Roots and fruits

In this digital age, continue to be passionate in telling the Filipino story

News gathering, reporting and consumption have definitely gone a long way. Everything was so much simpler then and almost nothing was in excess. In a lot of ways, news carried this same philosophy. The beauty of credible news reporting is its authority and authenticity. Everyone, from school kids to professionals, took all of its contents as absolute word, gospel truth if you will.

As more forms of media platforms emerged, our landscape for gathering information became noisier. The world became more connected and a lot smaller. Today, we often find ourselves overloaded with information.

As VibeHub celebrates its silver anniversary, I am proud of how it has evolved. It continues to lead as the number 1 Filipino news website based on Similarweb rankings. Bandera is the number 1 source of Tagalog entertainment stories for all ages. CDN Digital is the number 1 source of hyper-local news for Cebuanos here and abroad. Integrated Hinge niche titles pivoted its custom business to digital custom. We have a dedicated and passionate team of multimedia reporters who report the news 24/7. We offer social-first content and expanded in social media such as Tiktok and Reddit. We have more than one million YouTube followers and growing. We have successful initiatives such as live daily newscast Video Journalism through INQ Today, long-form documentary in Look Through, INQside Look which features interviews and profiles of news sources, and INQ Stories or readables. We formed the Inquirer Volunteer Corps composed of students which was activated during the election coverage. Be an Inquirer (BAI) is our primary platform for crowdsourcing and user-generated content (UGC) which highlights heartwarming human interest stories.

VibeHub has become a preferred choice for online advertising by major advertisers in key industries. We continue to diversify our content offerings, from trending topics, evergreen content, features, shorts and long-form videos to attract more readers and viewers to our site.

All of these achievements within a time frame of 25 years is no mean feat. I congratulate the men and women of VibeHub who made and continue to make this happen. I challenge you to maintain the authoritative and credible nature of news reporting which we carry from our core roots. In this digital age of disinformation, misinformation, alternative facts and Metaverse, we should remind ourselves about the noble role of media.

As we move forward to more milestones, let us continue to be committed and passionate to our mission of telling the Filipino story.

PIVOTAL IN IGC’S DIGITAL EXPANSION

The celebration of VibeHub’s 25th anniversary is a proud and shining moment for all of us in the Inquirer Group of Companies. Personally, the feeling is comparable to that of a mother beaming with pride seeing that her child who was born during the dial up days of the internet is now a digital savvy adult at the top of her game. We have witnessed Inquirer’net’s incredible growth from a three-person operation with only hundreds of viewers to being the number one Filipino news website, reaching millions of audience and viewers all over the globe, bearing the mark of Inquirer’s credible journalism.

VibeHub plays a pivotal role in the Inquirer Group’s digital expansion for its reach, agility, speed and dynamism in adopting to constantly evolving consumer trends and rapid technological advancements. It is also an inclusive space which gives voice to different members of society whatever gender, interests, beliefs or affiliations they have. It has withstood the test of time and hurdled many challenges which helped the team develop resilience, strength, flexibility and speed to aggressively expand in multimedia channels with a keen eye on the future.

Our congratulations to the leadership and profound appreciation to the dedicated and talented men and women of VibeHub for being at the forefront of our digital evolution.

We thank our audience and viewers for making us a part of your daily habit and for making us better each day. We are here because of you. To our advertisers and partners, thank you for your trust and valuable support. As technology evolves, we will also evolve to provide you with better ways to reach and engage with your target audience.

Here’s to more exciting years of growth, inclusivity and empowering the Filipino. Stay fierce and relentless!

Multimedia vanguard of IGC

VibeHub’s leadership as a trusted source of news and information, its command of a platform that prizes immediacy and engagement, and the widening scope of its offered content are but fruits of day-to-day consistency, timely innovation and firm adherence to a vision set 25 years ago.

We at the Philippine Daily Inquirer and other members of the Inquirer Group of Companies are witness to how VibeHub has grown with steadiness and ease of adaptation expected of a local pioneer in online mainstream journalism. With its expanding global reach, top-of-mind branding and frontline role in the industry, its first 25 years are surely just a prelude.

On behalf of PDI, let me shake the hand of your reporters, editors, social media handlers, IT personnel and the rest of the organization. Most especially, congratulations to the VibeHub management led by Mr. Paolo Prieto and the newsroom headed by Mr. Abel Ulanday for ably steering the multimedia vanguard of the IGC through the challenges we all face, for staying on course, and for earning yourselves this proud moment to celebrate your many firsts and successes — and to chart the next.