16 September marks exactly three months I have been working with the press .... "Oh my goodness, really, I did not know it's Malaysia Day??" What an idiotic reporter!! .... No, I did not participate in any form of gathering ... What's the point anyway? They're just gonna beat us up and throw us in jail .... Okay, enough, enough ..... No, seriously, who's running this stupid country??? .... Alright, Brainjuice, there's no need for name-calling .... You're an intelligent, educated person ..... That doesn't say much for them, does it????
If there's anything I've learned about working for the papers, is that one can never run away from politics ... of the day .... Actually, I lurve my cosy, warm place on the fence .... I AM a nonpartisan .... Leave me alone! *Brainjuice looking mad* ....
*Long sigh* .... Alright, the other things I've learned ....
1) Writing news pieces is HARD .... I kept thinking about how back in the days when I was a teacher of how my students just couldn't get the five wives and one husband concept ... Well, I had never heard of the WH- questions being called that way .... But now I really see my students' frustration .... There are so many WHATs .... The trick is to figure out which one is the most topical, to sieve through all that information, and write one concise, brief and up-to-date news piece ....
Let's just say, I hate to admit this, but I cried in the toilet one time after struggling to finish one short news piece ... Then there's the fact that we're a weekly ... all the dailies print the day after, so what is your bloody angle then??!! ... "It's not rocket science!", my editor's voice is just echoing those words in my head as I write ..... Frustration festers ...
2) Coming up with a punchy headline is HARD - Let me just put up this joke that my colleague forwarded, which highlights how just important a brilliant headline is ...
A preacher wanted to raise money for his church and on being told that
there was a fortune in horse racing, decided to purchase a horse and enter it in
the races. However, at the local auction, the going price for horses was so high
that he ended up buying a donkey instead. He figured that since he had it,
he might as well go ahead and enter it in the races. To his surprise, the donkey
came in third! The next day the local paper carried this headline: PREACHER'S
ASS SHOWS.
The preacher was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race
again, and this time it won. The paper read: PREACHER'S ASS OUT IN FRONT.
The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the
preacher not to enter the donkey in another race. The paper headline read:
BISHOP SCRATCHES PREACHER'S ASS.
This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the preacher to get rid of
the donkey. The preacher decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent. The
paper headline the next day read: NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.
The Bishop fainted. He informed the nun that she would have to get
rid of the donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for $10.00. The next day the
headline read: NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.00.
This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the nun to buy back the
donkey, lead it to the plains, and let it go. Next day, the headline in the
paper read: NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE. The Bishop was buried
the next day.
3) Deadlines ...... actually, I think I'm getting better at this ... Last week, my editor asked when I was going to hand in this one story, and I said the day .... and I actually put it in on the very day ... Feel kinda proud of myself .... It makes me feel better 'coz I've totally abandoned my own deadlines for my blogs .... Oh yes, I do set deadlines for my blogs .... well, until about recently ...
4) House style ... I still get them wrong .... Oh well ....
5) Going on assignments ... food and beverage served after press conferences suck ...
6) Related to point #2: HD: Hell & Damnation, Sf: Shit fook .....
7) ..... Stopped taking notes on how .... JUST TYPE IT .... then let the copy editor suffer through your work ....
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