History of Philippine press / Carson Taylor.

History of the Philippine Press

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He is the oldest in years as well as in the length of time
dedicated to journalism in the islands and is considered as
the nerviest man in the business. He has a most versatile
pen and has always been highly considered by the Spaniards.
It is safe to predict that with his passing La Prensa Espafiola, as such, will cease to play a part in Philippine affairs.
Two Catholic dailies in Spanish have appeared since
1900. The first, Libertas, was established in 1902 and was
suppressed during the late war on account of its propaganda
in favor of the Germans. La Defensa, established in 1919,
succeeded it.
The development of the Filipino press since 1900 has
been remarkably rapid, particularly so since 1920.
The Filipino papers worthy of mention since 1900 are
El Renacimiento, Muling Pagsilang, a Tagalog edition of the
same, El Ideal, Ang Mithi, its Tagalog edition, La Nacion,
Vanguardia with the Tagalog edition called Taliba, El Debate, with Pagkakaisa as a Tagalog edition, the Philippines
Herald and the Tribune.
El Renacimiento, established in 1901, was without doubt
the most influential Filipino paper published up to the present time. Fernando Maria Guerrero, editor during the first
few years of its life under the direction of Rafael Palma,
is credited with being the most proficient Spanish scholar
among the Filipinos. The paper, while not a party organ,
had strong Nacionalista tendencies. It had a greater circulation than any Filipino paper before it and was very influential. As the result of an unfortunate radical attack on
the Secretary of the Interior, Dean C. Worcester, a libel suit
was brought against it. Worcester got judgement for some
P60,000 which was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 1910.
The paper was sold under the hammer to satisfy the judgement.
It was re-established by Don Martin Ocampo, who had
been the business manager and principal owner, under the
name of La Vanguardia and Taliba, the latter being the Tagalog edition. The Nacionalista party had developed
strength in the meantime and established a paper in 1907 as
the organ of the party under the name of El Ideal with Ang
Mithi as the Tagalog edition.
Don Martin Ocampo, who recently passed away, was an
outstanding figure in the journalistic field during the early
days of the American regime.
Having a tremendous capacity for work, he was by nature an honest, conscientious and patriotic citizen. An im