Watchmen Daily Journal welcomed another milestone, celebrating 12 years of its undiluted “Fair Without Fear” journalism serving Bacolod City and Negros Island.

The newspaper continues to be the beacon of truth and in uniting the island to progress.

The community daily started when former publisher and general manager David Dan Elijah Fajardo dreamt of having another local newspaper in Negros.

He followed his strong instinct and “crossed the proverbial Rubicon River,” similar to the modern phrase “passing the point of no return.”

He gambled what little he had left to establish the community newspaper in 2011.

In its early years, the newspaper was published weekly to thrice weekly, serving Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.

Two years later, Fajardo had another ambitious idea of competing Watchmen Daily Journal with the giants –– the established ones.

However, his idea didn’t happen overnight and without costs.

With the right vision, right people and right synergy, the newspaper outlet slowly established its brand with “Fair Without Fear” service.

The community paper’s daily run was not a walk in the park. There were times that it also encountered its ups and downs.

“It’s obvious that running a newspaper is never easy,” Fajardo said.

“I could rant for as long as I want but that wouldn’t make things any easier,” he added.

Since then, Watchmen Daily Journal –– equipped with the right people and dynamism –– had already established its own identity in the community, and continued to strive for years.

The Negros-based newspaper also hosted the youngest but dependable media practitioners.

In early 2020, the newspaper rebranded itself as Watchmen Negros Daily Journal, but still carrying the “Fair Without Fear” slogan.

But when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, many local and national papers had seized operations. The print media was one of the hardly-hit industries.

Watchmen Daily Journal temporarily stopped its operations a month after the World Health Organization’s declaration of a pandemic in March.

The paper felt the serious effects of long lockdowns and border restrictions.

However, the management did brave the storm and made the newspaper’s comeback after more than a month of pandemic hiatus.

Several months later, Panay News Incorporated (PNI) took over the management of Watchmen Daily Journal, as part of the newspaper’s big leap in extending dominance in Western Visayas.

“The company’s takeover of the Negros-based paper is a proof that the print is here to stay despite the trials presented by the ongoing pandemic,” PNI chairman of the board Atty. Ade S. Fajardo said in 2021.

“We live in an era where people rely on information from an amalgam of native and social media sources. The trend seems to favor the latter, recently giving rise to the spread of false information and incendiary speech in the digital world,” he added.

Amidst the rise of digital media, the newspaper has expanded on the platform, updating the community with the latest news and trends, reaching not just Bacolod City, but also the entire Negros island and the world.

Despite the ill effects of the pandemic and the strong influence of social media, Watchmen Daily Journal keeps moving forward with the times, trudging more than ever to serve and to shine light on events that affect the community.

Watchmen Daily Journal’s fair without fear reporting has indeed come a long way and it will soar higher even more./WDJ