Admittedly, mainstream media could not channel all the information that the public needs to know from the government’s perspective; hence the need for the government to form its own media organization which aim is to effectively create public awareness and acceptance of its policies and programs and work to improve the image of government.
“Sugbo News,” the official news arm of the Cebu Provincia
l Government, was created during Governor Gwendolyn Garcia’s first three terms in office. It started as print media and eventually transitioned to a now defunct television channel. Garcia’s return to Capitol in 2019 after six years in Congress, Sugbo News was revived, but this time, in digital platforms of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram (and a website is underway). These have been found to be more effective and cheaper ways of communicating to the public who is now spending more and more time on their gadgets rather than read the paper or watch television. Manned by professional creatives at the Cebu Provincial Information Office, a division of the Provincial Governor’s Office, Sugbo News documented Cebu Province’s accomplishments during the first 100 days after the return of Gov. Gwen Garcia in office for a fourth term in 2019 and has never looked back since then. Its staple output consists of regular news in English (posted on social media as soon as they happen) and a Cebuano version of the news with video support for a wider reach among the masses. It also produces special features and audio-visual presentations featuring Capitol’s accomplishments in targets on infrastructure development and delivery of basic services to constituents, policies, and events. Sugbo News has continually expanded to now include live streaming coverages of Capitol’s important meetings, agreement signings, and programs; as well as Capitol officials’ visits to the municipalities and component cities bringing various programs. This gives the public a better perspective of how government programs are implemented. One of the highlights in 2021 was the live coverage of the Provincial Board’s special session when members of the national government’s Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) was summoned. Sugbo News has also become a source of news stories for the mainstream media, both local and national. Recently, public information offices of local government units outside Cebu have come to observe and are following Sugbo News’ format as an effective way to carry out their functions as the government’s promotional and information arm. What started as a traditional social media platform has slowly evolved to reflect the signs of the constantly changing times. But one thing remains constant: Sugbo News ensures that Cebuanos get to see that their government is working for them, blazing trails for other local government units to follow, even during the darkest times of the pandemic and Super typhoon Odette, until the province sees once more the beautiful sunshine of normalcy. # #
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Sugbo News has also adopted vlogging, the more preferred format of this generation’s digital consumption, when it comes to packaging its news contents and human-interest stories without at all losing any of its journalistic discipline. The recent and most notable conduct of live feeds during live programs was the recently concluded Pasigarbo sa Sugbo ritual showdown on August 28. Sugbo News’ live feed on Facebook generated over a million views, facilitating the casting of online votes of over 116 thousand viewers from all over the world.
