Circumstances in the early 90’s conspired to yank it out of air despite the indelible mark the program had left in the consciousness of many Filipino children. It was, like Batibot and Sineskwela, a tad ahead of its time.

It was nevertheless a minor icon in television because it dared to give children a voice in the wilderness of adult broadcast journalism. Advertisers were constantly forgetting that they were once kids, choosing to put in money in adult fare.

This spelled doom for Newswatch, Junior Edition and its cousins in the children’s department. Filipino kids were left with cartoon crumbs from past generations, animes and kiddie fare from the West bereft of values appropriate to our culture and a hodgepodge of entertainment being passed off as child-friendly.

After Solar bought a massive chunk of RPN’s airtime and virtually converted the channel into a crime and suspense platform, there was absolutely nothing left for kiddie audiences. For the first time in its history, the station could not enter a single program in the Anak TV derby.

Edith del Rosario, the station’s durable and energetic assistant general manager, was bothered that RPN, technically a "government" station, was not adhering to a national law that required TV stations to devote at least 15 percent of airtime to child-friendly fare.

Del Rosario resolutely pushed for the revival of the erstwhile junior newscast. She sought to do it with a delightful twist. She would stretch the audition period and exploit it to advantage, in the process crafting a reality show that smelled and looked child-sensitive. It was to be an educational reality program, culminating in the selection of the forthcoming revival’s kiddie anchors and child reporters. Time was ripe again for news for and by children. This segment was, after all, a huge chunk of the national population.

Early this week, after a five-day crash training program in broadcast journalism, the kids showed up at RPN’s Studio 2, spruced up and primed to present their intellectual wares to a panel of judges.

It was obvious that the grooming and poise sessions conducted by John Robert Powers made their way well among the girls in the group. They were dressed to the nines, a number of them oddly overdoing it. The boys looked more engaging in their simple jeans and casual shirts, in the process upstaging a few of the garishly-clad lasses who looked mature for their actual ages because of pumped up hairstyles, overindulgence in blings and exaggerated make up.

Adding to the network look, the kids, aged 12 to 17, wore special Junior Reporter IDs, slung as though they were bona fide members of the fourth estate. They were wired as cameras whirred around them, catching their speeches and gestures in reality show fashion.

The jurors included former senator Orly Mercado, currently network president; station general manager Baby Linao; RPN news manager Marigold Haberdunca; NCCT executive director Alice Panares, and this writer. Each newscaster wannabe prepared and presented the outline of a three-minute special report of their choice which, when approved by the judges, must be produced in the next few weeks.

The resultant production, which they will themselves write, research, shoot, and edit while they undergo additional training, will be presented at the end of May as part of the final phase of judging.

Many of the contestants chose global warming as topic of choice. However, in their eagerness to be fashionably relevant, they overstepped the boundaries and broadened their scopes needlessly.

Alex, 13, failed to zero in on children as a key audience in her envisioned report.

Trish delighted the judges with her analogy of the banana boat but got lost in the way as she tried to link global warming to the food crisis.

Joyce, 14, became too passionate about the same topic that her supposedly three-minute material, once produced, will end up being an extended series.

JohnDy’s Victory Joe could have attracted the jurors had he not forgotten to anchor the report on a human angle. His piece ended up suspiciously being a propaganda material for a bus liner.

She avoided making an electronic presentation but Janina’s coco-biodiesel slant on global warming was more lucid and organized than the rest. However, judges felt her material was too long and will be an editing nightmare once realized.

He admitted he was shaking from nerves but Biel ’s planned report on global warming was by far the most refreshing because it was angled toward a kiddie audience. He talked about using bikes and throwing trash responsibly, among other recommendations.

John Kenneth ended up being a PR hack for PCSO, in the process lifting direct from the agency’s brochure, grammatical errors and all. He redeemed himself with a second report, this time on autism and corporal punishment.

Charisse’s report had a loophole too many, and in her passion, ended up sounding like a street rally because of the many questions she wanted to hurl to the viewer.

One of the questions had an answer more obvious than a pimple on an adolescent’s face: Is the Philippines a Third World country?

Being last gave Chino a chance to probably chuck his prepared presentation and make a go of it minus the benefit of power point. His seemingly extemporaneous presentation was about skateboards, then a mode of transport, he says, and now a teener’s pastime. The judges were unanimous in crediting Chino for his bravura and presence onstage.

Who among the aspirants will be Newswatch Junior Edition’s fresh faces in June? We await the results and can’t wait to see the program back on air.