BALAMBAN, Cebu, Philippines – Seeing the need to help local government units (LGUs) make their own newsletters for information dissemination and tourism promotion, the Region 7 office of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) recently conducted a two-day newsletter making orientation attended by some 30 participants here.

The said activity, dubbed Newsletter Production and Photojournalism Seminar-Workshop, drew the participation of various representatives from local government offices and academe.

In an interview, Balamban Information Officer Lavina Narsico said there is a need for them to produce a newsletter in order to promote the municipality's benchmark and inform people about programs and projects undertaken by communities.

“The newsletter will help inform the public about developments going on in towns as well as help boost tourism in those levels,” she said.

Meanwhile, this town’s human resource officer Napoloen Moralde expressed his appreciation to PIA7 for granting the LGU’s request for the workshop.

“It has been long our desire to produce a newsletter because there is a lot of information to share about Balamban,” he added.

This town is located 67 kilometers away from Cebu City. It is a first class town and is the home of the Tsuneishi Heavy Industries, (Cebu) Inc, one of the leading medium sized shipbuilders in the world.

During the first day of the seminar, PIA 7 Regional Director Minerva Newman explained to the participants the process of communication and how to produce news stories. Everyone was excited and eager to learn about news writing, lay-outing and making photos, which are the crucial parts of the newsletter.

Chief Photo Editor of Cebu Daily News (CDN), Tonee Despojo who also graced the event shared his expertise and techniques on photo journalism during the workshop.

Despojo provided tips and insights on how to come up with pictures that best fit newsletters. (Phoebe Jen Indino)