Q&A

Transcript
I am 26.

1. What made you pursue investigative journalism?

Investigative basically is a because you get a tip off from it can get be from
anybody, from your neighbour, from your family, from your friends about a
particular thing and then you really want to know more about it. So that is why you
go into investigative journalism to like uh research more and get to know more
about what is behind it, why it happen and things like that. So it is more of your
own interest like if you want to pursue and it depends on the kind of topic also, if
youre... like me, I prefer something to do with laws for womens rights. So you
really want to know more about it, you want to look inside, that is why you pursue
it.

2. How long did you work as a journalist?

2 years

3. What does/did your job involve?

Basically from in the morning you start your day as early as going through
newspapers, you flip through the newspaper, you differentiate the kind of news that
is in the Bahasa Newspaper and your English Daily and the kind of angles which
daily look into. Some would like to go with a much more new angle so you tell the
readers something new every time but some would like to go and repeat the same
again and again. So it depends on how you do and how you want to write the news
so that people remember you.

4. How does journalism play a significant role in society?

You are telling the people what they want to know and also what they do not
know. It all comes from itself, how you put a story together to make it easy for
your readers to understand what currently is going on.
5. Throughout the years working as an investigative journalist, what is the most
bizarre experience youve had?
[Thinking hard] I do not have a particular bizarre experience because different
journalist have different ways of approaching a particular topic or particular person
that you want to talk to so it depends on how you push yourself forward to actually
get it out( get information) .

6. Whats one of the most memorable stories youve covered?

[Recalling] One was a 2 page spread story on womens right in debate room, as in
like can you force a woman to have sex with you, or can women should actually be
given the right to choose whether they want to keep a child or whether they want to
abort, that is for the International Womens Day. Other than that, one of it was
something I was very proud of, it was during Hari Raya and we wanted a songkok
maker. We went to an adventure for about a day and found a songkok maker who
is actually deaf, and he had make songkok for all his life. This is 2 of my
memorable stories

7. Have you ever gotten in trouble with the authorities? If yes, why?
No.

8. Do/Did you have specific types of stories you took on? If so, what?
*Has anyone ever tried to stopping you from pursuing a particular story? *
I am more of an environmentalist, I write a lot about the environment and anything
about womens rights, anything about human interest, a very community base kind
of stories. I like to write creative stuff like music, concert.

EXTRA: Renaez: Has anyone ever try to stop you from pursuing a story? Any
particular story?
Ans:[Nodding her head in agreement] Yea, because in Malaysia you have
your freedom of, the media do have their freedom but it also depends on how
you want to angle it and also depends on the last call of your bosses. Okay, this
story is going to make it No, you cant do this story because its gonna a have bad
reputation; things like that. So at the end of the day it all depends on your bosses.
 9. What kind of people do you usually come across while covering a story?
[Thinking hard] Well, you have a lot of funny people, ministers who are actually
crazy and really loud and you have to know when is the right time to talk to them
about a particular issue. There is this one particular minister who likes to yell at
reporters, you know he is not a if the issue is still hot and you approach him
about it, you have to see his mood if he is okay to talk to about the particular issue,
if not he is gonna yell at you. Interesting people, you will meet a lot of people who
you may not know what is behind their story.

10. How do you go about looking for leads?

Like I said, you get it from your friends, your family, it can also be from a
particular story which you come across in the newspaper. Star might carry a story
about Sumatran tiger which is going on a loose, now only left 5, so you want to
know why, you want to know how many is left. You can get that deep, you will
have your own sources to go and ask them oh, is this true? Is this true?. You
contact the WWF, they will check it for you. You contact the National
Environment Department, they will check it for you. You contact the forestry
department, they will check it for you.

