MINDANEWS turns 20 years old today.
MindaNews started as a daily news dispatch with weekly updates of our website back when the idea of a digital media news service was in its pioneering stage. We had a vision then of providing an outlet for a more comprehensive view of news and information about Mindanao. We felt that Mindanao was under-represented – even misrepresented – to the rest of the country and the world.
Many of us had worked for mainstream news outfits before and found our reports from Mindanao ignored, edited, or revised to fit the lens of an outsider. We observed that the information that got out there tended to emphasize the cultural divide, to encourage the disagreement, and seemingly delegitimize the aspirations of Mindanawons for peace.
Twenty years ago, we felt that the only way to tell the story of Mindanao was through an independent media, one unencumbered by any interest save that for the paramount need to report on Mindanao from Mindanao for Mindanao.
Thus we banded together to banner our guiding vision: This Is Our Mindanao.
The road hasn’t been easy for us to sustain this enterprise through twenty long years, but we have been much aided in this journey by partners like you who have made it possible for us to do a deep dive into the complexities and fine nuances of the myriad issues Mindanao contends with and to bring these matters to public consciousness – there to inform public policy and generate advocacy for peace and reconciliation in Mindanao.
I have a deep appreciation for the commitment and integrity and the men and women who make up MindaNews, who continue today to hold the vision: This is Our Mindanao.
Twenty years later, Mindanao has entered the post peace agreement stage. Where we go from here is dependent on what MIndanawons would do and what they would be allowed to do.
And as the story of Mindanao unfolds, I remain ever optimistic that MindaNews will continue to be here to tell it as we see it.
It hasn’t been the easiest thing to do, but MindaNews survived and live to celebrate this milestone today.
Happy Anniversary, MindaNews!
And to our partners, our supporters, our well-wishers: Thank you for joining us today, and we look forward to continuing our journey with you in the next 20 years.
