomenal migration of economic news into the front pages.
All these, the staff realized, only serve to whet the regional reader’s appetite for more.
This is the raison d’etre of Edge Davao’s eventually becoming a daily.
Thus, on March 5, 2012, three years after the first weekly edition saw print, came the first daily issue.
From a core group of six, there are now over 25 personnel behind Edge Davao who are assigned to editorial, marketing, accounting, circulation, admin and production departments.
On top of the many considerations for the daily publication is the fast changing Dabawenyo lifestyles.
As Davao’s economic drivers rev up and the peso’s buying power strengthens, the people’s taste for the good life is stimulated.
INdulge, Edge Davao’s lifestyle section reflects the latest in Davao’s fashion, arts & culture, food, wellness, entertainment, and the social scene. Keeping Dabawenyos up-to-date with the newest lifestyle trends.
Another cutting edge of the paper is the superior printing technology employed by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc.
Employing the latest in Computer-to-Print technology, Edge Davao’s pages are crisp, vivid, and clean. Every letter of the story and every color in every advertisement is crystal clear and easy to read.
That Edge Davao has raised the bar of excellence in reportage is evidenced by the accolades it has so far notched. In two years, the paper received three awards in the annual Philippine Press Institute-Coca-Cola Export Philippines Community Press Awards –Best in Business and Economic Reporting and Best in Science and Environment Reporting in 2011 and Best in Science and Environment Reporting 2012.
By keeping Dabawenyos informed, it will soon conquer the Digital Divide.
Edge Davao is Davao’s first e-paper with all pages –news and editorial, advertisement and advertorial –intact. It is a virtual version of Edge Davao’s hardcopy available for viewing anywhere in the world.
And, going digital is not an impossible dream. Watch Edge Davao migrate to the next level of news delivery. In real time. With moving images. And interactive, too.
Edge Davao—serving a seamless society.”
Steady she goes.
