By Teresa Tunay, TRT
MANILA Oct 21, 2025 – The morning after the SIGNIS Asia Editors’ Roundtable held on October 20 at the Manila Prince Hotel, the participants’ group chat lit up with messages of gratitude, renewed hope, and a palpable sense of shared mission.
Catholic News Publication Editors from across Asia testified that the gathering was rich, informative, and spiritually anchoring, and that it resets the compass for their work in a turbulent media landscape.
Hosted and organized by SIGNIS Asia in collaboration with SIGNIS Philippines as a pre-assembly initiative ahead of the SIGNIS Asia Assembly slated for Oct 21-25 in Manila and Tagaytay, the round table convened Catholic editors to address a crucial and forward-looking theme: “What would Catholic communications in Asia look like in 2030?”
Participants presented updates from their respective countries — from heavily regulated environments to digital-first societies — illustrating the wide spectrum of Catholic media realities in Asia. These frank, country-based exchanges helped establish a “diagnostic baseline” of where Catholic communication currently stands in the region as it prepares for the next five years.
One major segment of the meeting focused on the escalating threats of misinformation, malinformation, and disinformation across platforms. Editors highlighted red flags observed on traditional, digital, and social channels, and shared strategies for containment and counteraction — from newsroom policies, audience education, and formation and training of youth communicators for witness, not just content.
Guided by the Magisterium of the Church and the Gospel, the editors explored ways to strengthen a faithful and credible media presence. A recurring conviction echoed throughout the session: Catholic media must not merely “report on the Church” and “talk to the choir” but bear witness, be the salt of the earth, through inspiring stories of lived faith — mercy in action, integrity in struggle, hope in the margins.
The discussion culminated in a consensus to pursue programs that reshape Catholic media into a more vibrant, story-driven, spiritually grounded presence by 2030 — one capable of transforming, not just informing, the public sphere.
Participants closed the day (and “reopened” the next morning in chats) with a shared vow: to carry home from Manila not only insights, but commitments that will shape Catholic communication in Asia for the years to come.
