Baguio lauds, bids farewell to its longest serving community paper

Mayor Benjamin Magalong ratified city council resolution no. 430, series of 2024, extending the city’s profoundest appreciation and acknowledgement to the Baguio Midland Courier as it treads the last chapter of its 77 years of ‘Fair, Fearless, Friendly and Free’ writing, upholding the highest ethics of journalism and recognizing its role as the fourth estate of democracy in print media, earning the respect of fellow journalists and admiration of the people of Baguio city.

Authored by councilors Betty Lourdes Tabanda and Mylen Victoria Yaranon, the measure stated that the weekly community newspaper recently announced it will cease publication and release its final issues on July 7, 14, and 21, this year.

The Baguio Midland Courier under the Hamada Printers and Publishers Corporation was founded in July 1947 with its first issue released on July 28 of the same year. Since then, up to the present, it has been the platform for relevant news and informative articles from both local and regional domains.

“The renowned paper served as a platform of community engagements where opinions were respected, milestones were celebrated, unbiased commentaries were delivered and issues were expounded within the comprehension of its readers,” the resolution stated.

It was announced that the difficult decision to close down and cease operations was because “despite its efforts, it has not been spared from the global trend of newspapers facing unprecedented challenges, leading to the closure of many venerable publications”.

The Baguio Midland Courier has served as an ‘exponent of the wonderland of the Cordilleras and the riches of Ilocandia’ for those 77 years in the Summer Capital and Cordillera and is one of those cultural icons that is deeply ingrained in the image of the city and its closure marks the end of an era for many.

“Faithful to its tenets, ‘Fair, Fearliess, Friendly, Free’, the Baguio Midland Courier holds a special place in the hearts and minds of many, including the city government of Baguio, for empowering the people through its unbiased reporting and informative articles, presenting the true picture of events and issues,” the resolution stressed. – Gaby B. Keith