By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Watchmen Daily Journal has made another milestone this year celebrating its 10th anniversary as one of the major print media outlets in Negros Occidental.
Established in 2011, Watchmen Daily Journal started out as a weekly to thrice weekly newspaper outlet in Bacolod City and the province with David Dan Elijah Fajardo as its publisher and general manager.
Back in 2013 when Watchmen Daily Journal celebrated its second anniversary, Fajardo said the ambitious idea of having another daily in Negros to compete with the established one – the giants – didn’t happen overnight and with no cost.
He said he followed his strong instinct and since then crossed the proverbial “Rubicon River,” gambling what little he had left.
With the right vision, right people, and right synergy, the newspaper outlet had slowly established its brand with a service undiluted “Fair Without Fear.”
The outlet’s daily run was not a walk in the park though, and there were times that it also encountered its ups and downs, but it continued to strive on.
“It’s obvious that running a newspaper is never easy. I could rant for as long as I want but that wouldn’t make things any easier,” Fajardo said in 2014.
However, by then Watchmen Daily Journal had already established its own identity in society, equipped with the right vision, people, and dynamism.
The newspaper also hosted the youngest but dependable media practitioners in Negros Occidental.
Fast forward to 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Watchmen Daily Journal was taken over by PNI as part of its big leap in extending its dominance in Western Visayas.
PNI Chairman of the Board, Atty. Ade S. Fajardo, said the company’s takeover of the Bacolod City-based paper is a proof that the print is here to stay despite the trials presented by the ongoing pandemic.
He said Watchmen Daily Journal must keep trudging forward now more than ever, since as a non-state actor, it must continue to shine light on events that affect the public’s interest.
Since then, Watchmen Daily Journal had already expanded on the digital platform, posting news, and trends in order to reach its audience not just Bacolod City, but the whole Negros island and the world.
Even with the pandemic’s challenge, Watchmen Daily Journal will still continue to give every Bacolodnon and Negrense news and information that is “Fair Without Fear.”/DGB, WDJ