11. Is it hard to track down people for articles?

[Nodding her head in agreement] Once again it depends on who you are talking
about now. Certain people yes they will talk to you and give everything that you
want, certain people they will be like it is quite difficult to get them, so you go
through their secretary or vice secretary or you have to harass them at the event,
press conferences, it all depends up to the individuals. Certain ministers they will
like can talk to you? Yea no problem. It all depends on how you built the
reputation with that person. If you are close to a particular minister, he will be very
friendly like, so it all depends how you built the reputation with that person in the
beginning itself. Some of the leads might come from them also but they will tell
you like Dont mention me ah, Im just telling you So it is up to you to go and
investigate and look out for it, research about whether it is true.
12. Is investigative journalism as action packed as portrayed in movies? (e.g.
Zodiac, Spotlight)
On a daily basis yes because you might not know what might breakout or when it
will breakout, like what happened in the parliament yesterday, nobody expected
the people will actually mock the parliament but it can happen. You will have your
season, you have your dry days you days which is non stop after one another. They
have this so call journalism, editorial season certain week is really dry, you have
nothing at all, certain weeks, everyday you have something to write.

13. What are your many different roles during your action of investigating?
[Thinking hard] When you work on a particular story, you have the choice. If you
want to work it on your own, you work it on your own you have to do everything
from scratch, finding the lead, to context, to meeting the person up. But you can
also choose to work in a group or with a partner. If you are comfortable with a
person and your team, you can just tell them can I just pair with you, I have this
story . You will get things done fast and you will also get different views from
people. If you work in a group, you do not work more than 5. Then you divide the
job scope with them.

14. What and how do the legal laws limit journalists in Malaysia?
Yes, because there is a lot of things which you, which me cant say about
anything. We know the story but we cant say much because of these laws, if you
say particular things or particular words mention in the newspaper your license
will break tomorrow or you might be caught. License is a very long process before
you actually get your license back, so to avoid all of these, that is why editors,
every time we have a scope, you give your editors first can you can do this one
or if they say no, you better dont touch it.

15. How do journalist go about when writing about sensitive topics?

What I have did for International Womens Day last year. It is a very sensitive
topic because you are talking about sex, and you cant talk about sex in newspaper
openly. So you have to word it properly and have a proper editor like when my
time I had a really good editor who was with me and my partner throughout the
whole process like for that one week, we work only about this story for
International Womens Day so we have this editor who went through with us every
single step and she told us how to word it properly and how to ask the person a
question. We did the story in a really.. You can read and it is direct to the point but
it is actually not, you will have to word it properly. You cant mention the word
sex, you need to know what you need to use and how to re-word and re-sentence it
in a particular phrase.

16. Have you written any articles that breaks stereotypes/helps the society?
* How does it make you feel?*
[Nodding her head in agreement] Yes, You will actually open peoples eyes, they
will actually think like oh yes we should actually get access to birth control pills.
As a woman, you have the right to choose whether you want to do something or
you dont.

17. What do you feel when you saw your own article published on
newspaper/online for the first time?
For the first time, to be honest your first article will not be your proudest article,
you do feel proud but when you look at it again as the years goes by, you look at
the one article you first produced and the kind of story you actually did, you will
actually think that your later article will be much, one of your proudest one. Will
be much better compare to the first you did. The first article will be around 200
words, but as the years goes by you are gonna be like the whole page up to 5 pages
long depends on how you write the story. It is something you want to be proud of
later on.

18. How do you prepare to interview someone?

In the beginning you prepare the question earlier but as you go by you tend to get
better and better so you will just throw the question itself after listening to speech
or after events, you can think of the question directly. So it is the 5 w and 1 H.

19. What advice would you give to someone looking to work in this field?
Enjoy the ride, like really enjoy the ride, you will start very slow but as you go by
you will get very very tough but it will also build you up it will make you a better
person. So just enjoy it but if you cant take the pressure and the hit then dont go
to investigative journalism, but if you really can and really want to, by all means
its good but be prepared to have eye bags. [laugh]
Investigative Adventure - Enjoy the ride

You are telling the people what they want to know and also what they do not
know, said Lavinia Cassandra, a former journalist from Malay Mail. After
working as an investigative journalist for about 2 years, Lavinia, 26, states that her
job involved starting her day as early as possible and going through newspaper
articles to differentiate the various types of news in the Malay and English
newspapers and the angles they use.

