The Altermidya – People’s Alternative Media Network announces with utmost grief the passing of our founding chairperson, Dean Luis V Teodoro, on March 13.

Dean Luis was and is a pillar of Philippine journalism, credited with advancing the ideals of pro-people journalism both as a respected member of the academe and through the alternative media that he helped to organize in the Philippines.

Such journalistic tenets are outlined in books written by the former dean of the UP College of Mass Communication, including Divide By Two and In Medias Res: Essays on the Philippine Press and Media.

“Most journalists would argue that there is no room for advocacy in journalism. But no journalist can claim without lying that he or she is unconcerned with the issues that confront his or her community… His or her concern—or at least his or her interest—is usually evident in the way he or she chooses which events to report on, in the emphasis he or she gives certain aspects of that event, and in the way he or she exercises the selectivity inherent in reporting,” Teodoro wrote about advocacy journalism.

In fact, he was the force behind the formation of Altermidya Network, which will carry on his work and principles. The journalism lecturer had envisioned an umbrella organization for alternative media across different platforms and islands in the Philippines, which was finally realized in October 2014. During the 1st National Conference of Alternative Media at the UP College of Mass Communication, Altermidya was founded with Teodoro elected as chairperson.

He wrote at length through articles and publications about journalism education, reportage analysis, press freedom, the culture of impunity, and the concepts of a dominant media and its alternative.

At the UP College of Mass Communication, Teodoro served as dean for two terms (1994 to 2000) after serving as chair of its Journalism Department.

Aside from teaching journalism classes in UP, he was also a professorial lecturer at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

In 2019, Teodoro was a recipient of the Titus Brandsma Freedom of Press Award, a biennial recognition for outstanding media and communications practitioners given by the Order of Carmelites in the Philippines.

Outside of the media world, Dean Luis was concerned about local and global affairs, applying his informed perspectives in the columns that he penned and were included in his book Vantage Point: the Sixth estate and other discoveries.

We will announce details of his interment and tribute in the coming days.