Philippine Business Magazine: Volume 8 No. 4 - CEO Interviews
Read All About It!
Amidst negative stories, a community development-oriented CEO of a leading news daily provides a ray of sunshine in the print media industry
Interview by Ana Maureen P. Macaraig

The general tendency in media is to think you want to come out and say what’s wrong so people can do something about it,” says Sandy Prieto-Romualdez

With a development management background, Ma. Alexandra “Sandy” Prieto-Romualdez sits at the helm of the Philippine Daily Inquirer – the country’s biggest newspaper company — not to edit and select stories but to do policy and strategic planning activities. She is constantly on the drawing board figuring out how the paper can maintain its relevance and profitability in this fast-changing world where politics, economics, and society news compose a most exciting, oftentimes unusual mix.

Sandy is only in her early thirties and yet she holds a large responsibility of responding to society’s need for responsible information-dissemination. Sandy tells us what makes the Inquirer Number One, giving credit to the teamwork shared by all the people who have run the paper all these years. Excerpts of the interview:

To what would you attribute the success of the Inquirer?
First, of course is editorial. We have such a great editorial team who are very passionate about their work. Everyday, they try to put out a paper that is as informative, as comprehensive as possible — from news to features, to lifestyle, to entertainment.

The editorial team has, through the years, been able to establish creativity in being able to come out with stories others wouldn’t even touch mainly because of the possible repercussions the article might attract. The editorial has a knack of being able to put as its lead or highlight certain news items that they feel the public needs to know.

Second is the support of the other departments to the editorial department. Here in the Inquirer, there’s a fine line between the editorial and the business side. I don’t sit on the story conference and I don’t put the paper to bed. I read the paper like everyone else-- with their morning coffee. We do that so we could give editorial as much independence as it can have. Now, the line is crossed if either party feels we’re not following a set of policies or procedures. For example, if the editorial sees that advertisements are getting too much space, they cross the line then tell us, “Excuse me, we need more news space.” Or if they feel that a particular ad is not in the same taste or beliefs as our editorial. For example, we don’t accept gun, girly bars, or personal ads.

Third, we have bureaus. We’re the only newspaper who has four bureaus around the country: Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. So we can pride ourselves in being able to deliver national and comprehensive news. With the established credibility, many times sources would come to us because they trust that we would be able to go a bit further in identifying what needs more highlighting.

The Inquirer has witnessed different administrations since 1985. What were the changes you had to cope with?
The hardest was the pressure put on us by the Estrada administration. One event was the boycott on advertisements. That was a five-month boycott and it affected us. It had a big financial impact because even advertisers from our top ten advertisers pulled out, about four of them.

The other thing that happened during the Estrada administration was he banned us from attending the different editorial conferences. That was really a curtailment of press freedom because you can’t pick and choose. They were saying that it happens in the States. But they give exclusives, not ban someone from a press conference. It’s really something that was very unhealthy and totally unacceptable that you be stripped off of your rights. It was a very tense moment for us. We had to provide a bodyguard for our reporter who was going there.

But it was also one of the most exciting periods for the media.
Maybe for editorial. Because for me it was really difficult. I met with the reporters and had several general assemblies. I never did that before but I felt morale went up and then down.

It went up because we said we we’re going to get through this. But it went down when it started hitting the pockets because we have profit-sharing here. Those who were earning commissions or sales incentives were not anymore getting their incentives. We’re talking millions of pesos here. So I asked them to just concentrate on their jobs because sometimes, they can get messianic and emotional about it. It’s easy and tempting to just fight back but that will be worse.

On hindsight, though, we’re saying that Estrada was our best marketing tool — he would devote like half his time on TV just hitting us. So more people were getting to know more about the Inquirer.

Media is counter-productive. Highlighted are usually bad news. Your comments.
Maybe there is a tendency to see what’s wrong with the picture rather than what’s right with the picture because that needs more attention than what’s working. I guess the general tendency in media is to think you want to come out and say what’s wrong so people can do something about it. Or you highlight it so it can be stopped; someone can do something about it. I think that is the tendency.

However, the editorial felt that things are pretty down at the moment, so they decided on their own to come out with at least one positive story everyday, on the front page. And Sunday we call a positive Sunday. Most of the stories on the front page are positive. I was actually very glad when the decision was made to have that.

