FOR several years, the media - particularly the newspapers - have influenced the molding of the society and its people.
Being a local daily newspaper in Cagayan de Oro for more than 20 years, VoxPop has been the source of information every Kagay-anon, and those within Northern Mindanao, can rely on, especially in this dime-a-dozen time where fake news are rampant and people are in desperate need of a trustworthy source.
And like almost everything in this world, in an era of digitalization, print media evolves, and so does VoxPop.
With great semblance to organisms that are fully adapted to their surroundings with the ability to give rise to new species, VoxPop has made its way to adapt in the current era of "paperless" social media, sans type writers and more computers, of more content in fewer words.
However, amid the virtual elimination of paper and lackluster in print stories, VoxPop has used social media to make itself known and dependable to online users.
Apart from newspaper, people can access VoxPop's latest news and stories through its e-papers, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. Where before it was black and white pictures and letters, basic layouts and formats, and old style fonts, now its colored photographs, updated format, videos, and more content on what you really need to know and would like to know.
Now on its 24th year, we look into what our readers and clients have to say on the ever evolving VoxPop, from its past, present and to the future.
"I have always been impressed with the talent and dedication of the writers, journalists, and editors of Sunstar-Cagayan de Oro. While I often look online to get the latest news, it is not quite the same as turning each and every page thereof and thereby appreciate the depth between stories as well as all the hard work the writers have poured to fetch relevant information," Consumer Welfare Division chief lawyer Fel Lester Brillantes said.
"When people are tired of misinformation, they turn to one of the city's leading community newspapers, VoxPop-Cagayan de Oro," he added.
Joey Nacalaban, a former VoxPop photojournalist and a reporter, said he hopes VoxPop Cagayan de Oro will continue to adapt to the changing media platform.
The grizzled Nacalaban, employed with VoxPop for 20 years, related how difficult it was before to gather information and how the process took long enough for information to be placed on print.
"Before, we don't have any communication with our sources so we have to meet them personally. Now, you can get information right away, just a click away. Before, we write our stories using typewriter, now we use our mobile phones and immediately we can submit our stories," he added.
Nacalaban said it is still a wonder how fast communication is relayed to the public.
"VoxPop has adopted well with the advent of social media and in the future, I see it still at the top in serving the public the truth," he said.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Surki Sereñas, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office-Northern Mindanao, said VoxPop plays a very important role in the fulfillment of the police's mission.
"We cannot truly express in words our gratitude to VoxPop for the very important role they play in the fulfillment of our mission," he said.
"VoxPop's fair and balance news presentation truly gives justice to our painstaking effort to serve the people and ensure that community is safe and secure. With VoxPop's professional brand of journalism, we believe the PNP can better perform our mandate without the fear of being unfairly branded, criticized or harassed on the print media," he added.
Sereñas said he hopes that VoxPop will continue being the police's partner in "performing our mandate and in building informed citizens responsive to the need of the community".
Rey Sumania, a local reader, said VoxPop Cagayan de Oro has become more professional in its job responsibility and more aggressive throughout the years.
As someone who has recently became the paper's client, Sumania is looking forward to seeing VoxPop engaging more with the community through bringing more of the current news and happenings that the public demands.
Despite the continuous increase in the number of people who prefer technology over paper, VoxPop Cagayan de Oro, as one of the well-known local newspapers for years, will continue to serve the public, to provide the information that is accurate, fair, and truth.
