I was told by many spiritual people about the Law of Attraction : when you are in tune with the universe you will attract the people and happenings you need.
So I was just sitting at home, and my girlfriend told me that a friend is coming up to just pick up a few things, I was like ok.
The 2 have met during what was known as the Umbrella Revolution in 2014, when my girlfriend was part of the demonstrators whom blocked off a major financial district here in Hong Kong named Central (and parts of Admiralty). So they had lots of catching up to do while I sat aside just watching TV.
Just when they were done chatting, I joined in on the conversation which started off with something about music. Then I asked “So what do you do for a living?”, and this guy replied me “ I was a cameraman for the Cable News Network for 10 years and has recently left.”.
So yes, marched right in to my home and I told him what I am up to for the FYP.
Fong Jeurng
Fong Jeurng means head monk (a joke derived from Stephen Chow movie God of Cookery), I never asked how he got the nickname and that I yet to confirm his true name. So in the following I shall refer to him as F.J.
We talked for an hour. No audio was recorded because I was not even prepared, but so I just shot around and fired any kind of questions of interest regarding his 10 years as a news reporting crew. Him having studied journalism, he basically gave me a journalist 101.
What are the basic beliefs in journalism? (I asked)
FJ:
Having been taught in school, the duty of a journalist is to leave personal opinions aside and only provide the facts for the viewer to develop their own opinions.
That’s why wide angle shots are considered the most just and fair technique in news reporting.
You having said that you have covered dangerous situations such as the Philippine(Manila) Hostage Crisis in August 2010, you guys must’ve been paid a lot?
FJ:
No! We are only paid an average salary of around $15000HKD a month(around 1400 pounds). The job is really demanding with us having gave up on a normal social life, but we were driven by passion and a sense of responsibility as news workers.
Imagine, being told to fly out at 4am on a Saturday to do a coverage, we always have our bags packed with our passport ready. Back in Manila, a bullet landed just right beside my foot and our crew had to just brave it out and get the job done.
So no, we don’t get paid for all that we risk and have to give up, but journalists here love their jobs and that is what fuels the industry.
Why did you leave your job after a decade of working for Cable TV News?
FJ:
There was a shift in management that was clamping down on what we are supposed to report, my boss left and most of the staff left with.
The news industry is very different now, deals were made with foreign networks to provide live footage of events and the only thing left for us to do is to cover local happenings, eliminating the need to house the amount of staff that was needed.
What do you think about the quality of news reports in Hong Kong now?
FJ:
The reports are too vague and that there are not enough news documentaries to give in depth insight of a happening to the public. It impacts people’s opinions for they assume they’ve understood what actually happened after watching the news, but in fact a lot of details were left out due to production, people’s attention span and limited air time.
Networks are not willing to put in the resources to produce such shows also, it takes months of research, someone has to script the whole segment, pre and post production are way too time consuming and expensive.
FJ has agreed on taking a fully recorded interview in the coming weeks, really looking forward to getting more insights from him.
What I Should’ve Done
Looking back at this first encounter we had, all I needed to do was ask and then with one press of a button I would’ve had a better idea of what to ask and re-visit for the official interview.
I think it’s important to keep in mind that documentation is vital for a project in progress, and having missed a moment like this means picking up pieces by memory and that important information might have been lost forever or left un-mentioned later on.
So the lesson here is : record while you can and think later.
ANDY WAS HERE
ANDY was here 🤓 