Some would like to go with a much more different angle so you tell the readers
something new every time but some would repeat the same again and again. So it
depends on how you do and want to write the news for the people to remember
you, said Lavinia.

When asked on her thoughts on the significance of journalism in society, she said
that journalism is about informing the public on the current events of world
whether they know it or not. It is about piecing news together to make it easier for
the reader.

Lavinia went on to reveal that her most memorable article was a two page spread
story on womens rights issues that involved women being forced to have sex as
well as decisions related to abortions. She also mentioned another piece she was
very proud of.
 It was during Hari Raya and we wanted a songkok maker. We went on an
adventure for about a day and found a songkok maker who is actually deaf, and he
had made songkoks for all his life, shares Lavina.

Fortunately for Lavinia she never had any problems with the authorities unlike
some investigative journalists. Being an environmentalist, she writes a lot about the
environment and articles on womens right, and human interest. She also enjoys
writing creative pieces related to music and concerts.

The kind of people Lavina came across while covering stories are usually a lot of
funny people such as a particular minister who likes to yell at reporters.

Interesting people, you will meet a lot of people who you may not know what is
behind their story. said Lavina

Lavina shares that leads can be found from friends or family. When reading other
newspapers, you may even come across articles that spark an interest in you and it
makes you want to dig to find more information on the topic.

When it comes to tracking down people for an article, Lavinia says that it depends
on who youre talking to as some people may provide you with all the information
needed whereas some are harder to contact. Sometimes having to go as far as to
harass them during events or press conferences. Some ministers are easy to talk
to but some dont want to be mentioned in an article.
If you are close to a particular minister, he will be very friendly, adds Lavinia.

If youve seen any movies about investigative journalism, you might be wondering
if its as action packed as portrayed in movies. Lavinia confirms this stating that
you never know what news may breakout on a daily basis. However, there are days
that are dry and you have nothing to write about but there are also weeks where its
one story after another every day.

When working on a story, you are given the luxury to choose to work on your own
meaning starting from scratch by finding a lead, choosing the context of your story
and tracking down someone. Anyhow, choosing to work in a group with people
youre comfortable with helps get things done faster and you also gain the insights
of someone else.

If you work in a group, you do not work more in than 5 then you divide the job
scope with them, says Lavinia.

However, the legal laws in Malaysia do limit journalists. Even after getting all the
details for a particular story, journalists are still bound by the laws and have to
remain silent. If particular topics or words are mentioned in the newspaper, a
journalist may lose their license or may even get jailed. Its a lengthy process for
one to receive their license therefore to avoid all these mishaps from happening,
they screen topics through their editors before writing.
When touching on sensitive topics, Lavinia shares her experience on writing an
article for International Womens Day last year. The topic of sex is not allowed to
be openly discussed in the newspaper therefore Lavinia and her partner went
through a tough time writing the article. However, they had a good editor that
guided them through the entire process.

For that one week, we worked only on this story for International Womens Day
so we had this editor who went through every single step with us and she told us
how to word it properly and how to ask the person a question, says Lavinia.

Lavina revealed that your first article printed on the newspaper will not be your
proudest article. She stated that as the years goes by when you read your first
article, you will realize that your latest article is actually the one youre most proud
of and is so much better that the first article you produced. She explained that your
first article will be around 200 words, but as years goes by you get the chance to
fill up one whole page up to five pages.

The act of preparing question beforehand is a no brainer but according to Lavinia

as time goes by and become more experienced you are able to throw out questions
on the spot.

Lavinias advice for future journalists is to enjoy the slow and tough ride as it
builds you up and makes you a better person. That being said, if you cant handle
the pressure, investigative journalism may not be the right job for you.
But if you really can and really want to, by all means its good but be prepared to
have eye bags, joked Lavinia.