2026 School-Based Press Conference

OFFICIAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT PUBLICATION OF
ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF BALIUAG, INC.

General Guidelines:

1. The 2026 School-Based Press Conference is open to all interested Junior and Senior High School students.
2. Each participant may compete in a maximum of two (2) categories, provided that the schedules of the contests do not overlap.

The contest schedule is as follows:

Date	Time	Activity	Venue
July 24, 2026	3:00-4:00 PM	Campus Journalism Orientation	TBA

Date	Time	Activity/Category	Venue
July 25, 2026	7:30-8:00 AM	Registration/Attendance	MIDES Hall
	8:00-8:30 AM	Opening Program
	8:30-9:00 AM	Break
	9:00-10:30 AM	Editorial Writing/Pagsulat ng Editoryal	MIB 401
		Column Writing/Pagsulat ng Kolum
		Feature Writing/Pagsulat ng Lathalain	MIB 402
		Science and Technology Writing/Pagsulat ng Artikulong Agham at Teknolohiya
		Photojournalism/Pagkuha ng Larawan	Broadcasting Room
	10:30-12:00 NN	News Writing/Pagsulat ng Balita	MIB 403
		Sports Writing/Pagsulat ng Balitang Isports
		Copyediting and Headline Writing/Pagwawasto ng Sipi at Pag-uulo ng Balita	MIB 404
		Editorial Cartooning/Pagguhit ng Kartung Editoryal

3. All the participants will be given one hour and 30 minutes for their output.
4. Cellular phones or any digital devices are not allowed during the competition. 
5. No participants shall write their name on their output nor any identifying information including their grade level and section. Only the participant’s code shall be written on the upper right-hand corner of the paper. 

Specific Guidelines:

News Writing, Feature Writing, Editorial Writing, Column Writing, and Science and Technology Writing

1. Fact sheets, videos, live interviews, and other sources of information will be provided to the contestants as a basis for writing their articles.
2. The facilitators will provide yellow paper on which the contestants will write their articles.
3. All participants are required to bring their own pens for writing.

Sports Writing

1. Either fact sheets or a video of a sports game will be used as the basis for writing the articles.
2. Possible sports games are basketball, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, and track and field.
3. The facilitators will provide yellow paper on which the contestants will write their articles.
4. All participants are required to bring their own pens for writing.

Copyediting and Headline Writing

1. Contestants must bring their own pencil for the contest.
2. Contestants must follow the directions given in the contest piece.
3. Contestants must provide two headlines for the articles they will edit.

Editorial Cartooning

1. Contestants must bring their own pencil no. 2, while the facilitators will provide bond paper for the contest.
2. The cartoon must be centered on the given topic or issue. 
3. The cartoon must be compliant with the professional and ethical standards of the media.

Photojournalism 

Preparation Phase

1. Contestants are allowed to use point-and-shoot, compact cameras, or DSLR cameras.
2. Cellular phones, extra digital cameras, mirrorless, or any other, are not allowed.
3. Contestants must submit one (1) blank memory card to the facilitators an hour before the competition for proper checking and labeling. The contestants will retrieve their memory card after checking. 
4. Contestants must bring their own camera cable and/or memory card readers for the uploading and saving of their outputs.
5. Contestants must bring their own ballpen while the facilitators will provide papers where contestants can write down notes during the shooting.

Photoshoot, uploading, and captioning

1. The loading and unloading of the storage will be done in front of the examiner.
2. A control shot is considered the first shot.
3. Contestants are given one hour to take pictures for each output/topic.
4. Contestants are allowed to take unlimited shots but will submit the control shot and three photos with captions related to the theme. Editing, retouching, cropping, stitching, changing of colors and hues, adjusting of brightness, contrast and saturation is strictly prohibited. The photos will be saved in one folder bearing the contestant’s code as the file name.
5. Contestants shall write the filename of each photo in the caption sheet.
6. The caption sheet will be provided by the facilitators.
7. Contestants will be given 30 minutes to provide captions for each of the three photos.

Note: All participants are required to attend the opening program on July 25 at 8:00 AM in the MIDES Hall.