Publisher Raul C. Pangalanan | ||
Owner(s) Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. President Alexandra Rufino Prieto-Romualdez | ||
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, popularly known as the Inquirer, is the most widely read broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines, with a daily circulation of 260,000 copies. It is one of the Philippines' newspapers of record. It is a member of the Asia News Network.
Contents
History
The Philippine Daily Inquirer was a daily newspaper founded on 9 December 1985 by publisher Eugenia Apóstol, columnist Max Solivén, together with Betty Go-Belmonte (wife of House Speaker Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte) during the last days of the regime of the Philippine dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, becoming one of the first private newspapers to be established under the Marcos regime.
The Inquirer succeeded the weekly Philippine Inquirer, created in 1985 by Apostol to cover the trial of 25 soldiers accused of complicity in the murder of opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. at the Manila International Airport on 21 August 1983. Apostol also published the Mr & Ms Special Edition, a weekly tabloid opposed to the Marcos regime.
Beltran years (1985–89)
As the successor to the previous Mr. and Mrs. Special Edition and the weekly Philippine Inquirer, it was founded on a budget of P1 million and enjoyed a daily circulation of 30,000 in its early days. The new daily was housed in the dilapidated one-story Star Building on 13th and Railroad streets in Port Area, Manila. It was put out by 40 editors, reporters, correspondents, photographers and other editorial employees working in a 100 square meter newsroom. Columnist Louie Beltran was named its editor-in-chief.
The newspaper was instrumental then in documenting the campaign of Corazón Aquino during the 1986 presidential elections and, in turn, the 1986 People Power Revolution. Its slogan, Balanced News, Fearless Views, was incorporated to the newspaper in January 1986 after a slogan-making contest held during the first month of the Inquirer's existence.
On July 1986, questions about finances and a divergence of priorities caused a rift among the founders which led Belmonte, Soliven, and Art Borjal's split from the Inquirer to establish The Philippine STAR. As Belmonte owned the Star Building where the Inquirer was headquartered, the newspaper amicably transferred to the Soliven-owned BF Condominium in Aduana Street, Intramuros.
Pascual years (1989–91)
In February 1987, Federico D. Pascual, former assistant managing editor of the Daily Express, was named executive editor of Inquirer and was appointed editor-in-chief two years later. It was during his term in 1990 that the Inquirer took the lead from the Manila Bulletin to become the Philippines' largest newspaper in terms of circulation.
However, on July 1990, the Inquirer headquarters in Intramuros was damaged by an earthquake. On 5 January 1991, the newspaper transferred to the YIC building along United Nations Avenue and Romualdez Street in Malate.
Jimenez-Magsanoc years (1991–2015)
Inquirer's longest-serving and first woman editor-in-chief, the late Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc, was appointed on June 14, 1991. She was a former columnist and editor of the "Panorama" Sunday magazine of Bulletin Today (now Manila Bulletin) who was sacked for writing articles poking fun at Marcos. She edited Mr & Ms Special Edition until the fall of the Marcos regime. She is also the first editor in chief of Sunday Inquirer Magazine.
Under her term, in 1995, the Inquirer moved to its current headquarters in Makati City after transferring headquarters four times.
During the administration of president Joseph Estrada, he criticized the Inquirer for "bias, malice and fabrication" against him—this charge to the newspaper was denied. In 1999, several government organizations, pro-Estrada businesses, and movie producers simultaneously pulled their advertisements from the Inquirer in a boycott that lasted for five months. The presidential palace was widely implicated in the advertising boycott, which was denounced by then publisher Isagani Yambot as an attack on the freedom of the press.
In 2007, according to the survey conducted by AGB Nielsen, the Inquirer is the most widely read newspaper in the Philippines. The Manila Bulletin and the Philippine Star followed as the second and the third most widely read papers, respectively. Magsanoc died on December 24, 2015 at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig City. A month after her death, Jimenez-Magsanoc was recognized as the Filipino of the Year 2015 by the Inquirer.
Nolasco years (2016–present)
In February 2, 2016, the Inquirer appointed its managing editor Jose Ma. Nolasco as the executive editor, the new top position of the newspaper, replacing the traditional "editor in chief" position that used by Inquirer for more than three decades.
Nolasco was the managing editor of PDI for 24 years, and he is part of the first batch of reporters of Inquirer when the paper started its publication in 1985.
On October 6, 2016, the Inquirer launched a "rethink" of its print and digital presence by overhauling its newspaper design and website, Inquirer.net and the launch of "My Inquirer" which converged the platforms of Inquirer in print, desktop, smartphone, tablet, and smartwatch. The redesign was done in collaboration with Dr. Mario Garcia of Garcia Media.
Filipino of the Year
The Philippine Daily Inquirer annually names a Filipino of the Year, honoring a Filipino who has made the most positive impact on the life of the nation.
The Inquirer Group
The Inquirer Group is a group of companies under PDI's umbrella.
Newspapers
Magazines
Hinge Inquirer Publications (HIP), formerly Hinge Media Inc. (HMI), was established in 2003.
Inquirer.net
Inquirer Interactive Inc., better known as Inquirer.net, is the official website of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. It provides comprehensive coverage of both local and international news throughout the site's channels: News, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Technology, Business, Global Nation, and its recently relaunched Sports channel, which includes the official homepage of the Philippine Basketball Association.
Megamobile
Founded in 2005, Megamobile is the online, mobile and outdoor solutions company of the Inquirer Group. Among its services are mobile application development, digital advertising, mobile value-added service and voice service.
Megamobile is the developer of the following mobile applications:
Radyo Inquirer
Radyo Inquirer (DZIQ 990 kHz Manila) is the radio station of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (licensed by TransRadio Broadcasting Corporation), with its broadcast team semi-independent of the main paper editorial team as it is mostly composed of career radio people. Its first terrestrial test broadcast on radio was on August 16, 2010 with Inquirer columnist Ramon Tulfo and broadcasting veteran Jay Sonza headlining the list of broadcasters for the new station.