“Community newspapers have the power to bring about great good and make a profound difference within their localities. And among the good ones, the ones who endure and even prosper, there is always to be found one common denominator – trust.” – Ray Mosby, editor and publisher of The Deer Creek Pilot in Rolling Fork, Mississippi
EDGE Davao joined a group of local newspapers in Davao City 12 years ago.. Little by little, it started to catch the attention of readers with its finely crafted reports, fresh layout and catchy photographs.
Before long, politicians, businessmen, academicians, doctors, sports aficionados, teachers, students, and even the ordinary people were already reading the paper from page one up to the last page, or from cover to cover, so to speak. They are looking forward for a new copy each day!
What commenced as a local business weekly publication for the Davao Region, EDGE Davao has blossomed into a daily that provides information about local businesses, festivals, events, and news and features that shape the city and the region.
The brainchild of Editor-in-Chief Antonio M. Ajero and General Manager Olivia D. Velasco, EDGE Davao is now one of the country’s most respected community newspapers.
It is no wonder why the Rotary Club of Manila (RCM) Journalism Awards recognized EDGE Davao as the Regional Newspaper of the Year in 2018. Launched in 1966, the award giving body honors outstanding contributions of individuals and papers in the tri-media (print, TV, and radio) thus encouraging the proper development of Philippine Journalism. It stopped giving awards in 1972 but restored it in 1986.
“The Rotary Club of Manila Journalism Awards has become an immortalized icon in the recognition of the Fourth Estate as a bastion of democracy in the archipelago,” RCM explained in its website. “The importance of a free press and its role in the shaping of a nation cannot be completely undermined.”
The RCM Award was not the first recognition it received since it was launched. All in all, EDGE Davao has garnered a total of 13 awards from the Civic Journalism Community Press Awards given annually by the Philippine Press Institute (PPI).
The biggest national association of newspapers, PPI is considered as the oldest professional media organization in the country.
In 2010, EDGE Davao received two awards in the weekly category: Best in Science and Environmental Reporting and Best in Business and Economic Reporting.
Only three years old at that time, the paper topped nearly 200 weekly papers of the country in science and environment reporting for presenting a “holistic approach to the reporting of science and technology coupled with environment. It presents many feature articles and news features on health, science, technology and environment. It is easy to read and grammatically correct and well-written.”
As for the second award, the jurors’ agreed the “coverage of news on the economy and business and trade” of the paper “has more impact on the business community of the region.” It also recognized its two sections: “Agritrends” and “Entrepreneurs.”
Two years later, in 2012, when EDGE Davao became a daily, it was adjudged Best in Science and Environment Reporting “for having a dedicated science and environment section.” The citation reads further: “The paper is outstanding for regularly publishing S and T articles that appeal to majority of its readers” and that it “publishes articles that tackle topics in easy to understand manner and written using popular language.”
EDGE Davao “also gives attention to science news from various parts of the world thus promoting a global mindset and keeping its readers updated on emerging and ongoing issues and developments in the fields of science and environment.”
In 2014, Edge Davao was chosen as the Best Edited Community Newspaper in the daily category. The paper was cited for “allowing the readers to arrive with a stand, succeeded in manifesting the conviction of the community members while embodying transparency and excellence in delivering the news to the community.”
EDGE Davao didn’t take home only one award but two more: Best in Environmental Reporting and Best in Culture, Arts and History Reporting.
EDGE Davao accomplished the same feat in 2017, winning three on its four nominations: Best Edited Community Newspaper, Best in Environmental Reporting, and Best in Photojournalism. It was also a finalist in Editorial Page.
Last year, EDGE Davao won two awards of its three nominations. It was adjudged winner in environmental reporting. The citation read: “EDGE Davao had lots of excellent feature stories on the environment and even produced a number of series on the environment. They even have a supplement on Earth Day, something even the national dailies did not even bother to do.
“With its consistent environmental coverage, it has brought green issues of global concern to the consciousness of the local people making them more aware that such issues are interconnected and something that everyone should be of concern and take action even in their own small ways,” the citation continued.
EDGE Davao was also declared Best in Business and Economic Reporting. “EDGE Davao has been chosen winner in the daily category for its in-depth and comprehensive coverage of business issues and events and corporate and individual players in its coverage.”
EDGE Davao failed to win the Best Edited Community Newspaper which went to Cebu Daily News.
EDGE Davao has also been a sort of an instrument in winning this author several trophies from various award-giving bodies.
So far, I received five awards from the Globe Media Excellence Awards (GMEA). In 2014, the year I joined EDGE Davao, I was named Columnist of the Year. A year later, I got two more awards: Best Reporter in Print for my story on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and Best Investigative Report in Print for my two-part series on Davao City.
In 2016, the GMEA recognized my three-part series on the dwindling fishery resources (“Where have all our fish gone?). The online version of the series was chosen as Best Online Report.
Last year, the online version of my two-part series on HIV story (“Why HIV infection matters”) was adjudged Explanatory/Investigative Story/Documentary of the Year for Digital.
I also won four Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards, three of which were for stories that were written in EDGE Davao. My three-part series on possible solutions for the forthcoming food crisis was chosen as Best Agriculture Feature Story-Regional in 2015.
Another series – “The grass that feeds Filipinos” – was declared Agriculture Story of the Year in 2018. Then another series – “Major export crop of Filipino farmers” – was handpicked as Best Agriculture Feature Story-Regional in 2019.
I also received three Binhi Awards – given the Philippine Agricultural Journalists, Inc. – for my features that appeared in Edge Davao: Environment Story of the Year, Agricultural Journalist of the Year (third) and Environmental Journalist of the Year (third).
In addition, I took home three awards given by Jose Burgos Biotech Journalism Awards. Last year, I was elevated to the Hall of Fame by the same award-giving body for winning four awards already.
Online versions
Now on its 12th year, EDGE Davao continues to serve the people not only in Davao City, but also the whole Davao Region, the island of Mindanao, the whole country and even those living in other parts of the world. You can access its website by clicking: https://www.edgedavao.net. EDGE Davao has an e-paper which publishes online all the editions of the newspaper from cover to cover. The e-paper can be accessed by clicking https://issuu.com/edgedavao.
