Tempo, the Manila Bulletin’s English-language tabloid, is celebrating its 39th year today.
Despite the challenges facing the newspaper industry in this digital age, Tempo has maintained its commitment to responsible tabloid journalism. It has lived up to its promise of keeping Filipinos informed of and entertained by news as it breaks around them.
Since its first issue came off the press on July 12, 1982, Tempo has established a niche in the newspaper world with its credible and no-nonsense news reporting.
Envisioned to capture the news in a flash — written short, simple but substantial — the paper was directed towards the B, C, and D markets to differentiate it from the Manila Bulletin.
Tempo was born with 12 pages with three main sections — News, Sports, and Entertainment – considered the paper’s major selling points.
Though Tempo is published in English, a few columns and showbiz stories are written in Tagalog
Its maiden issue bearing a banner story about the mysterious death of a Mandaluyong beauty queen, written by veteran police reporter Ruther Batuigas, had made a mark as all of its 80,000 copies had been sold out on its first day.
In his first editorial, Recah Trinidad, who was Tempo’s very first editor, compared the paper’s birth to “Lighting A Candle”, emphasizing the journalists’ role in searching for truth and writing about it.
Much of Tempo’s success can perhaps be attributed to its exciting presentation of controversial and trending stories that usually run for weeks.
Its news section delves on issues with human interest appeal — extraordinary stories of ordinary people.
Tempo popularized the sidebar, a companion piece to a headline story that reveals more details, some of them intimate, about the subject of the news.
Its sports and entertainment sections have also created and cornered their own loyal readers, both in print and online platforms.
The paper’s layout has also undergone a series of transformations through the years. On March 4, 2020, just days before the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak hit the country, the paper came out with its new look to further seal its own identity.
Celebrating its anniversary under the pandemic time, Tempo remains firm with its mission to keep the public informed of, entertained, as well as inspired by real stories written by both seasoned and budding journalists.
