The stories that shaped us: Rappler opens the Newsbreak Archives

On September 28, World News Day, annual Rappler+ members get access to the full digital archives of Newsbreak, years of fearless reporting that documented the Philippines and helped shape its history

AT A GLANCE

• Rappler is launching access to the full digital archives of Newsbreak, an investigative magazine founded in 2001, on World News Day, September 28.
• Newsbreak has a history of exposing corruption and scrutinizing power, with notable investigations into various scandals in the Philippines.
• By opening the archives, Rappler aims to provide context and understanding of current events through the lens of past journalism.

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MANILA, Philippines–What’s your relationship with the news? Do you simply read it, scroll past it, and move on? 

Journalism does not end when the news cycle does. The investigations that uncover corruption, the stories that hold power to account, and the reporting that captures a country at a particular moment—they’re a record of how, and why, we got here.

This World News Day, Monday, September 28, Rappler is opening that record.

Annual Rappler+ members will now have access to the full digital archives of Newsbreak, the award-winning magazine born at the cusp of the EDSA II People Power revolution that ousted the Estrada regime and whose investigative tradition helped lay the foundations for Rappler.

Founded in 2001, Newsbreak started as a news weekly that scrutinized power, exposed the corrupt, explained complex events, and celebrated the good. Some of its biggest exposés include investigations into the sexual and financial misconduct of Catholic bishops; the massive cheating in the 2004 presidential elections; the comptroller mafia in the Philippine military; and the corruption in the judiciary. 

The Newsbreak team eventually partnered with ABS-CBN and managed its online news platform until they helped establish Rappler in 2011. Newsbreak’s journalists include its founding editor-in-chief, Marites Dañguilan Vitug (now Rappler editor-at-large); Glenda M. Gloria (now Rappler executive editor); Chay Hofileña (now Rappler head of investigations and training); Miriam Grace Go (now Rappler managing editor); Gemma Bagayaua Mendoza (now Rappler head of strategic programs); and LeAnne Jazul (now Rappler chief photographer).

Newsbreak’s investigations from decades ago shine the light on present-day controversies. Its profiles provide perspective on public officials’ current choices. The conflicts it chronicled–and which persist to this day—enable readers to see them in a new light.

By opening the Newsbreak Archives, Rappler is reintroducing to you a brand of journalism that can help you better make sense of today’s chaos.

They’re all yours to discover now through Rappler+, whose members help sustain Rappler’s independent journalism while gaining deeper ways to engage with it.

The Newsbreak Archives aim to preserve journalism that mattered then so it can continue to inform us now. 

This World News Day, read how we got here.

Access the full Newsbreak Archives with an annual Rappler+ membership.