PARTNERSHIP. News and Information Bureau Director IV Luis A. Morente (left) and Bicol University president Dr. Baby Boy Benjamin D. Nebres III (right) sign a memorandum of understanding at the Vice President for Academic Affairs Conference Room, Bicol University in Legazpi City on Friday (Jan. 26, 2024). Under the MOU, NIB shall train and help student interns in acquiring knowledge, skills, and experience on an individual basis. (PNA photo by Emmanuel Solis)
LEGAZPI CITY – The News and Information Bureau-Philippine News Agency (NIB-PNA) on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Bicol University that aims to train young aspiring journalists through the PNA’s on-the-job (OJT) training program.
NIB Director IV Luis A. Morente and BU president Dr. Baby Boy Benjamin D. Nebres III signed the MOU in a simple ceremony at BU’s Vice President for Academic Affairs conference room.
"As the sole news wire agency of the government, the Philippine News Agency continues to partner with state universities and colleges (SUCs) for internship programs. The PNA will teach and guide the students in whatever capacity we can," Morente said.
He said the Marcos administration is pushing for the Media Information Literacy campaign that aims to address the misinformation and disinformation.
In his message, Nebres believed that partnership and collaborative ventures would strengthen each proponent’s capacity for sustainable development programs.
“What better way to strengthen these than to ensure that our students will have a great training ground with our partner. We want our BU students to be relevant and updated on the trends in their respective areas. We are truly grateful for this partnership that will allow our students to experience an immersion program,” he said.
Nebres said the tieup is not just limited to journalism students, but also to students in other programs offered by the university.
Under the MOU, NIB shall train and help student interns in acquiring knowledge, skills, and experience on an individual basis, expose them to a fast-paced working environment, and allow them to interface with different clients who are newsmakers, news sources, and resource centers.
It shall also subsequently endorse employment referral mechanisms with institutional partners, linkages, and networks.
The BU, meanwhile, will recommend student interns enrolled in their OJT training course and comply with the qualification criteria set in the partnership, and comply with qualification criteria for student interns who possess good moral character, are in good standing, and with an academic general weighted average grade of at least 85 percent.
The partnership would expose students to the various facets of the industry as the Bureau, aside from PNA, has other divisions, including the Media Accreditation and Relations Division (MARD) and the Presidential Press Staff (PPS).
Some of the graduates of the OJT program in the Bicol region are now employed in different government agencies and hold key positions in communication and information departments.
NIB is one of the attached agencies of the Presidential Communications Office, the lead communications arm of the national government.
PNA maintains active news-sharing agreements with other news agencies, mostly state-owned, which are also members of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), including Bernama (Malaysia), Antara (Indonesia), Kyodo (Japan), Xinhua (China), Yonhap (Korea), Press Trust India (PTI), Anadolu Agency (Turkey) and TASS (Russia ), among others.
It has also a news exchange and cooperation agreement with Yonhap News Agency (South Korea), China Radio International, Xinhua News Agency (China), Sputnik (Russia), Emirates News Agency, Sputnik News Agency (Russia), DUNA Media Service (Hungary) and Belt and Road News Alliance (BRNA).
BRNA is an international news media association composed of 63 founding members from 35 countries and regions. (PNA)
