The Market Monitor: Two years of commitment

by The Market Monitor Editorial Team

The Market Monitor set out two years ago in a small office on T.M. Kalaw Street in Ermita, Manila, its small but dedicated staff fired with the goal of providing relevant and well-written business reports to its readers without the sometimes incomprehensible jargon that other papers usually write theirs. 

Aware of the huge challenge that achieving such a goal entailed, with the existence of publications already entrenched in the business community, and compounded by its “weekly” format, The Market Monitor had to produce more comprehensive stories that are not usually seen in other daily business papers.

Thus, the focus of the paper was on in-depth studies and analyses from respected institutions that seek to help business and community leaders, and even government leaders, form good decisions to guide their companies or the groups they belong to.

Proof of the modest success that The Market Monitor can now claim in achieving part of its goal is the confidence that its subscribers and readers have accorded it for the past two years.

The Market Monitor’s chief attribute is its independence, as its editors, columnists and writers, who have been through the toughest situations in the newspaper business, did not allow either business interests or government pressure to reflect on the pages of its weekly issues.

Being the newest kid on the newspaper block, its editors and supporters ably steered the newspaper through the financial challenges to uphold its journalistic task of achieving its goal of giving readers relevant information in the field of business.

Answering the challenge of technology, The Market Monitor also beefed up its online presence, giving it a respectable place in electronic media.

The two-pronged strategy to give the paper the conventional presence through its weekly editions and the regularly updated website gave the newspaper stronger exposure.

As a result, the weekly business newspaper is now patronized in offices of business and political leaders and major companies; it is also available at National Book Store and Powerbooks branches.

Since it started publication on December 8, 2014 as a “tall boy” paper, The Market Monitor has cultivated respect among its increasing number of readers and subscribers for featuring news, analyses, opinions, and features on various topics that are written with depth, clarity, and detail that make the newspaper stand out from the rest in the industry.

The Market Monitor has since shifted to the regular broadsheet size as part of its goal to make it even more competitive with existing broadsheets.

The shift to broadsheet size is also an affirmation of the newspaper staff to its readers that The Market Monitor is up to the challenge of upholding the ideals of print journalism, despite some views that the print industry’s days are numbered as a result of the rise of electronic media.

To be sure, the electronic media in the Philippines have a long way to go, since majority of the population remains unable to access the internet either through the absence of computer or the lack of electronic infrastructure.

While Filipinos have abundant sources of information mainly as a result of leaps in technology, along with the traditional media of print, radio and television, there is a dearth, if not absence, of the kind of information that people need to help them improve their daily livelihood.

There are accurate observations that Filipino readers have an overwhelming supply of stories about sex and violence that are the daily fare of existing tabloids, some broadsheets, television, and radio in the desperate pursuit of shoring up finances.

Readers also choke daily on stories about politics and political strife that offer crass entertainment but do little in helping the nation to bail itself out out of the rut of poverty.

The Market Monitor seeks to find a niche in the industry by coming up with stories that inspire readers to reach greater heights, stories that can edify Filipinos and make them better human beings.

Stories that can make readers understand more and appreciate what’s happening to the country and what they can do to contribute to its progress and assure the new generation of Filipinos of a future brighter than what their predecessors have been the main content in the two years of The Market Monitor’s existence.

While our newspaper will continue to strive to be the best, it is content, in the meantime, with being known simply as a good and reliable source of relevant, timely and truthful information. Aware of the pitfalls of blind ambition and refusing to follow the way of some who would not hesitate to use unacceptable means to reach the top just to be considered the best, The Market Monitor has made it known that no amount of success can be exchanged for a good reputation.

In initially adopting the “tall boy” format, The Market Monitor editors believed that tabloids (the tall-boy format continues to be considered tabloid by many in the newspaper community) need not be dirty or smutty. They believed they could use the small format and concise style of reporting to an advantage. But problems in the printing industry forced The Market Monitor to shift to the broadsize sheet.

Despite the shift, however, The Market Monitor and its staff remain committed to becoming a trailblazer in the industry by strictly adhering to the principles of journalism in chronicling this crucial stage of the country’s history.

The Philippines is being tipped to lead the Asean economic bloc in terms of economic growth and political influence in the world as a result of the confluence of having a decisive leader who does not have a short supply of political will and an economy that is being acknowledged as one of the fastest-growing in Asia.

The Market Monitor hopes to capture the country’s transformation from a basket case in the region, which has long been looked down on by most of its neighbors, to becoming a nation that would guide the region in taking its place as a major force in the community of nations.

To achieve its role of helping the nation complete this complex task, The Market Monitor’s editors will strive to simplify news stories, especially business stories that Filipino readers often find complicated and difficult to understand.

This desire for simplicity in reporting the news, The Market Monitor believes, will greatly contribute to readers understanding what is truly happening around them.