How can you be hard-hitting and balanced at the same time?
We want to come out first and right. Part of that self-reflection before is, if we’re wrong, we need to apologize and be able to come out with the correction. Definitely we’re not perfect. We need to improve on a lot of things at being able to use more research-based information and come out with stories that are really and truly fair. You can’t be absolutely fair because you have to come up with a headline. There can be only six words in a headline — you can’t put all sides — although we try by putting a drop-head.

What are the trends in the journalism industry today?
Globally, the trend is convergence. There have been a couple of news organizations abroad that feed from a central desk to their radio network, television network, and different titles in print. A lot has to do with the advancement of technology. The people in print now are able to provide content for all these different media. But here in the Philippines we’re constrained by a constitutional provision that prohibits someone in media from owning more than two media outfits.

The other trend that we watch are things with the internet — in being able to send information. Now they are using the WAP system to be able to send news to different people. It’s being able to see ourselves as a provider of information and not just as a newspaper.

Another trend is establishing partnerships. Before, the idea was just to set up yourself in a particular field, but now it’s really to see where there’s a possible strategic partnership. Even if in some areas you will be fierce competitors, in other areas you would consider collaborating or partnering to be able to reduce costs.

Who has influenced you most in your life?
First, I would say my parents. But my Mom particularly because she is a role model because of the values she’s been able to pass on. High is a sense of duty and care and concern for the other. Second is being able to not take things for granted. She’s very hardworking and yet she’s able to balance that with family. When I was growing up and I would see her in the house, I wouldn’t imagine the kind of pressure she was facing in the workplace. When she’s at work, it’s 100% work. When she’s at home, it was as if the attention was just on us. And she’s very approachable. I’ve gone to her for my different problems — with work especially, I bounce a lot of ideas. She’s very sober. I’m much more emotional than she is. She’s a strong woman. The kind of pressure that we get in the paper is quite immense and I have to say I draw a lot of strength from her.

Another woman that I admire is our Editor-in-Chief. She’s also become my source of strength. We sort of like have each other to be able to see how Inquirer could move forward. When we have both internal and external problems, we are able to rely on one another. I would very much want to be more like her.

What was life before the Inquirer?
Right after college, I volunteered for about six months in a women’s shelter in the States that have programs for refugees. Then I came home. When I came home, I was very much into volunteerism so I joined the Associate Missionaries of the Assumption. What you do there is you volunteer for one year and be assigned to different provinces. I was wanting to be assigned elsewhere, but I was just in Manila for a year. And then I joined the Assumption as a student coordinator and a teacher of community development. That’s about two to three years.

Then I decided I want to gain more knowledge about development work and I took my masters at the Asian Institute of Management, which was very good. They would constantly tell you it’s not enough to have a good heart. The course helps development managers learn how to work for sustainability and manage an organization.

The summer before I entered the Inquirer, that’s when my brother passed away in a motorcycle accident. He was supposed to take over the paper. The next sibling, Tessa, is into interior design and she’s pretty established at her field so that wasn’t an option for her. The next one is a doctor. As a doctor you study for like 20 years. You’re perpetually studying so he was also well-established where he is. So it brought it to me.

How did you learn so fast about an industry that’s almost completely new to you?
What was good about it is that since I was a student, I was able to study the Inquirer as a student. When you’re a student, you’re very curious and you’re willing to ask the stupid questions. Sometimes people, due to embarrassment, are afraid to ask certain questions but they are important ones because it will lead to your better understanding of the situation or the company.

Second is people were very accepting. Since I came in as a student, there was a sense of openness. I spent about a month or two in each of the different departments. The other thing is the earnest desire to learn very quickly and that you recognize early on that you’re part of a team.

What’s life after Inquirer?
I see myself still in development work. And motherhood, seriously. You know every time I see my kid, there’s definitely a temptation to be able to be a full-time mom. I’m always so tempted to kidnap him and bring him here in the office. If my friends read this, they’d be laughing and say, “I can’t believe Sandy!” Because ever since high school I was very active in school and never really came across as the mother type, or being able to stay at home. I don’t think I’ll be able to stay at home