Remember me having had a chat with FJ during week 2? I have had the chance to sit and have had a proper interview with him this week.
As it turns out, his proper name is Damon Chui, and as mentioned before he has been part of the Electronic News Gathering (ENG) crew for HK Cable TV news team from 2010 to around 2018.
DC = Damon Chui ME = Andy
ME : Do you think that journalist teams hold political biases?
DC : Most of us share a common bias but as professionals we will not express our opinions while on the job.
We are suppose to document and record history and events, it is not up to us to judge right or wrong. The consequences of altering the archive could have a long term effect : What seem true now might not withhold after a decade or two. That is how news reporting originated, very neutral non-judgemental wordings and tones simply just reporting an event.
Here’s an example of how wording could make a difference to an event:
A car knocks down a pedestrian, it was proven that the driver ran a light (neutral in tone, raw portrayal)
A Ferrari speed through traffic and almost kills a lady aged 70 (suggestions of statues, moral conduct and victimising subjects)
ME : About the graphics that they use while the news anchors are reporting, are they planned at all is there a method behind them?
DC : The chief editor is in charge of those. 2D drawings/graphics usually are used for smaller, less significant news segments ; you would know it is an urgent, major news event when the graphic is a screen capture of a live event, which creates a sense of urgency and the feeling of it being an instant event.
ME : How is the order of news reporting determined?
DC : Juicy, local news are always at the beginning of the show, there is a reason why sports and the weather are always placed at the end. If we look at the level of excitement as a curve, it is most certain that news shows kick off at a high note in the beginning and gradually move down from there, this is in place all according to the news habits of Hong Kong viewers, one better catch their attention in the first 15 minutes in order for them to continue on for the remaining 15 minutes of the news , and now that attention span is even less.
Every news editor does grasp this pattern in slightly different ways, but a good editor is always one with years of experience in the industry.
ME : Lets compare TVB (pro-gov) and Cable TV News (more leftist), are their show peaks different?
DC : Now much difference in content but the significant differs in context and how they script their segments.
ME : Audio, Visual and Wording, how would you rate the importance of these for a news show?
DC : Humans are visual animals, only with interesting visuals would the audience pay attention to what is being said.
ME : What is a “real shot”?
DC : “Brother Sing” of Stand News for example : I respect what he is doing (cameraman turned celebrity anchor/host), but he is a “ shot creator”. You are supposed to describe an event and not fan emotions on location (the police). Yet what he did during the demonstration was getting positive feedback from social network and when there is a demand there follows more radical behavior.
So he’s there making news instead of documenting it.
What I was taught in school was that we as journalists use evidence in portraying an event instead of being guided by emotions. But now smart devices and social media has opened up both ends of reception and it is only natural that someone would hear opinions and is set to feed those needs, its only natural with the introduction of technology.
ME : How can news be exaggerated and amplified?
DC : By editing segments, selecting interview content and news content, editing them in a way which would express personal opinions. Old news networks like TVB would used to report opinions on both sides of a spectrum but that is gone now, there was never right and wrong in news and viewers would make up their minds for themselves, but that is slowly changing now.
For example : Reporting on housing problems of the population in poverty in an analytical segment, BUT not researching and reporting in to the reason why these people are in poverty or jobless in the first place.
News is supposed to teach the public about ways to solve problems within the city, provide hotlines and introduce departments that could provide help to those in need. So yay, news nowaday is lacking that educational value also.
Reflection
It was really interesting having talked to William Pang who is very traditional inside out, Moment Hung who embraces all the new methods and now Damon who is a little bit of both. What’s most beneficial to this interview is that I have came to discover that Damon was the only interviewee I had who was trained as a journalist in school, so all these insights I have gained and the school of belief he has communicated looking back at this interview was pretty much Jounalism 101.
Damon Chui’s insights into the newsroom has really given me a better understanding of how news is generated both past, present and what the trends are right now.
ANDY WAS HERE
ANDY was here 🤓 