Meet Aimerose Atienza of Far Eastern University

Truth seekers. Truth speakers. Truth defenders.

Aimerose Atienza believes that journalism should serve as a platform for people to speak their truths. 

She serves as the current Editor-in-Chief of FEU Advocate, the official student publication of Far Eastern University.

To get to know her better, Republicasia asked Aime a few questions about her journey as a student journalist fighting for press freedom in the country. 

Behind the Persona

Tell me about yourself as a student journalist and your life outside of publication.

As the current Editor-in-Chief of FEU Advocate, I generally represent the whole publication and what I do is that I talk to and engage with potential internal and external partners that could be of help in upbringing the publication and its purpose to bring veracious reportage and principled advocacy. Being a campus journalist since my fourth grade, I can say that my life basically circulated around campus journalism, and learning all the different things that I have to know as a journalist. I think being a campus journalist for over a decade played a big factor on who I am now since I have grown to be a people-person.

Defining Moment

Tell me about that ‘defining moment’ that made you pursue journalism and continue to do so.

The love I have for journalism grew gradually, to be honest. But if there was this one vivid moment I have in my mind, that would be during my senior high when my English professor commended me on my writing skills. I had doubts that I would do good in that particular assessment, but I eventually did. At that moment, I also knew that I love doing things related to journalism such as researching, investigating, broadcasting and the like. Since I also love sports, my goal in college was to really work in the UAAP so when I saw the recruitment post of FEU Advocate, I did not hesitate to try and apply for the publication since I knew it would be a big help for me to hone my skills in sportswriting. 

Generation Voice

What do you think is the most pressing issue that affects press freedom in the country nowadays? What do you think are the significant roles of young journalists in advancing genuine national press freedom?

With all the different misinformation and disinformation circulating online, I believe that the biggest challenge that journalists have to bear is definitely the decreasing trust in the media. As a young Filipino journalist, I really think that my role is to continue imparting the truth, even in just a campus setup. We are given so many platforms like print and online to convey our stand on certain issues given that we know the true story. Journalism is not just about writing since it is also about fact checking and learning what actually happened in a particular story.

Powerful Quote

Tell me about your mantra as a journalist. What message can you give to the aspiring journalist of the new generation?

Just like the motto of our school, my mantra is to really “Be Brave”. Entering the field of journalism is no easy task because aside from all the external factors that affect press freedom, there will also be internal challenges that we have to overcome—may it be on how you are going to angle your stories or how you are going to gather all the information that you need for an article.