Voice of the Youth Network Teaches Journalism to Junior High Students in Cavite

Voice of the Youth Network (VOTY) headed by its Founder – Filipino motivational speaker Pocholo “The VoiceMaster” Gonzales – were the featured speakers at the Journalism Summit held at the University of Perpetual Help in Molino, Cavite on September 16, 2017. Over 90 Grade 7 to Grade 9 students attended the summit to learn journalism skills such as news writing, broadcasting and interviewing.



After the opening ceremonies and welcome remarks, the first speaker came onstage – Dennis Paule, also known as DJ Denn Epic. DJ Denn is one of VOTY’s broadcasters, and also works as a Digital Media Assistant in DZXL/RMN Manila. He conducted a workshop on News Writing. He tackled the fundamentals of writing news, such as the fundamentals of writing, characteristics of news, and the 5 W’s and 1 H. He also touched on the different kinds of news, with focus on Editorial and Feature writing. Towards the end of his session, DJ Denn tasked the students to write a feature article, which the students submitted after lunch.

After lunch came on the next speaker, Jana Abejero of DZRH. Jana is one of the network’s youngest broadcaster and anchor of several radio programs such as Boses ng Kabataan, Makabagong Bayanihan and Tambalang KJ. Jana taught the basics of news writing for radio, and engaged the participants in several activities to train their ears to gather important information and translate them into news items. The class simulated a live radio newscast, where some participants experienced delivering news. Jana capped off her discussion with the an overview and some tips about citizen journalism.

After Jana, DJ Kelvin Lumibao – also known as Papa Yum in his radio program Brigada Kabataan – provided amusement to the participants by showcasing his voice acting skills. He did several voice impressions of famous cartoon characters, personalities and even politicians. He also inspired the students by sharing the story of how he fulfilled his dreams as a voice artist.

Up next was VOTY’s Head Secretariat, Ada Cuaresma, who capped off the workshop with a session on interviewing and research. She drilled down the important interviewing skills such as listening and asking questions, and also gave tips on how to make interview questions clear, concise and even ethical.

Of course, the Summit would not be complete without inspirational words from VOTY Founder, Filipino motivational speaker Pocholo “The VoiceMaster” Gonzales. Pocholo shared how he started as an advocate for youth media. He also made the participants laugh with his wit and hugot lines, but in the end inspired them to become an inspiration to their fellow youth.

Voice of the Youth Network is a volunteer youth media organization whose mission is to inform, inspire,involve and empower the Filipino Youth through broadcast media and ICT since 1996.