Max Soliven - Journalism Career

Journalism Career

Solivén began his career at 20 as associate editor of the Catholic newspaper The Sentinel, as police and political reporter for the Manila Chronicle at 25, then business editor of The Manila Times from 1957 to 1960.

In 1960, at the age of 27, Solivén became the publisher and editor of the now-defunct The Evening News, which rose in 1960 from sixth to second highest in daily circulation in the Philippines. Soliven's work led to him becoming a Chevalier (knight) of the National Order of Merit of the French Republic; this was presented to him in 1991 by French President François Mitterrand. Nine years later, Solivén was conferred one of Spain's most coveted decorations, the rank of Encomendero de la Orden Isabel la Católica, from King Juan Carlos. He has also been named Journalist of the Year by the National Press Club; the award was presented by his former teacher Henry Kissinger. Kissinger once remarked: "Max has walked with more heroes than Romulus and more heels than Adidas."

Spending more than twelve years as a foreign correspondent, Solivén traveled to many of the notable global hotspots during the 1960s, such as the Vietnam War and the 1968 Tet Offensive therein; and the Gestapu Coup in Indonesia in 1965, in which half a million people were massacred. Solivén also earned an exclusive when he watched the detonation of the first atomic bomb in the People's Republic of China, where he also interviewed Premier Zhou Enlai on the matter.

Solivén, together with Betty Go-Belmonte (wife of Quezon City Mayor Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte) established the broadsheet The Philippine Star, which currently ranks second in the Philippines in readership, circulation, and advertising. They were also the co-founders of the Philippine Daily Inquirer the preceding year with Eugenia Duran-Apostol until differences forced the two to bolt the Inquirer and form The Star.