By Darlene Delgado

It was year 2020. The whole world was taken aback. The economy plummeted in just a snap. Millions of lives were lost. It was all because of the novel coronavirus which took the entire world by storm. 

Our way of living changed entirely following the World Health Organization’s declaration of coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, a pandemic on March 11, 2020. We were then introduced to the new normal way of living – wearing of face masks and face shields, physical distancing and frequent hand washing.

Print media was one of the hardly hit industries by the pandemic. Many local and national papers seized operations. Over a month after the declaration of pandemic, Watchmen Daily Journal felt its serious impact and was also one of the newspapers around the world to close temporarily. And I admit it was one of the lowest points in my life. For the very first time since I started working as a journalist on September of 2005, I was out of work for the longest time. But this Bacolod City-based paper and the management did brave the storm and we made a comeback after a month and a half of pandemic hiatus.

Moving on, Watchmen Daily Journal is now 10 years old and on the second year of celebrating another anniversary under the pandemic. This year’s anniversary theme, “Soaring High at 10,” is indeed one strong proof that the paper keeps moving forward and advancing with the times despite the ill effects of the COVID-19.

Now on its 10th year, Watchmen Daily Journal’s mission of uniting Visayas regions to progress and its “fair without fear” reporting have indeed come a long way. Amid the challenges posed by the pandemic and the evolution and the undeniable rise of digital media, Watchmen Daily Journal will continue to soar high even more, hopeful that tomorrow will bring glad tidings.

Like how Watchmen Daily Journal had braved the current trend, let us all keep moving forward and continue to work hand in hand to win this battle against COVID-19. Let us all look forward to that day where we can all freely go out of our homes and do the usual business as normally as possible./WDJ