AFPC-USA Names Anthony Esguerra a 2023 Scholarship Awardee

Anthony Esguerra is a Filipino multimedia journalist and an aspiring journalism innovator. He is passionate about connecting newsrooms with their audiences and exploring ways to deliver the journalism that resonates with the people. He is the founder and executive editor of Factual, an independent nonprofit newsroom that started as fact-check chatbot during the pandemic. Anthony currently attends New York University where he is taking an MA Journalism program that focuses on journalism innovation, audience and news products.

He was most recently a Southeast Asia Reporter for VICE and VICE World News, where he produced investigative and in-depth reporting on the intersection of health and politics. He is also a stringer for the Voice of America, reporting on text, TV and radio platforms. As a broadcast journalist for Philippines’ largest broadcaster GMA Network, Anthony sought to address disinformation by providing in-depth and timely reports for the Filipino millennials on the award-winning Stand for Truth newscast.

Anthony has also worked as a reporter for INQUIRER.net, the online platform of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. In 2018, he was a Hurford Youth Fellow of the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, D.C. where he explored strategies to combat disinformation. He is also an alumnus of the Asia Young Leaders for Democracy program at Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.

His recent project involved setting up a digital newsroom in his northern Philippines hometown, operated by high school students he trained during the summer of 2023. 

The following interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

What was the primary reason you chose to pursue your master's studies in the United States as a foreign journalist?

Having distant family members who were migrant workers, I grew up listening to their stories of struggles and success in the U.S. Their stories kindled my curiosity about American society. And when I decided to pursue a career in journalism, I recognized that the finest examples of the craft come from American newsrooms. 

In 2012, I had the opportunity to visit New York and engage with senior editors at The New York Times. As I admired the newsroom, I promised myself that I would return to New York to both study and, if the opportunity knocks, practice journalism in this vibrant city. A decade later, I made good on that promise, coming back to New York – the media capital of the world – to hone my journalistic skills and explore the future of the news industry. I’m glad that New York University and now the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States (AFPC-USA) made it possible for me.

You were recently awarded a scholarship from the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States (AFPC-USA). How did you feel about this recognition?

I’m truly honored and humbled by this recognition from AFPC-USA. I still can’t believe it, to be honest. Reading the email from Thanos Dimadis, executive director of the AFPC-USA, felt like a roller coaster ride because he buried the lede! After reading the email, I closed my eyes to pray, feeling extremely grateful and happy for this opportunity. 

As a journalist, how do you expect your studies and the support from AFPC-USA to help you advance your career?

This generous scholarship and recognition from the AFPC-USA is the miracle I was hoping for as I approach the final stretch of my master’s degree in New York. It allows me to complete my program on media innovation at New York University, a unique program that encourages me to reinvent myself as a journalist. This program provides a full 360-view of the news industry – editorial, business, products, audience – challenges and opportunities in journalism. I hope to emerge from NYU prepared to explore solutions to complicated challenges facing the news industry. 

In addition, I’m grateful that AFPC-USA provided the platform for me to connect with journalists who are the best at what they do. 

Why do you think the work of AFPC-USA is important and what are your thoughts on its impact on the journalism field at large?

I think AFPC-USA is doing the crucial work of holding foreign journalists to the highest standards of journalism, ensuring that the people have access to credible and important news. The association also plays a big role in the promotion of press freedom around the world as more and more journalists face unprecedented physical and online threats. 

What made you decide to become a journalist? How do you hope to make an impact in the journalism field of your country of origin?

My passion for journalism started in an unexpected place. As a child, my mother ran a sari-sari (variety) store in our town's public market, right across from stalls selling smoked fish. These flavorful staples, sought after by many of our neighbors, were intriguingly wrapped in pages from back issues of newspapers. While most customers were drawn to the delicacy of the fish, I found myself captivated by the stories, photos, cartoons and comics on printed pages. It was in a bustling public market where my love for journalism started.

A thousand stories and a decade later, I still ask myself why I continue to choose to pursue journalism. I still believe in the power of journalism to transform a society, to hold power to account and to seek justice. It doesn’t happen all the time, but once in a while I get to report stories that result in small and big changes in society. There are days when you make an impact and I long for those days. 

What is the state of press freedom in your country of origin and how do you hope that your work will encourage more people to access independent and credible information?

The Philippines is still one of the deadliest places in the world for journalists. The state of press freedom in my home country is on a continuous decline. Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s attacks on the press, which resulted in the shutdown of Philippines’ largest broadcaster, ABS-CBN, continue to be felt today. Self-censorship is rampant in Philippine newsrooms, which prohibits my fellow journalists from fully exercising our duty to hold the powerful to account.   

What do you think is the greatest threat to journalism today?

For me, the greatest threat to journalism today is the lack of a sustainable business model that supports quality independent journalism. More and more newsrooms are closing (or shrinking) not because of the Dutertes of the world, but because of an inadequate business model. Journalism faces an existential threat without a working business model that doesn’t overly rely on Big Tech.